Guided by the wires, the headform and helmet plummet onto the anvil below. To past the DOT standard, they have to do this twice and still provide good energy absorption. Your head won't survive the first trip unprotected.
Hit Me
The most important impact test was the six-foot DOT drop onto a flat anvil, and we picked the area above the forehead for this test. Although disparaged by the anti-helmet faction because of its seemingly moderate 13-mph impact speed, the test is actually pretty demanding, representing a 90-percentile protection scenario in a crash. And that is just for the first impact. What makes the DOT motorcycle helmet standard so demanding is that it requires two hits in the same place. The shell and the liner must have enough shock-absorption capability left to handle a second 90-percentile whack in the same place, something that you can just about be certain will never happen to you. We were mostly interested in how these helmets absorbed the first hit, but we conducted the second drop just to see how they fared in the full DOT impact regimen.
The DOT standard specifies a maximum acceleration that the helmet can transfer, but it also has a dwell-time limit; it may not exceed 200g for more than 2.0 milliseconds. In that critical first hit to the front crown area, the Lazer and Shoei, at 142gs and 144gs, respectively, were the top performers, followed by the Arrow (158), Nolan (163), HJC (168), Zeus (183) and Schuberth (210gs and .8ms). When we dropped them again just as hard on the same place, the order changed in the middle of the pack as the Gs went up a bit and the dwell time became a factor: Lazer (166) and Shoei (178) remained on top, but HJC (196) moved into third, followed by Nolan (205gs and .8ms), Zeus (207gs, 1.1 ms), Arrow (209gs, 1.2 ms) and Schuberth, which at 237gs had a dwell time over 200gs of 2.1ms, one of those trivial DOT failures. We didn't regard this as too troublesome because it was the second hit. We also suspected that the Schuberth was handicapped by our choice of impact locations because its retractable sunscreen needed space precisely in that area. All of these impacts came in far below the DOT's 400g maximum limit.
The roll-off test was performed by strapping the helmet (with the face section locked closed) to the headform, then dropping the blue weight attached to the rear edge. This recreates the rolling-off forces that can occur. Some helmets had problems.
Next, we repeated the test, dropping each helmet twice on its left side. This time, the Shoei at 174gs was best, followed by the HJC (184gs) and Nolan (192gs). Dwell time became a factor for the Lazer (202gs, .4ms), Zeus (204gs, .3ms), Arrow (209gs, .8ms) and Schuberth (209gs, 1.1ms), but all passed the 2.0ms dwell-time requirement. The second drop on the left side had an interesting twist. The Shoei was still best at 177gs, but the Lazer (189gs) and Schuberth (197gs) moved up to second and third, probably because their partially crushed shells actually became better energy absorbers. The order for the rest was HJC (218gs, 1.7ms), Nolan (22gs, 1.6ms), Arrow (233gs, 1.5ms) and Zeus (234gs, 1.9ms).
None of these helmets claim to meet the Snell standard, but just to see how they would fare in terms of the basic Snell impact, we dropped each twice from the Snell-standard 10-foot height onto a flat anvil. Each drop was to a different spot on the helmet; one to the right side, one to the rear. Only the Zeus, at 316gs in its right-side drop, permitted more than the Snell-allowed 300gs through to the headform on one hit. The Shoei, Lazer and Nolan were the best in the heavy hits, while the Schuberth, HJC and Arrow turned in solid performances in the middle.
At the end of the day we had learned that all of these modular motorcycle helmets provide acceptable crash protection, as long as you make sure they will stay on your head by performing a roll-off test before you buy. For the motorcyclists who wants the best protection in this crowd, we suggest looking at the Nolan, Lazer or Shoei.
ARROW MONO CONVERTIBLE, $225
The pretty metallic blue of our Mono Convertible's polycarbonate shell consistently caught the eyes of people scanning our modular helmet collection and helped earn testers' top marks for appearance. The pivot hardware hides behind small faired-in covers, and the Italian stylists obviously took some time to fashion the two swooping top vents. However, the result requires that you adjust each vent separately instead of with a single control, and they have little discernible effect. The small chin vent does help defog on cold rides. A single chin button opens the plastic latch for the flip face, and it appears unlikely to open in a crash. Some testers complained that the latch movement was slightly stiff. The shield worked easily, even with heavy gloves, sealed well and may be removed with a coin. The eyeport provided a wider-than-average view. A unique option is a kit that lets you convert it to an open-face helmet.
In order to put the helmet on, you must first open the face, and we found the D-ring-buckled strap stiff, short and awkward to fasten. This was the most annoying of the minor cost-cutting shortcuts we noted. Most testers complained that it was noisy, perhaps because it runs slightly large, though one gave it his top marks (in this group) for quietness. The CoolMax liner has removable cheek pads and contributed to better-than-average comfort. The helmet rolled off a tester's head -- one usually has that problem -- but showed no inclination to depart the laboratory headform. It performed about average in our other lab testing and should provide both solid protection and eye-catching style for a street price of about $190. Our testers scored it as a B- average overall.
ARROW HELMETS
Giali USA (Protec Q Inc.)
5024F Departure Drive
Raleigh, NC 27616
(919) 877-8108
HJC SYMAX, $240
This Korean helmet maker has a well-established reputation for making solid helmets at attractive prices. The conservatively styled and well-finished Symax combines a fiberglass main shell with an ABS/polycarbonate face section. The face plate opens smoothly after you pull up on the single large latch button in the bottom of the chinbar, and it latches closed easily. Based on what we saw in the lab, we strongly advise any potential buyer to be certain that the Symax latch button does not open the facial section when the helmet rolls forward forcefully against the chin, neck or chest, as it might in a crash. The latch mechanism itself is plastic.
You can pull the helmet on or off without opening the face, and it fastens easily with a nicely D-ringed strap, which has an elastic band to prevent flapping. A removable breath deflector is standard. Two obvious but integrated top vents with exits are controlled by a single large slider and produced noticeable cooling, though the chin vent had little effect. Its top-rated interior padding is removable and washable and has a plush neck roll, contributing to high marks for comfort.
Some riders felt the helmet was noisy at highway speeds on a motorcycle, while others just said it was quietly windy -- which prevented fogging. The optically excellent face shield has a tool-less quick-detach system, seals well and operates easily. The eyeport restricts peripheral vision slightly more than the others, though top-to-bottom vision is good. One user rated the Symax as her favorite modular helmet overall to wear, and testers gave it an overall B grade. That score did not include lab testing, where it generally displayed solid protection except for rolling off the headform. Street prices start about $175.
HJC HELMETS
HJC America
16918 Edwards Avenue
Cerritos, CA 90703
(562) 407-2186
HJChelmets.com