why don't they make helmets like football helmets?

[mason79]

here's a question for you guys, our helmets, deteriorate after even one drop to the ground and after 5 years the foam is gone, if we're lucky,

has anyone ever seen a riddel football gear, were they pump air to coustom fit the shape of your head and then go on to tackle game after game and, i don't know but how fast do you think those guys actually hit each other?

just a fun question, respond if you like

[TopCatGr58]

The Difference is in the Impact force!

Hey Mason,

You asked for it!! After a bit o' research the criteria for protection against football speed and force impacts is much different and LESS than those for Bicycle and motorized vehicle impacts!

[quote]
The Plastics Foundation

"Plastic Bubble" -
Bicycling accounts for over 850,000 injuries a year in children 14 and younger. According to National Safe Kids, most of these injuries could be prevented with the use of plastic protective gear. In fact, plastic bicycle helmets can help reduce the risk of brain injury up to 85% percent. The Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute requires a helmet to absorb 300 “G’s” of force in certified tests. That’s impressive, not to mention lightweight, comfortable and cool-looking too!

Brain Injury Assoc.
Will I need to replace a helmet after an impact? That depends on the severity of the impact and whether the helmet can withstand one impact (a single-impact helmet) or more than one impact (a multiple-impact helmet). For example, bicycle helmets are designed to protect against a single severe impact, such as a bicyclist’s fall onto the pavement. The foam material in the helmet will crush to absorb the impact energy during a fall or collision and can’t protect you again from an additional impact. Even if there are no visible signs of damage to the helmet, you must replace it. Other helmets are designed to protect against multiple moderate impacts. Two examples are football and ice hockey helmets. These helmets are designed to withstand multiple impacts of the type associated with the respective activities. However, you may still have to replace the helmet after one severe impact, or if it has visible signs of damage, such as a cracked shell or permanent dent in the shell or liner.
340 lbs at 5mph = 1820 lbs, and then double that for head to head.
**I couldn't find any info on "G's" of impact with football collisions, but see below regarding different "G" forces required for Death vs. Concussion injury!**

Snell Motorcycle Helmet Impact Test Standard:
E4.4 Impact Test Interpretation
The peak acceleration of the headform shall not exceed 290 G’s for any valid certifi cation impact nor 300 G’s for any other valid test impact.

Bicycle Helmet Safety Institute:
Most helmets, including all bicycle helmets on the market, are designed to reduce catastrophic injuries, not to prevent concussions. Doctors define concussion in various ways, but if an impact knocks you out or makes you lose memory for a few seconds, that's a concussion. Catastrophic injury is permanent or semi-permanent brain injury. Although the lines between them are blurred, a bike helmet is designed to keep g forces below 300 in a crash, while a concussion helmet would have to keep them below about 85 g. Our assumption has been that you will survive a concussion, but not the catastrophic injury.

[mason79]

hey topcat,

and that settle that!

[trbig]

340 lbs at 5mph = 1820 lbs, and then double that for head to head.

5 MPH.... 340 pounds?? Sounds like lineman stats to me. Back in high school, I remember being clocked at 17 mph, and I was slower on my 40 yd dashes than most 300+ pound linemen in the NFL now. Now consider the big backs like Jerome Bettis at 250 pounds and WAY faster than a lineman.... and a defensive back at 200+ pounds. I wouldn't think it would be uncommon at all for a 40 mph closing speed. (20 mph a piece)= 18,000 lbs.. or 9 TONS! That has to be more than highway speed rated! Still wonder why those "Wussy" quarterbacks keep getting concussions?
So... who's going with the full face mask lineman style.... and who is going to use the little one-barred kicker style?? Man we'd look cool wouldn't we?? lol

Tod

[TopCatGr58]

Hey Todd,

Yeah, I thought that 5mph speed stat was a bit conservative as well!! Other info I didn't post was about how they haven't really updated the requirements for helmets for quite some time...decades!

When was the last time you were going "just" 40 mph on your XJ/XS11? Also, with the footballers, BOTH participants are wearing helmets, so you also get double the cushioning affect on impact with a head to head hit, both helmets give way, again reducing the actual amount of protection needed. Whereas ours quite often hit very hard immobile objects...pavement, cars, signs, etc., so again the much higher impact standards are required to prevent "Fatality" at much higher impact speeds!!!
T.C.

[trbig]

Probably doesn't hurt to have a neck as big as a thigh like they do also!

As for the last time I only went 40 on my bike... was too &*%$ long ago. Nothing but problems with that guy that was supposed to rewire my stator. When I finally did get it back this Friday (After nearly a month and a half... was HORRIBLE trying to get some kind of communication back)... don't get me wrong... his wiring job looks great.... but he made the wires coming out of the sideplate 17 inches shorter than the origunal... so I couldn't even plug the $*&^% thing in... then found out that even if I could, he attached the wrong plug for it!! And I was soooo ready to ride this weekend. There's no way I would wait another month and a half trying to send it back to him to fix it.

I can't say enough about Tony (Geezer). I emailed him Friday to see if he had any plugs to help me out. He suggested making an extesion adapter harness instead of splicing the wires. He shipped me what I needed the very next day. There was almost no money involved, so he wasn't doing it for that. He's just a hell of a nice guy that likes helping people when he can. If you have any electrical questions, problems, or needs, visit his website and help HIM out if he has what you need. Thanks again Tony.

Oregon Motorcycle Parts

Tod

PS. Sorry.. didn't mean to hijack the post!!