The coolest helmet design's...
01-26-2009, 12:30 PM
#31
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speaking of helmets, what brands do you recommend, lets start off with comfort first and then value, i dont mind paying good money for a good helmet but it has to be comfortable.
01-26-2009, 12:48 PM
#32
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I've only owned 1 motorcycle helmet and 2 racing helmets, so I'm not able to compare much. But I would think that comfort is unrelated to brand. Since the shape of everyone's head is unique, finding the most comfortable helmet is a case trying 'em all on. For me, that ended up being a Bell.
01-26-2009, 01:00 PM
#33
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I used Office Max paper that is packaged as "Laptop Skin". It's the same stuff that SkinIt uses http://www.skinit.com/
My printer is a 4-year old HP Photosmart inkjet.
The vinyl is stretchable, but only to an extent. You can't make a single graphic wrap around even a fourth of the surface area, but it was certainly very easy to stretch the center line of each of these graphics so that the surface area matched the curvature of the helmet.
It's also pretty strong. You can see in the rear that I cut around the flames on the right hand side so that the paper wouldn't cover up the flames on the left hand side... I was pulling on those delicate pieces fairly hard, and it didn't tear.
It helps that the base vinyl is white, and I started with a white helmet. Made it much easier to cut near the edge of a graphic vs precisely at the edge of a graphic.
They're also easy to re-position during the application, which made it easy to fix initial mistakes in trying to get it all symmetrical.
The best part is that I can change it up when I get tired of a given design.
My printer is a 4-year old HP Photosmart inkjet.
The vinyl is stretchable, but only to an extent. You can't make a single graphic wrap around even a fourth of the surface area, but it was certainly very easy to stretch the center line of each of these graphics so that the surface area matched the curvature of the helmet.
It's also pretty strong. You can see in the rear that I cut around the flames on the right hand side so that the paper wouldn't cover up the flames on the left hand side... I was pulling on those delicate pieces fairly hard, and it didn't tear.
It helps that the base vinyl is white, and I started with a white helmet. Made it much easier to cut near the edge of a graphic vs precisely at the edge of a graphic.
They're also easy to re-position during the application, which made it easy to fix initial mistakes in trying to get it all symmetrical.
The best part is that I can change it up when I get tired of a given design.
01-26-2009, 01:05 PM
#35
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Yeah, it did take a few hours to cut it all out and apply it... of course I was constantly interrupted every time a commercial ended during the last few hours of the Rolex 24 at Daytona! I probably could have done it in less than an hour without the distraction.
01-26-2009, 01:19 PM
#36
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I don't like Rubens Barrichello's helmet but in 1995 he used one that was a tribute to Ayrton Senna...first one is Barrichello's usual helmet (boring and I don't like it)...the second is a tribute to Senna, I think it's so cool.
01-26-2009, 02:06 PM
#38
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Needs More Cowbell
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Remember: Fit, Fit and Fit.
As has been stated many times before, different helmet manufacturers use different anthropomorphic models of the (adult) human head, so you may have been born with an Arai shaped head or a Bell shaped head.
Try on as many different helmet brands as you can and make sure you get the correct size (your cheeks should be 'squished' just a little bit and if you rotate the helmet, your skin on your cheeks should go along for the ride)....a loose/improperly fitted helmet won't do you any good.
If you can't find something that fits (that you like), then you can always have Stand21 make a custom helmet per your head measurements.
Also remember the homologation cycles/dates. Right now a Snell SA2005 helmet is good thru 2015 (approx 6 more years), whereas when the SA2010 helmets are released (within a year or so), it would be good thru 2020.
01-26-2009, 06:26 PM
#42
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01-27-2009, 12:53 AM
#45
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As Lewis said, fit fit fit- I've always used Bells, mine on the left is patterned after Mark Blundell, while my son's on the right is patterned after his favourite driver Greg Moore. My other son (in the middle) used the $$ saved on the paint job on his race car... (painted by bullseye visual)
