Helmet Advice and Information

[RT/10Dave]

Helmet Advice and Info:

Firstly I will start with what I was looking for and why…
For a couple of events this year I will be required to wear a helmet, not having bought one before it was in my best interest to do some homework and do a bit of research first regarding specifications, requirements and any relevant regulations. The decision I have made is based on the fact that at some point in the future I would like to obtain my MSA Race License, and with this in mind it seems silly to me to buy a cheaper bike helmet and then have to buy another one if and when I do my race license.

I contacted various people, including racing schools, track day organisers and the MSA, as well as doing the usual web research as well, and here are the results of my findings:

For track days with no racing involved and no racing license required or scrutineering a Motorcycle Helmet is often sufficient as no checks or requirements are enforced.

However, for racing there are minimum requirements enforced and helmets must carry a minimum standard of BS6658-85 on a blue sticker, or for FIA standards (being Fireproof) on a red sticker BS6658-85A FR.

Also if I understand it correctly, Snell is also accepted on vehicle motor-sports helmets, which as I understand seems to be to do with repeated impact on something such as a roll bar, new Snell tested helmets are to a Standard of Snell SA2005, and are also FIA Homologated giving them a fireproof rating.

Open face and closed face I think is likely to come down to personal preference, but I have decided on closed face as this will provide more protection.

To answer the question regarding why a bike helmet can’t be used for car racing, I have found the following information:

Taken from an article in the Daily Telegraph:

The Auto Cycle Union (ACU) and the Motor Sports Association (MSA), agree that there is little difference: the former may be slightly higher-cut at the back whilst the latter tend to have smaller apertures.

"Car helmets have a flammability requirement that's not the same for bike racing and there's a repeated impact test for smashing against a roll-over bar," says Brian Walker of Head Protection Evaluation, Britain's principal helmet test lab.

"But a top bike helmet would breeze the Snell test for car racing."

The trouble lies in the EU, whose rules differ from the rest of the world. All helmets are tested for penetration resistance, visor integrity and retention strength. But most important is impact energy management, how much energy is prevented from reaching a rider's skull. And the EU also has a requirement on head injury criteria (HIC).

"There's a strange relationship between the two EU tests," says Walker. "On some helmets a high energy capability results in a low HIC. The EU alone limits the energy capability so as to improve the HIC.

"The MSA asked if we could accept EU-standard helmets for racing and I said 'No way'. Pretty much all the Snell helmets passed the EU test, but when we put the EU helmets to the Snell test, they were lethal."

Bike helmets must pass the EU test to get road approval, but car helmets aren't used on roads so don't need to; bizarrely, you can't ride a moped with a helmet approved for motor racing. Of course, in not allowing EU helmets, the car-racing authorities favour their own regimes.

Snell is a charitable foundation set up in 1957 after the death of US club racer William "Pete" Snell. Walker has worked with Snell ever since and says no F1 boss would allow a driver into a car without a Snell-rated helmet. Not that the authorities come up smelling of roses.

Snell says helmets should last for five years and updates its standards that often. The FIA and MSA tend to grab the latest standard and decree everything else invalid. "We've had a lot of very aggrieved competitors over the update from Snell SA95," says one MSA scrutineer. "We accepted the old standard for another year to try to placate them."

Yet helmets last as long as you look after them. Japanese maker Arai says their life is almost entirely dependent on conditions of use. After the MSA decreed that they lasted only four years, Walker tested a batch of used, 10-year old helmets against their original spec and they all passed.

"Helmets do not deteriorate on the shelf as the MSA claimed," he says. The MSA has since withdrawn that costly policy, but retailers still have a case to answer. Helmets are dated by year of manufacture and many racers have been sold last year's item. I was sold a two-year-old helmet by one of the biggest retailers, which refused a refund when this was pointed out. There's an offensive "cheap head, cheap helmet" attitude among authorities and suppliers, yet the evidence points to loving care being a far more effective safeguard.

Most competitors have no problem in forking out for a good helmet, but rapidly changing rules mean they seldom reap the benefits.

Some have been known to present a friend's helmet at scrutineering, then revert to their own - safe but lacking the right labels - for the race.

When I spoke to the MSA I was advised that they felt that much of the higher pricing in helmets is, like anything, due to the name stamped on the side of it and said that at the end of the day all helmets which are approved have had the pass the same safety testing, so bear this in mind, but I was also told that it is still probably best to stick to a name you have heard of.

From what I am told, the best thing to do is to go to a couple of places and try on a few and see how they fit, as sizes change dramatically across manufacturers.

So, moving on to helmet suppliers, I have found and some suppliers who were happy to talk to me and give advice, here goes:

For a cheap entry level Motorsport helmet: £106.95
OMP VELOCE HELMET (BS6658-85)

Merlin Motorsport are based at Castle Combe Race Circuit
Link to this helmet at Merlin Motorsport
http://www.merlinmotorsport.co.uk/RACEWEAR-&-H... target='_blank'>Link to Merlin Motorsport Helmet Sales Page

Demontweeks also have a very good range:

Entry Level Open Face: £73.83
SPARCO CLUB HELMET (BS6658-85)

Link to Demontweeks Closed Face Helmets
Link to Demontweeks Open Face Helmets

The Helmet Company seem to have some very good deals at the moment and many are also Zero VAT
Link to Helmet Company Motorsport Helmets

Grandprix Racewear Based at Silverstone Race Circuit (Unfortunately they are not open on the Sunday of the GT Championships)
Link to Grand Prix Racewear Helmet Pages


Hopefully that's all the basic info to enable an educated decision, but if there is anything I have missed let me know.

I'll let you know what I'm buying once I have tried it on...

Edited by RT/10Dave on Wednesday 9th April 09:50

[zed sump]

Thanks for all your research there Dave. Some familiar bits from what i came up with on www and phone and some other infos i hadn't found. Suprising how many retailers have never heard of MSA and their trackday requirements for helmets.... Better get on with finding one ... and fitting a trapdoor/baffled sump before the next track session

[N GTS]

Good stuff there, just to add Tweaks do a free size exchange service if you don't get a perfect fit with what you order, (they do vary from helmet makes, even though 'same' size). Also to consider is if you want a choice of visor tint, smoke or mirror finish etc besides the clear (not prefered in motorsport from a safety point of view) check out availibility and fancy visor pricing, it can variy quite a bit. Just an idea....if you go white bone-dome you can mask off 2 stripes and spray paint in the colour of your car. Obviously only for white stripes!!!

[RT/10Dave]

One thing to add regarding Helmet painting is that I was advised by one of the guys I spoke to at MSA that painting helmets can cause problems with the outer skin if you don't use the correct paint, presumably the aerosol or something in the chemical of the paint can eat into/melt the outer skin, so best to get it done professionally by someone that knows what they are doing, using the correct paint, rather than spending a few hundred quid on a nice new helmet and then wrecking it in one foul swoop.

[V1PER]

Why paint a helmet when you can buy them ready done????
Even with Viper stripes???

http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&a...

Edited by V1PER on Wednesday 8th October 10:55

[RT/10Dave]

Those are great looking helmets, and would look nice with the car, but I am concerned as to whether they would be allowed on track.

From what I can gather, in order to attend a track day a MSA approved crash helmet is required.

From doing some further research it would appear that motocycle shops are no longer allowed to sell helmets that conform to BS (which is the main standard that scrutineers will look for in motorsport) - Motorcycle Helmets now conform to ECE standards. Which the MSA does not accept as a standard for use in cars.

Apart from the BS (British Standard), the only other type acceptable to MSA is Snell SA2005.

From further research on the net, it would appear that the ECE standard is superceeding the old BS standards for Motorcycle helmets - HOWEVER the ECE specifications are NOT listed in the MSA Blue book for admissible helmets for motor sport. It may be that the MSA will move to alter their regulations with respect to ECE - but until that time, you will be better off not purchasing a helmet currently specified by the MSA.

The MSA do accept Snell SA2005 helmets. (But, snell helmets with SA2000, SA95 and pre-SA95 stickers are now TOO OLD and should be discarded). If you are buying a new Snell approved helmet, it SHOULD have a holographic SA2005 sticker inside it.

So to summarise, when purchasing a helmet for track days, and/or motorsport, you need to purchase a helmet that shows one of the two following stickers:
BS6658-85 Type A (Or as I have mentioned in my earlier post BS6658-85A FR which is Fireproof)
SA2005

Edited by RT/10Dave on Wednesday 8th October 11:22

[RT/10Dave]

Just to add to that, the AGV S-4 Helmets are noted as being, ACU Gold & EC05 Approved.

So unfortunately will not conform to the above information.

[zed sump]

need one of these stickers on er.. your helmet




http://www.tayforestchallenge.org.uk/rules_and_reg...