Ok so you got your nice sport-touring rig, and spent a couple bills on a decent helmet.  It fits perfect so you're set.  Now you go for a long day ride and about 100 miles in, your head starts to itch.  Shifting the helmet around on your head makes it feel better for a few seconds, then it gets much worse.  Pretty soon it's driving you fricken nuts and you gotta do something about this RIGHT NOW.  But what to do?

 

Hey, it's not your hair that itches...  hair has no nerves which is why you can get a haircut without screaming a lot.  It's not the helmet either, as far as I know helmets have no feelings.  It's your SCALP, the skin that covers your head {duh}.

 

I read once that itchy skin is dry skin.  When the above scenario happened to me {somewhere on the Blue Ridge Parkway}, I went into what passes for a convenient store on the BRP and bought a small bottle of skin moisturizing lotion.  I don't care if it's Lubriderm, Jergens, whatever you can get.  Many sunscreen products will work just as well {and if you're riding big miles you should have some, if only for what parts of your face get sun.}

 

Work the stuff into your scalp, and see if that itch doesn't go away.  Might make your hair nice and shiny too!  Using a conditioner on your scalp before the ride can help too, but I found basic skin moisturizer to work the best.

 

Rick S. 9/2/05

 

 

I got a catalog in the mail and there was a blurb about the ECE 22-05.  I don't know much about ECE except that it's used in European countries {reminds me of CE} and apparently it's approved by most if not all racing organizations.

 

I did a comparison online of the tests and it seems to me that ECE isn't quite as challenging as the Snell testing, yet there are ECE tests run that have no Snell equivalent.  Anyways, it got me thinking about Snell/DOT.

 

From what I've read, a DOT-only full-face helmet is probably better for most riders in terms of safety alone.  A Snell helmet has to be pretty "stiff" to absorb the various heavy impacts imposed by Snell testing.  A DOT-only lid can be a little more giving, which means that given an equal hit, your bell gets rung a little less loudly.  It's like having a softer pillow!  I don't think it has been PROVEN either way, but I don't think an impact that would cause a DOT lid to fail where a Snell helmet would succeed is survivable anyways.  Just too many "G's" for your brain to handle all at once.

 

So you're thinking my next lid will be DOT?  Probably not.  Having owned several Snell helmets and one full-face DOT helmet, I'm convinced the big difference to the rider isn't in safety, it's in day-to-day quality.  The best lids I've owned...  two Shoei TZ-1 helmets and a KBC Wolf {all Snell}, were much quieter and much more comfortable than any DOT-only lid I've tried.  This isn't a function of the testing criteria, it's a function of the price point the lid has been built to.  A quiet helmet is SUCH a nice thing.  On the other hand, I've owned a cheap, yet Snell approved helmet which wasn't anywhere near the quality of the Shoei or KBC... so a Snell sticker alone isn't enough to indicate a great quality helmet.  Until a manufacturer steps up with a DOT-only helmet built otherwise to comparable quality with available Snell approved lids, I'll be sticking with Snell helmets, although I won't rule out ECE either.

 

Rick S.  8/19/05

 

Update 8/28/05

 

Wastemc member Etz asked me about this article, in particular mentioning that he was aware of the ECE standard but that he wasn't aware of these lids being available in the States.  The reason I got to writing about this in the first place was a flier I had received from Shade Tree Powersports.  Here's a link to some "Shark" helmets they sell with the ECE and DOT standards  http://tinyurl.com/c596q  This flier was the first I had even heard of the ECE standard, let alone it's availability here in the States.

 

Look, I wear jeans all the time, most people I know wear them- everybody has them.  All I'm saying is, jeans are pretty well useless when it comes to riding.

 

Let's look at the facts: denim doesn't stop wind.  It's not the least bit water-resistant.  It's not especially warm when the temperature is cold out.  It's DEFINITELY not especially cool when it's hot.  It might LOOK cool but that's about all denim can do for you.

 

As a construction worker I find jeans to be barely adequate in terms of abrasion resistance- on a motorcycle, not even close.  Crash your bike even at a very moderate speed, and if you're wearing jeans, it's only pure luck if you escape without road rash.

 

When I finally woke up to wearing decent motorcycle-specific gear, I started out wearing jeans under my textile pants.  Not a great idea.

 

Here's the deal- denim grabs most of your sweat and holds it nice and close to your body.  If you were riding without overpants most of it might evaporate unless it's really hot out, but with overpants on, it just plain won't.  It's not generally well known, but "monkey-butt", the bane of long distance riders, is often caused by sweat.  Since those days I learned to wear polar-fleece when temperatures allow {really nice when it's cold}, micro-fiber pants when it's warmer, or shorts if it's really hot.  I've also learned other lessons related to Monkey-butt but that will be the subject of another Random Thought.

 

You're saying "It's too hot to wear my overpants, I'm gonna wear jeans today"?  People, the pavement doesn't care how hot out it is.  I've owned textile mesh pants {popularized by Joe Rocket although many manufacturers make them now} and they're worlds better than jeans when the temp gets high.  I don't think mesh pants can stand up to full textile overpants or leather, but I think their abrasion resistance is adequate for most crashes.  And they're armored!  Joe Rocket Phoenix pants served me well in one low-speed unplanned dismount.  They're so cheap these days, spend a few bucks and save wear-and-tear on your favorite Wranglers!

 

Hey, I don't mean to be on some kind of high horse here- when I started out riding my regular uniform was denim jeans and jacket... unless it was warm enough, then I'd just wear t-shirt and jeans or better yet, SHORTS.  Since then I've learned that we can do much better, and choosing the right gear can make your ride safer, more comfortable, and more FUN.  That's why we're out there, right?

 

Rick S. 8/14/05