SxS Helmet discussion

[Ziggy]

For those of you that have to use helmets.
What style helmet do you prefer and why?
I'm curious if you guys like/prefer mx style with goggles or full shield street bike style.
Do you have a windshield on your car that affects this choice?
Thanks for the input.

 

[Bails]

when we purchased our first SxS the wife and I agreed we would wear helmets. Then we had a kid and we continued wearing helmets, as that is the agreement we made and we wanted to be good examples to our kid. It is a small pain in the ass to use the helmet all the time, but only a small one. We set up our whole program around a full street bike helmet setup with an air pumper and in helmet music and intercom. We have a windshield however I don't think it plays in the discussion for us.

If I was younger and single I might not be wearing a helmet in AZ. If I was riding in Calif, I would get a
"pit crew" helmet that allows you to wear a intercom headset under the helmet. That way in AZ no helmet, just a headset and in Calif, put on the half helmet to be legal.

With all that being said I know people who have avoided head injuries ( I would say serious head injuries, the truth is all head injuries are serious) because they were wearing a helmet. Once you get used to wearing a helmet its not that bad.

 

[DarkJuJu]

I run a bell MX-9 MIPS helmet and just remove the visor, with a Persimmon HD shield, coms fit well, I just drimmel out a little room for the earpieces. Also helps with the drone of the yxz turbo motor

 

[HallettBill]

I use the Bell MX-9 also. Great helmet for side by sides as long as you don’t use an air pumper. But after New Years ride I think I’ll add a full windshield also.

 

[Ziggy]

Well, the reason I'm even asking about this is my wife kinda wants a helmet with no chin guard, she broke a collar bone with one before and has zero intention of wearing a chest protector in the car,lol.
I mention the fact of full shields in certain helmets vs wearing goggles. She did like this idea & would forego her fear of the chin guard if in fact this was a way others liked.
I grew up wearing Bell moto's so I don't care which I go with.
Open face ones might be nice too but I don't know

 

[DLC]

Use a helmet with a fresh air blower, they have a dust skirt, radio speakers. You don’t need goggles and stay basically dust free. No wind burn and breathing dusty air. They work really well in warmer, dusty rides. They have top, mid and side air intakes on helmets.

LOF posted a budget build for the air pumper

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

when we purchased our first SxS the wife and I agreed we would wear helmets. Then we had a kid and we continued wearing helmets, as that is the agreement we made and we wanted to be good examples to our kid. It is a small pain in the ass to use the helmet all the time, but only a small one. We set up our whole program around a full street bike helmet setup with an air pumper and in helmet music and intercom. We have a windshield however I don't think it plays in the discussion for us.

If I was younger and single I might not be wearing a helmet in AZ. If I was riding in Calif, I would get a
"pit crew" helmet that allows you to wear a intercom headset under the helmet. That way in AZ no helmet, just a headset and in Calif, put on the half helmet to be legal.

With all that being said I know people who have avoided head injuries ( I would say serious head injuries, the truth is all head injuries are serious) because they were wearing a helmet. Once you get used to wearing a helmet its not that bad.

We tried the "pit crew" helmets with the behind the head headsets and it is kind of a cluster. It works, but the problem is that there is a whole order of operations thing.

You can only do it this way... Goggles or glasses on, then Headset on. then helmet on, but the helmet straps have to go under the headset, so you fumble with that. Just a lot going on around your ears. Glasses will be easier than goggles for sure.

We ended up with the full face Bell Qualifier helmets from Rugged that are also plumbed for air.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Well, the reason I'm even asking about this is my wife kinda wants a helmet with no chin guard, she broke a collar bone with one before and has zero intention of wearing a chest protector in the car,lol.
I mention the fact of full shields in certain helmets vs wearing goggles. She did like this idea & would forego her fear of the chin guard if in fact this was a way others liked.
I grew up wearing Bell moto's so I don't care which I go with.
Open face ones might be nice too but I don't know

I would try an open face given our experience. You can wear goggles or glasses with it easily.

If you go full face, a pumper is the way to go.

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$200 for a wired one. You will also need a patch cord to go from the helmet to your intercom plugs.

 

[Bails]

We tried the "pit crew" helmets with the behind the head headsets and it is kind of a cluster. It works, but the problem is that there is a whole order of operations thing.

You can only do it this way... Goggles or glasses on, then Headset on. then helmet on, but the helmet straps have to go under the headset, so you fumble with that. Just a lot going on around your ears. Glasses will be easier than goggles for sure.

We ended up with the full face Bell Qualifier helmets from Rugged that are also plumbed for air.

Interesting. I like the concept however if it's that much of a pain, doesn't sound like it's for me.

Ultimately I like the air pumper setup we have. I didn't mention it in an earlier post, my 6 year old doesn't get the air pumper helmet. I'm not buying a new one for him every year, that could get real expensive. So for now he just eats dust in a regular off road motorcycle helmet. I know, parent of the year over here.

 

[Bpracing1127]

The purpose of a blower is to create positive pressure inside the helmet keeping dust out. The skirt makes all the difference. If you do a “street bike” helmet with no blower or skirt you will have more dust than you can breathe through. The open face with goggles will work but still breathing the dust.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Interesting. I like the concept however if it's that much of a pain, doesn't sound like it's for me.

Ultimately I like the air pumper setup we have. I didn't mention it in an earlier post, my 6 year old doesn't get the air pumper helmet. I'm not buying a new one for him every year, that could get real expensive. So for now he just eats dust in a regular off road motorcycle helmet. I know, parent of the year over here.

The concept sounded awesome and that is why I got the behind the head headsets originally. Then when we got the helmets we realized the PITA and that we looked like scooter riding europeans.

Don’t worry, My 2 kids eat dust in the MX helmets too. Honestly I think the whole pumper getup is probably too much going on for a small kid anyway.

Also you can buy helmet air manifolds separately and make your own air helmet. There are many styles.

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[BUDMAN]

Full face helmet with a dust skirt. I like it better than the mx style with goggles. We seem to stay warmer with the full face helmet.

 

[Mikes56]

HJC open faced with a boom mike, and a windshield.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

HJC open faced with a boom mike, and a windshield.

Honestly I think your setup is the best overall helmet setup. The full face helmet is nice in January, but it’s a sweat box in warmer weather.

 

[arch stanton]

my wife and i use full face street bike helmets i wear an Arai and my wife a Shoie both with intercome and music both of these helmets have removable and adjustable padding for a custom fit and are washable we only go to the dunes so i don't use a pumper. The other safty item that i highly recomend are wrist restraints i do not find them resrtictive or annoying while driving, i have seen many severe hand injuries from even a slow roll over were the helmet was not needed and people still put a hand out and had it crushed.

 

[Ziggy]

Geez Luise!
I kinda like the 3/4 open face idea but also like the skirted full face idea.
My body runs warm, wife has icy reptile blood.
Not having any seat time with the windshield yet gives me zero reference how warm/cold it would be verses the half windshield we had.
Wife likes the open face due to her collarbone breaking fear but also likes the dustless fullface route.
.
Think I need some serious rdp social worker consulting.
I hate this wishy-washy feeling, also hate buying stuff(aka wasting) that doesn't work out how we hope.

 

[LargeOrangeFont]

Geez Luise!
I kinda like the 3/4 open face idea but also like the skirted full face idea.
My body runs warm, wife has icy reptile blood.
Not having any seat time with the windshield yet gives me zero reference how warm/cold it would be verses the half windshield we had.
Wife likes the open face due to her collarbone breaking fear but also likes the dustless fullface route.
.
Think I need some serious rdp social worker consulting.
I hate this wishy-washy feeling, also hate buying stuff(aka wasting) that doesn't work out how we hope.

Drive the car a couple days with the windshield before you make any decision.

 

[Boatymcboatface]

Open face Moto helmet goggles and bandana for dust. I like the ease of putting on belts and helping put the kids belts on. If we stop on a ride I usually leave everything on no need to remove, with a full face I was always taking it on and off and wouldn’t put it on until I was all strapped in. I would have to bring sunglasses and hat now I just run tinted goggles and leave it on!

 

[Ziggy]

Damn it.....I thought for sure there'd be a clearer preference
We both can see the advantages of either style. Guess I might just get bothfawk!

 

[Boatymcboatface]

Damn it.....I thought for sure there'd be a clearer preference
We both can see the advantages of either style. Guess I might just get bothfawk!

I’ve got both a full face for when Im riding my motorcycle and the open face for in the RZR. I haven’t used the full face since my 1st trip after getting the open face in the RZR.

 

[Havaduner]

We are running open face Shoei helmets with coms. Sunglasses for both of us, as I can't stand wearing goggles in the SXS.
Even when we had the sand car at Glamis it was glasses, I just can't get used to googles in a car.
Our Can Am has a windshield, wasn't' sure about it when I was building, wouldn't be with out it now.
As for dust, If I'm not leading, I'm following far enough behind dust isn't a problem.

 

[counterpart7]

I run a bell MX-9 MIPS helmet and just remove the visor, with a Persimmon HD shield, coms fit well, I just drimmel out a little room for the earpieces. Also helps with the drone of the yxz turbo motor

I also run an MX-9 Adventure(Built in lens deal)

I grew up on bikes and wore my mx helmet in Rzrs for a few years. A couple years ago I tried a Pyrotech full face and it made me feel claustrophobic. The field of view seemed way too small for me and I felt like I had horse blinders on.

I've ran the MX-9 for a few years now and don't get claustrophobic with it and the field of view is wider than an mx helmet with goggles. Highly recommend them!

I also like to get them in really bright colors. You would be surprised how much easier it is to spot someone coming the opposite direction when they have a bright helmet on!

 

[Ziggy]

Ordered some 3/4 open face ones & comm kits. Guess we'll see how we like 'em. I haven't had an open face since the late 70s.