As a rider, you want to make sure that the helmet you wear will last you a while. Opting for budget helmets leads to faster deterioration and will see you finding a replacement sooner than later.
Moto1 has a wide range of helmets that are made of the best quality materials, come with warranties, and are affordable.
There are certain elements of a motorcycle helmet that makes them safe, and I’m going to break down the best and safest motorcycle helmets to keep your head in one piece.
What This Article Covers:
- Best Motorcycle Helmet for Safety
- Shoei X-Spirit III
- AGV Pista GP RR
- X-Lite X803 RS
- Best Motorcycle Helmet Safety Rating
Best Motorcycle Helmet for Safety
Motorcycle helmets have various safety features and mechanisms that keep your head safe during an accident.
When deciding how to choose your motorcycle helmet, you must make sure that a few safety boxes are checked and that the helmet contains these elements.
The Inner Elements
The EPS, or expanded polystyrene, liner found inside the helmet is used to protect the jaw and face region from any impact.
If the inner shell of a helmet doesn’t have an EPS liner, then it won’t be much protection during heavy impacts.
The next box you want to tick is the type of material the outer shell of your helmet is made from.
The Shell
Fibreglass helmets are the most affordable and are strong enough to absorb heavy blows. What makes them so affordable is how little they cost to produce.
Carbon fibre is also common in the world of motorcycle helmets as it’s the lighter option but still manages to provide a good amount of shock resistance.
Carbon Fiber is more expensive to produce than fibreglass making for a pricier product. And since carbon fibre provides more protection than fibreglass, it’s worth considering the purchase.
Kevlar is by the far the strongest material and the best in terms of protection as an outer shell material.
Many helmet manufacturers combine Kevlar and carbon fibre to make for one powerful shell with good compressive strength. These helmets are the best of the best so expect to pay an increased price.
So, if you’re wondering if expensive motorcycle helmets are worth it in terms of protection, the answer is yes as the higher-priced helmets are made from stronger outer and inner components.
You want your helmet to have comfortable padding, usually made from fabrics that are anti-sweat and anti-bacterial.
The padding not only redistributes your sweat while you ride and makes it easier to wash out, but it makes your helmet more comfortable.
Most helmets use polyurethane foam in the inner section of the helmet which has a medium density.
Lastly, you want to make sure that your helmet has a good retention system.
This allows the helmet to be adjusted using straps that connect beneath your chin. The most common of these systems is the double D-ring or the d-lock.
What Is the Safest Motorcycle Helmet?
Now that we’ve covered what makes a motorcycle helmet safe, let’s go over the helmets that are built to protect you out on the open road or trail.
Shoei X-Spirit III
Shoei is a Japanese company that has been at the forefront of the motorcycle helmet game.
They produce helmets that have a premium touch, boasting high-quality visors, liners, and much more.
The Shoei X-Spirit III is a helmet designed for racers, as are most of the X-Spirit series helmets. Racers need all the protection they can get so it makes sense that this helmet earns its spot on my list.
Design and Safety
Since this is more of a racing helmet, the X-Spirit III comes in a variety of graphics and colours.
You have your typical black and white colour schemes, but the X-Sprit III has more sporty designs with multicoloured stripes and racer-inspired decals.
Whether you’re rocking the matte black or the more youthful and racer-inspired design, you’re bound to have the eyes of everyone you ride past.
The shell of the helmet itself is a 6-layered composite design containing a mixture of fibreglass and various organic fibres.
Having a helmet made up of different fibres mainly containing fibreglass makes for a strong and safe shell.
It also has 4 different shell sizes making it more accessible to riders of different head sizes. Another neat feature is the double d- ring retention system, one that adds to the safety of the helmet itself as discussed earlier.
The inner lining of the helmet is removable and washable while being flexible and adjustable. The cheek pads can be swapped on the fly as well as those around the temple.
Finally, it has an EPS shock-absorbing lining that greatly reduces and absorbs the impact forces during an accident, keeping your head safe and in one place.
Ventilation
An important part of what makes a motorcycle helmet safe is its ventilation capabilities and how it redistributes incoming air.
The X-Spirit III has you covered with an impressive ventilation system.
It contains 2 chin vents, one at the top and one at the bottom, both of which are operated by a slider.
The top vent allows air to flow around the mouth and move towards the back of the visor, whilst the bottom lets the air flow towards the cheeks, cooling your face down.
On top of the helmet are two sets of vents, cooling your scalp with the incoming air. This, paired with the 5 rear exhaust vents, also helps the air escape through the back of the helmet.
All the vents at the top of the helmet also work with a slider mechanism, allowing you to simply open or close them.
Visor
Visibility on the road is another important safety precaution. Fog is a culprit that leads to visors becoming nearly impossible to see through during cold, rainy days and nights.
The X-Spirit III acknowledges this problem and comes to the table with a solution. The Pinlock Evo antifog insert comes included with the helmet.
Simply applying this to the visor prevents it from fogging easily.
The visor system itself is super easy to clean and swap out with other visors.
It’s also spring loaded meaning it’s easier to keep the visor against the gasket, allowing for wind and rain to stay outside the helmet and away from your face.
Finally, the visor includes turbulators that help reduce noise and buffeting.
Closing Remarks
If you’re asking yourself how much you should pay for a motorcycle helmet, prices vary depending on the helmet’s features, materials, and design.
Since Shoei produces premium helmets, these bad boys can clock in anywhere between $,1000 to $1,100 depending on the colour scheme. With its wide list of features and gimmicks, you’re getting your money’s worth.
AGV Pista GP RR
AGV is an Italian motorcycle helmet manufacturer that’s never shied away from creating some of the best and safest helmets on the market.
The AGV Pista GP RR is an extremely high-quality helmet with all the bells and whistles that make it a beast; one that will protect you from the dangers of an accident.
The Pista series of motorcycle helmets are replicas of those worn by championship racers like Valentino Rossi.
Design and Safety
The Pista GP RR comes in many different colours and designs, the most common of which is the dark iridium carbon colourway.
And if you’re looking for the best motorcycle helmet colour for visibility, I recommend choosing one of the racers-inspired designs of the Pista GP RR as their urban designs make for a more youthful and exciting helmet.
These range from stripes of various colours and patterns to printed decals and numbers.
Since AGV designed this helmet to be worn by acclaimed racers such as Valentino Rossi, it makes sense that this is one of the best helmets in terms of protection.
Its shell is made of carbon fibre. It comes in 4 different sizes and includes a double D-ring retention system.
As we know, carbon fibre shells offer excellent protection from impact, so this is a good addition.
The Pista GP RR uses a 5-density EPS absorbing lining with the inclusion of inner padding, making for a comfortable and safe feeling.
It also includes adjustable cheek and crown pads that can easily be fitted or removed when necessary.
The inner padding is made of anti-microbial and moisture-cooling materials to help make washing the pads an easier job.
The way you treat your sweaty motorcycle boots should be the same way you treat your sweaty padding: giving it a well-deserved scrub.
Another neat feature is the integrated hydration system, which is a tube that’s routed around the helmet and leads to the mouth of the rider.
In other words, you can stay hydrated when driving instead of having to open the visor every time you want a sip of water.
Ventilation
The Pista GP RR has one chin vent and three vents located around the forehead. The former is an open-and-close sliding mechanism while the latter works by removing and inserting bungs.
An area that has the best ventilation on the GP RR is the scalp as all the vents combined do a great job at redistributing incoming air from the front to the scalp, then back out of the rear vents.
Visor
The field of vision on the Pista GP RR is huge, which is important for those who are racers or those who want a wider view so that they can easily spot incoming vehicles in their blind spot.
Pair this with the incredible visor and you have yourself a recipe for one of the safest helmets on the market.
The visor itself works with a pin-lock system, allowing your vision to be free of fog and keeping it in place during the event of an accident.
This helps to keep any rocks or gravel from contacting that beautiful face.
The visor is wide and uses the XQRS—Extra Quick Release System—making the removal of the current and the insertion of a new visor an easy task.
It’s around 3.5 mm thick, offering class 1 optical correctness. In other words, you have minimum distortion when riding.
Closing Remarks
Given that these helmets are designed to be replicas of championship helmets, along with them using the best of the best in terms of materials, the price is high.
You can pick up the AGV Pista GP RR for $2,450, with prices varying depending on what colour scheme or design you choose. This helmet is more expensive than the previous entry but its championship racer blood along with safety features such as the XQRS make up for the asking price.
X-Lite X803 RS
X-Lite is a company based in Poole, England. It’s renowned for its wide range of lightweight, safe, and affordable helmets.
The RS stands for Racetrack Setup meaning that this version of the X803 is built to use in races. This also means that it has impressive protection features.
Design and Safety
The X-Lite X803 RS looks sporty and aggressive. Gone are the simple single-colour options, and instead we get some multicolour stripes, graphics, and patterns.
This means the helmet offers a variety of patterns and colourways that shows your fellow riders that you’re ready to race.
Whether you choose the black helmet with red and white waves drifting across the top, or the serpent-looking black and gold design, you’ll be the fiercest-looking rider out there.
The outer shell is made from a combination of carbon, Kevlar, and fibreglass, so you’re getting a rigid and secure helmet. It also comes in 3 different shell sizes.
The rear side of the outer shell contains a large spoiler that reduces the noise of the incoming wind as well as increases stability when riding over bumpy terrain.
This spoiler can easily be removed if you aren’t a fan of them.
A feature that makes for a more comfortable helmet is the extended design of the chin, allowing for more space and comfort in that area.
The carbon EPS liner paired with the emergency quick-release system makes for a helmet with inner components that are not only safe but easy to remove and wash.
Another bonus for the lining containing carbon is that it keeps the inside of your helmet cool as well as prevents static noise, all of which is thanks to the carbon filaments.
Ventilation
Ventilation systems in sports helmets need to be good, especially if racers are riding at high speeds and require the cool wind to be distributed properly.
What makes the ventilation in this helmet stand out from previous entries is the inclusion of X-Lite’s RAF system.
The X803 RS uses the Racing Air Flow System to ensure that the rider keeps cool during those hot summer days.
RAF is essentially a pair of front chin vents with exhausts, twin forehead vents above the visor region, followed by twin crown vents.
All the vents in RAF are operated using sliders, making opening and closing them, as easy as a single slide upwards or downwards.
The carbon internal lining helps to circulate the air within the helmet, keeping your face cool and redistributing your sweat when riding so that you don’t suffocate in your stank.
Finally, there’s a set of rear vents located near the spoiler, giving the air a safe place to escape.
Visor
The X803 RS’s visor has a greatly improved vertical and horizontal visibility compared to its predecessors.
It uses a silicon visor seal that not only helps to prevent noise when riding against strong winds but keeps water and moisture away from your face.
The visor on the X803 RS uses a quick-release visor system so if you happen to be in an accident, paramedics can easily take your visor off.
It’s also pin-lock ready out of the box and the visor itself can be locked in place to prevent it from opening or closing during your ride.
Closing Remarks
It's safe to say that if you want a helmet that gives you maximum safety and protection from impact during an accident, you’ll be spending over $900 as the materials used in these helmets are the best out there.
The X-Lite X803 RS goes for around $1,000.
Best Motorcycle Helmet Safety Rating
When looking at motorcycle helmet safety ratings, there are 3 contenders. These include DOT, Snell, and ECE.
The Department of Transportation (DOT) certification is a must for any riders in the United States and is considered the minimum safety rating for any helmet.
The test is performed by placing the helmet on a crash test dummy and putting it through various penetration and impact activities.
DOT often receives criticism as companies lie about whether the helmet was tested. These companies are the ones who put the DOT stamp on their products.
The Snell safety rating is another one used in the US and is independently enforced by the Snell Memorial Foundation.
Since it is independent, the certification isn’t mandatory. However, this along with the DOT certification shows that the product and its prototype have been tested.
The tests are similar to DOT but the impacts and penetration activities are harder and are performed from higher heights.
The highest motorcycle helmet standard is ECE, or the Economic Commission certification. This is widely used in Europe and has been labelled as the most approved certification in the world.
The testing is more in-depth than the former certifications as it tests every element contained in the helmet.
This includes everything from the chin strip’s tension to the durability and clarity of the visor. Unlike DOT, companies cannot self-certify this standard, making it more reliable.
Where do the helmets on our list rank, and what are their certifications?
The Shoei X-Spirt III is Snell and DOT certified, giving it more credibility than if it were just DOT.
The AGV Pista GP RR and the X-Lite X803 RS have DOT, Snell, and ECE certifications, meaning that these helmets are the best of the best in terms of protection and safety.
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