head injury, new helmet??

N

njkx

Member
Apr 13, 2004
209
1
long story short. I crashed last weekend. not sure exactly what happened but I know I hit my head pretty hard. I never lost conciousness, but I was woosy and out of it for about 10 minutes after. kept asking my friend the same question over and over. anyway, I went to the ER, they did a CAT scan and everything is OK. mild concussion. My question is do I need a new helmet? mine looks scraped up in a couple spots but doesn't looked cracked or broken or anything.

btw if any one saw me crash at Englishtown NJ on labor day, I'd love to hear exactly how I crashed. I know it was on a double, double, double section.
 
nikki

nikki

Moto Junkie
Apr 21, 2000
5,802
1
YES

No doubts about it - fork out the $150 for a new lid. Can't put a price tag on your brain. Although the helmet foam may look okay, there is probably damage you can't see as it absorbed a good amount of impact to make you a little dizzy. It's done it's job - time for a new one.
 
B

Bizerk

Member
Feb 28, 2004
142
0
Buy a new helmet and throw away the old one! Banging your head :bang: is not a good thing to do.
 
CaptainObvious

CaptainObvious

Formally known as RV6Junkie
Damn Yankees
LIFETIME SPONSOR
Jan 8, 2000
3,331
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Welcome to the new helmet club!
 
YZ165

YZ165

YZabian
May 4, 2004
2,431
0
cjmx said:
send it back to the manufacturer to have them look at it
Click to expand...

No helmet manufacturer would ever tell you "Yea, it's fine." That would be a huge liability, not to mention a lost sale.

Get a new helmet, the risk is not worth it.
 
C

Chili

Lifetime Sponsor - Photog Moderator
Apr 9, 2002
8,062
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YZ165 said:
No helmet manufacturer would ever tell you "Yea, it's fine." That would be a huge liability, not to mention a lost sale.
Click to expand...

Shoei does that on a regular basis. That is one of the selling features of their helmets, free assessment of the helmet after a crash.
 

MX-727

LIFETIME SPONSOR
Aug 4, 2000
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Bell will do it too and some bicycle helmet manufacturers will send you a coupon for a discount on a new helmet if the old one is in fact trashed.
 
L

LukeRips

I always keep them as a trophy of a good get-off. But, I never race in them again. I always just buy a $150 HJC, if they fit right they crash as good as a Shoei.
 

YZ165

YZabian
May 4, 2004
2,431
0
Chili said:
Shoei does that on a regular basis. That is one of the selling features of their helmets, free assessment of the helmet after a crash.
Click to expand...

I've heard of that service from Shoei, but have never heard Shoei say a helmet was "good to go". I worked in a large indapendant shop for over three years, and sent many helmet's to them and others, never to hear that the helmet was OK. Just my .02
 
N

njkx

Member
Apr 13, 2004
209
1
yep. i contact HJC just for the heck of it. They said to buy a new one. Makes sense. Gotta try to stay upright more. this is getting expensive.
 

MikeT

~SPONSOR~
Jan 17, 2001
4,095
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Chili said:
Shoei does that on a regular basis. That is one of the selling features of their helmets, free assessment of the helmet after a crash.
Click to expand...
So does Arai. I really think they all do. Arai told me my street helmet was perfectly fine to wear.
 
T

TS2DR4

Member
Jun 7, 2001
8
0
Well, well, wat d'you know..
Myself too crashed out just the wkend before this, and do not remember anything from that cross-country style race. Appeared like it's gonna be like what my pals said,'you'll have one sunday missing and unaccounted for in your entire life."
But one thing was certain, the old Shoei was considered in the bin.
 

MikeT

~SPONSOR~
Jan 17, 2001
4,095
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Better to be safe than sorry. When you crash and your head hits the ground hard, the styrofoam in the helmet compresses and doesn't bounce back. When it compresses it is very hard to detect how much it compressed. Any amount at all will take away from the helmets ability to protect you in a crash.

You can have many helmets but only one head. Protect it!
 
R

Ryone

Member
Jun 18, 2004
391
0
Man, I did the same thing last weekend and found myself on the ground not knowing what happened. I hit my head and back, and was woozy for about a half-hour. I also had a "streak/lightning bolt" thing in my left eye. It was like I was wearing a smeared set of glasses. It went away after about an hour, and I went back on the track for a few more laps, but still didn't feel completely comfortable. I hate to fork over more money for a new lid (Fox Pro-Pilot), especially since it's only a year old.
 
N

njkx

Member
Apr 13, 2004
209
1
Better safe than sorry. I ended up buying another top of the line HJC for $160. I figure I can buy three of them for the same cost as the Arai or Shoei. The people at HJC said that the only way to determine if a helmet has been damaged is to rip it apart which would destroy the helmet anyway. $160 is worth it for piece of mind.
 
M

Moto Squid

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Jul 22, 2002
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I sent in my shoei last year and got it back with a letter saying the helmet was perfectly safe. I was amazed because I got knocked out really good and had memory loss issues for almost a year. I bought a (Cheaper!!) HJC anyways though.
 
M

miko

Member
Nov 26, 2003
45
0

So how big of a crash are we taking about ?
I went over the bars recently and hit my head.
No memory loss, no headache, although I did see a few stars
for a few seconds when I got up.
The outside of the helmet is a bit scratched but that's about it.
The helmet feels as snug as before. Is that a fairly good indication
that the foam isn't compressed ?

thanks,

miko.
 
N

njkx

Member
Apr 13, 2004
209
1
miko, i think its a judgement call. obviously we aren't going to buy a new helmet everytime we crash or we'd all be broke. I think if you get knocked out or lose memory , you obviously hit your head pretty hard and should consider replacing. this is just my opinion, not based on any facts.
 

MikeT

~SPONSOR~
Jan 17, 2001
4,095
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miko said:
So how big of a crash are we taking about ?
I went over the bars recently and hit my head.
No memory loss, no headache, although I did see a few stars
for a few seconds when I got up.
Click to expand...

Not being scientific here but if you could measure the foam thickness then you would know if it compressed. Since you can't do that, the rule I use, is if you get a concussion and are blacked out, then you probably damaged your helmet. My last head impact I was able to pull the liner back and actually see that the styrofoam had a dent in it. I had a concussion and blacked out for about 3-5 seconds. The helmet I wear (BELL MOTO7) also has removeable styrofoam in the cheek areas made it easy to see that the foam was different thicknesses after the crash. You have to look real closely to see that it is compressed but my helmet did it's job. Ivan was there that day and told me to look a little closer at the helmet and sure enough I needed to replace it.

BTW, I bought the exact same helmet. BELL makes good stuff.
 
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