Well Rob... you where on the button. I wasn't totally sure because I've heard it from quite a few differant sources about renewing... here's the mail i got.
Thanks Randy for your input...
Quote:
Our specialty is bicycle helmets, and your thread is about motorcycle helmets. I only wish bike helmets lasted as long as a good motorcycle helmet does. Bike helmets mostly have thin plastic covers, not thick ABS or fiberglass like motorcycle helmets, but the styrofoam impact management foam in each is similar. One of your posters had the word on fiberglass--it lasts longer than your motorcycle will. Styrofoam that is not mistreated is similar. Unless you bake it or spray gasoline on it, it lasts for many many years. You can trash a helmet without crashing it in two years, but you really have to work at it. The fitting pads crumble after years of use, but those you can replace. Tests have shown that even the groves in the styrofoam made by carrying a spare motorcycle helmet jammed on a sissy bar in the back don't degrade performance to any real extent. I have heard sales people telling riders all sorts of stuff. Some are knowledgeable, but others are just plain ignorant about the product they are selling. If a helmet's foam degraded after two years, would anybody buy a second one? Putting my brain where my mouth is, the helmet I rode in today was made in 1992. In a crash it would perform better than the bicycle helmets you can buy today, because it has more coverage as well as more and thicker styrofoam, and I am betting my own brain that the foam is as good as it was the day it was manufactured. There is more on our replacement page:http://www.helmets.org/replace.htmbut again it's about bicycle, not motorcycle helmets. Randy Swart
I'm very happy to be led in the right direction on this... just saved myself a possible £300!! Woo hoo...this site rox!
