Carbon fiber motorcycle helmets
From one of the most expensive carbon fiber motorcycle
helmets to the more affordable, they feature the same thing: they're light,
strong and perhaps ideal for sport touring to reduce the possible pain in your
shoulder or neck. Will they be the perfect choice for you? We will try to help
you answer this question.
What's the hype about it?
Well it's the high tensile strength, high stiffness, low
weight in other words a very high strength-to-weight ratio. On the other hand,
as there will always be a compromise in properties, carbon fiber is a rather
brittle material.
Is the weight so important? The answer to this is yes, but most
of all is the weight distribution so the center of gravity. If the weigh is
properly balanced around your head that helmet would be more comfortable to
wear than something of the same weight but poorly balanced. This is why it is so important to wear it in a shop for quite a while before you buy not to mention the checks you do when fitting your helmet.
Carbon fiber motorcycle helmets market
Probably the biggest market for the carbon fiber motorcycle helmets is
in racing, where the strength-to-weight ratio needs to be the highest and the
cost does not matter much. Situation differs when it comes to street riding or
touring. Some of them might be the best helmets money can buy, with others though it can be difficult to justify the price.
 |
 |
It's worth noticing that although some names may suggest
that a helmet is made of the carbon fiber, the truth may be that they still use
fibre glass and other composites. The reason for this is that carbon fiber is
not always good to use for the full construction, as mentioned it is very
brittle and rather tricky to form, especially for the job in outer shell
construction.
Since most brands nowadays offer one or more made of carbon
fiber, some may not be necessarily the best option for you. The more affordable
or even cheap helmets made of carbon fiber can be a compromise between the
material used and flimsy finished features. Often the material is the only
selling point. So you end up paying for
the material, not for the quality helmet.
 |
 |
Moreover very few really use the carbon fiber for all shell layers,
and if they use, they're rather costly. The example here would be the Arai RX-7
RC. This helmet isn't cheap but with peripherally belted reinforcement it is
one of the most expensive and most advanced racing helmets. The strengthening
belt is placed just above the visor to give the helmet highest strength. The
high price results also from a rather long time to manufacture one. Only the
outer shell can take up to one full working day to complete and has to be done
by hand.
Carbon fiber motorcycle helmets are the strongest made helmets money can buy and constant technological updates make them better each time. They may cost more than their fiberglass counterparts, but they may or may not be worth the extra money. At the end what you need to consider is not only the material you want to wear around your head but the build quality and comfort a helmet offers. There is no point of getting a helmet with great materials if it lacks features and quality or even a shape that you require.
Return to motorcycle helmet reviews
Return to motorcycle sport touring Home Page