Five-year helmet lifespan?

[shooter]

My Shoei's are factory warranted for five years. Might have something to do with that.

[willtill]

I usually change my helmets out every 3 or 4 years. Unless of course it was dropped. I live in Arizona and for many years I kept my helmets in my garage. I had a beautiful Suomi that I wore for many years, after 5 years the interior of the helmet was just crumbling. I now keep my helmets indoors, tremendous heat build up just destroys the inner liner, don't know about the styrofoam however.

I have dropped my helmets very infrequently over the years. Normally it doesn't ever seem to be a hard impact with the ground. I know many of you will say that you cannot see the interior of the helmet's Styrofoam structure and inspect for damage; but if the exterior of the shell itself shows no signs of damage; I wager that the inside components are fine. There was nothing in the helmet itself (such as a head) which would've compressed the Styrofoam structure from within during the drop... so IMHO the helmet is most likely still serviceable.

As was remarked... replacing helmets every 5 years or due to a drop.... is mainly liability on the manufacturers interests.

[seadog]

It depends largely on what your helmet is constructed of, fiber glass does dry out and become brittle over the years, the new helmets with polycarbonate and all these exotic concoctions are probably going to go a lot further in safe protection. I am guilty of hanging on to a comfortable helmet like the rest of us, as a matter of fact I am just replacing a helmet I bought when I got my M109R back in 07. But it was a nice helmet and still is for that matter of fact but it was a cheaper one and its way past it time.

[opas ride]

I read an article in the Motorcycle Consumer News, I think, a few years back, that indicated if your involved in a crash and suffer some type of head injury, that the manufacturer of your helmet cannot be held liable if it is over 5 years old....Assuming your wearing one and the lawyers can prove that the helmet was over the 5 year limit...Seems like a lot of legal BS to me, but I do not have or wear any helmets over 5/6 years old....I did have an older HJC several years ago that I dropped off a higher shelf in my garage and it did crack the top surface for whatever reason....Heads are pretty "damn" important so do what ever you feel safe/comfortable doing as it is your choice!!!

[3Chief]

It may have changed but years ago I did a safety paper on helmets and what I found at the time was only 2 or 3 % difference in survival at speeds over 25 mph. It's mostly the difference between an open or closed casket funeral if you impact your head.

[wjduke]

It may have changed but years ago I did a safety paper on helmets and what I found at the time was only 2 or 3 % difference in survival at speeds over 25 mph. It's mostly the difference between an open or closed casket funeral if you impact your head.

Surprising stat....mine at least "helped" when it hit the road. I will not admit to any dame bramage.

[3Chief]

Surprising stat....mine at least "helped" when it hit the road. I will not admit to any dame bramage.

Not saying they don't help with glancing blows, it's the direct shots that it doesn't seem to matter much. However, every little bit helps...

[shooter]

I personally think Duke had previous unrelated damage.

[Old Ryder]

There is a lot of legal crap going on right now. While at bike week, one of the helmet retailers told me of a story of an older man and woman on a Harley when somebody ran a light and T Boned them. The man dies and the wife lives. The insurance company--did not say who's or what company--was fighting the case because neither were wearing a DOT approved helmet. They were wearing cheap novelty helmets and because the state did not require helmets at all. However, because they WERE wearing A helmet and it was NOT approved, they were saying they did not have to pay. Not sure of the outcome or just where it was---I was eavesdropping as I was buying my own helmet. After dealing with reptiles at GEICO in an auto injury in which my wife was a passenger, it sounds very familiar. They are now looking for every reason to deny a claim.

[53driver]

MSF recommends every 5 years because the "average" rider (no one on this forum of course ) stores their helmets in a non-climate controlled environment and the "frequent" rider has theirs out in the sun a lot, riding and on the bike in-between stops.

But the big reason cited: advances in technology and comfort should be employed to keep the head as safe & comfortable (i.e. you'll wear the dang thing) as possible.

Cheers,
Steve