Other Bikes about helmets standards, lifespans and how they are sold

[Theo]

I'd like to tell you about some bad purchasing experiences I've had, the last of which happened yesterday. I feel pretty frustrated and I think that sharing this will both let me vent my frustration and possibly help someone.

I'm writing from the European Union but I think that similar situations can happen everywhere.

• first bad buying experience: 2009. Back then, my brother decided to present me with a premium helmet for my first supermoto. He said that safety is very important and that he wanted to make sure my head was protected. We went to a reputable motorcycle gear shop and bought it. Years later, I found out a label on the chinstrap that read something like this: "this helmet should be replaced within 5 years from the first use or 7 years from the production date, whichever comes first.". One row below, the production year was printed: it was 2003, i. e. 6 years before the purchase date! Basically that helmet had a supposed remaining life of 1 year when I bought it!

• Second bad experience: yesterday. I needed to replace an old helmet and so I went to a shop specialized in motorcycle helmets, bought one and when I got home I looked for the homologation label and I've found out that:
- it was produced 3 years and 4 months ago, so this one is pretty old, too,
- it has the ECE 22 05 homologation; well, that standard is roughly 20 years old and was eventually updated in 2021. The newer standard, the 06, is compulsory for all helmets produced from 2023, but according to two Italian magazines it's still legal to sell the ones with the older homologation until their stock is consumed completely.
This new standard is significantly more demanding than the older one.

I did some internet research and apparently in none of the two sales has been illegal.

After that first experience in 2009 I had decided the rule that I only buy new models so it's impossible that the helmet is old, but yesterday I just thought that I didn't want to go through that research again before entering a shop and that probably in 2009 I was just unlucky. It worked once when I found a physical shop whose helmets could be bought online, too: I memorized some new models, found one that fitted right in the shop and bought it. It turned out it had been produced one year before: acceptable.

I dislike buying gear from the internet because I want to try it, so I go to shops. Unfortunately, the 14 days return and refund policy that is valid on the internet is not valid in shops, at least here. I don't think I can demand to see the production date in a shop and I doubt the salespeople would be cooperative in that way. No law prevents them to sell me an old helmet and I'm afraid that if I start looking for a helmet that fits right, looks decently ventilated, is in the price reange I want and I also demand to read the production date, it will take me 10 hours and many arguments each time to buy a helmet.

That helmet I bought yesterday is actually a cheap helmet: an [EDIT from December 26th 2025: deleted brand and model, see post #6 below], since according to my experience, the physics I know about impacts and about motocross and the features advertised for more expensive ones, I for one don't think that, for motocross, a premium helmet is a good investment, which is my own, unpopular, personal opinion. The seller also told me he didn't have any medium level motocross helmet, only cheap or expensive and that in his opinion the more expensive ones didn't justify their price. It just reinforced my theory. Still, I don't want to use a helmet whose materials have supposedly lost their properties because of age. Therefore, I guess that I will use this helmet for three years and then I'll replace it.

 

[Bodo]

That helmet I bought yesterday is actually a cheap helmet:

Wise decision - if any sort of biking lets you routinely touch the ground, it's moto cross. Those helmets can get lasting damage from what I think is a light impact only. It doesn't hurt replacing a cheap one when you think it has seen too much action, but would still be 'too new'.

My street jet helmet fell on a soft floor (weed/grass) from 1 meter and got cracked paint with shallow but visible dent. This year, I wanted to replace it with the same, but ECE-R 22.06 killed that model off in European retail. It's still available on other continents, I'd still be allowed to use it but it isn't worth paying astronomous shipping and duties.

 

[Chaconne]

Helmets can be a dicey experience and it is probably the most important gear choice a rider will make. Most of the major name helmets are made in one or two Chinese factories. They mostly differ in fit and finish and the up-to-date models typically meet the most rigorous specs. Like you, I have had mixed luck with helmets I have bought in shops.

Your experience like old models is not uncommon in shops --they sell what they have in stock. And often they don't have complete size ranges so you have to compromise there or wait for them to order what you want --which is better and cheaper to do yourself plus you can return it if you buy it online usually.

For me, if I have a design/brand of helmet that I like I generally stick with that brand since I can buy it online with confidence that I likely won't need to return it (which is a benefit but still a pain in the ass) as I need a perfect fit with any helmet I use.

Plus, you can often get a substantial discount online if you know what you want and don't need the most up-to-date finish or logo without really sacrificing too much duration time.

Everyone has there own way and riding application I guess. Increasingly shops are a mixed bag for gear here. I will buy at a shop if they have exactly what I want and a competitive price, otherwise if I have to compromise what I want, I will go with something that I am reasonably sure of online and return it if it doesn't work out.

 

[Theo]

My street jet helmet fell on a soft floor (weed/grass) from 1 meter and got cracked paint with shallow but visible dent. This year, I wanted to replace it with the same, but ECE-R 22.06 killed that model off in European retail. It's still available on other continents, I'd still be allowed to use it but it isn't worth paying astronomous shipping and duties.

Try Italy; apparently they can do wathever the heck they want here

Your experience like old models is not uncommon in shops --they sell what they have in stock.

Sad to find out that it works that way in your state, too; I don't know about the rules in the rest of your country.

I understand that disposing of a helmet just because it's old would be expensive and that, if it became mandatory, the end customer would pay for that since manufacturers and/or shops would start predicting that statistically they would have to destroy a certain amount per year and they would raise the price accordingly to compensate for that loss.
On the other hand, in the way things work now the customer already pays the price of that, because it's possible and it's happened that somenone buys a helmet for full price although it will expire maybe only one or two years later.
Selling helmets with a price dependant on its age would be a mess, envise a shop attendant saying: «so, this one is available in size M for 300 € or L for 100 € because of age... oh, wait, I've found a newer L for 400 € if you want it». I've discussed this with an AI and it mentioned the idea of tamper proof boxes that preserve them very well so they start aging significantly only after the first use. The premium helmet I mentioned in my first post, the one to be replaced after 5 years from first use or 7 from production was an Arai, so apparently even in a regular box, protected from UV lights, they degrade. I've read on the internet of helmets visibly degraded after years in a box without being used. Or they could find conditions to store them better: maybe preserved at low temperature in a vacuum bag with 0 moisture inside? I don't know, but it's crazy that you buy something that basically has an expiry date and you don't know how close it is, it's like you rented a car without knowing how much time they will allow you to use it, until you pay and you find out. I wonder if shops even bother using a First In First Out procedure since it's not illegal to sell old helmets.

 

[Bodo]

Try Italy; apparently they can do wathever the heck they want here

The first place I have rumbled. Sadly, the regions where they sell moto helmets have ascended into rule compliance At least the food is as it used to be

 

[Theo]

The first place I have rumbled. Sadly, the regions where they sell moto helmets have ascended into rule compliance At least the food is as it used to be

I think it shouldn't be regional regulation, it should be national.
I've found two articles on magazines according to which ECE 05 shouldn't be sold in Italy after january 2024, so I've deleted the brand and model from my first post here and I've contacted the customer support of that brand asking for clarification. Let's see what they answer.

 

[Bodo]

T'was a pathetic attempt to honour cultural diversity within Italy in that everybody does what the heck they want, but what they want varies with the amount of sunlight or fog they get.

On a serious note: the German Motorcycle Industry Association released a statement that it is left to the states to stop selling pre 22.06 helmets at the end of 2023, and that England, Italy and Germany (for example) will not make use of that, and allow helmet retail to sell off older helmets Mai 2023 - Industrieverband Motorrad e.V.

I guess it then only depends on manufacturers who (had to) stop supplying pre 22.06 helmets to participating markets. Contrary to popular belief, you don't have to wear an ECE helmet in Germany either: § 21a Absatz 2 (StVO) simply says that drivers and passengers of open vehicles with more than 20km/h top speed of certain vehicle classes have to wear a suitable helmet. I.e. in practice, a police officer (or ultimately a judge) will decide if your helmet is good enuff and that includes helmets with ECE-, DOT- or no certification as well as helmets that are beyond their shelf life.

The repercussions for not wearing a suitable helmet are 15 € warning fee for adults or a penalty of 60 € for kids; though the consequences can be much higher when -for example- a motorcyclist suffers head injuries, and the vehicle insurance and health insurance are going to trial to decide who has to pay for all consequences of this head injury, which easily can get into the cost of several houses when the injured needs support over decades. Then of course third party experts will spent enormous resources to assess the implications of materials beyond their expected shelf life and everything else lawyers want to have a look at.

To wrap up and loop back to your original post - it should be in everybody's interest to have the best possible (head) protection, and material age plays an important role. Compared to the best-before-date on a bottle of milk in a supermarket, the mfg date of protective gear should be more obvious. If that happens by regulation or by consumer demand is another debate, but the latter certainly works for new or used tyres:

The amount of tyre sellers providing the mfg date for a particular pair of (used) tyres, or new tyre dealers promising a set that is less than six months old has imo been increasing in the last ten years, because the number of consumers asking for the age has.

 

[Erwin P]

I have the theory that cheap helmets are often safer than expensive ones.

The cheapest way to get past testing is to overdo it. Just make it bulky, heavy, no ventilation and not too much odd shapes and you have a very save and cheap helmet to develop and produce. Also if you overdo it you don't have recalls and you just might be able to produce it for longer. Materials are not expensive, machining and changing machines is.

Expensive helmets often seek the limits of being legal due to being as light weight as possible, having ventilation in as many parts as possible and having all kind of weird and wonderfull shapes. They are also fasion accesoires and thus produced in short production runs leaving more room for error since every change to production is an opportunity to mess things up.

Sure expensive helmets being more comfy has a safety benefit of it's own due to preventing crashes, but in case of a crash my money would be on the cheaper ones.

Also cheap helmets are more easily replaced so overall you ride with newer and less crashed helmets.

 

[Chaconne]

I have the theory that cheap helmets are often safer than expensive ones.

The cheapest way to get past testing is to overdo it. Just make it bulky, heavy, no ventilation and not too much odd shapes and you have a very save and cheap helmet to develop and produce. Also if you overdo it you don't have recalls and you just might be able to produce it for longer. Materials are not expensive, machining and changing machines is.

Expensive helmets often seek the limits of being legal due to being as light weight as possible, having ventilation in as many parts as possible and having all kind of weird and wonderfull shapes. They are also fasion accesoires and thus produced in short production runs leaving more room for error since every change to production is an opportunity to mess things up.

Sure expensive helmets being more comfy has a safety benefit of it's own due to preventing crashes, but in case of a crash my money would be on the cheaper ones.

Also cheap helmets are more easily replaced so overall you ride with newer and less crashed helmets.

I am not sure. Maybe that depends on where you live. Here in the States at least, the first place that costs are cut and margins increased by brands on imported goods is by reducing quality control.

And more, the weekend warrior who cracks his skull crashing into a tree with his ATV and Walmart helmet is probably less likely to sue than the person who can afford the $650.00US or more carbon fiber. So I guess it all depends.

 

[Erwin P]

Depends indeed. In Europe there is a very high standard AND over the whole production run the Institutes take samples.
Not complying is pretty much end of your manufacturing career.

 

[Theo]

T'was a pathetic attempt to honour cultural diversity within Italy in that everybody does what the heck they want, but what they want varies with the amount of sunlight or fog they get.

They say that in the foggiest regions people follow rules and in the sunny ones people only worry about having fun. Well, actually I've bought that helmet in a foggy region, what a plot twist!

 

[Chaconne]

They say that in the foggiest regions people follow rules and in the sunny ones people only worry about having fun. Well, actually I've bought that helmet in a foggy region, what a plot twist!

Rules clearly don't matter one way or the other when it comes to delicious high quality food that is generally healthy. Lots of countries could learn from Italy on that. Look at the Brits they had to import Indians, Pakistanis, and folks from the West Indies to fix it...