When to get a new helmet?

Agreed, I don't think it is gender related as well. In my senior year of high school football I did a bonehead move and stuck my hand out to catch my fall, no idea why as it wasn't a common reaction for me. My only guess was it was due to lack of concentration as it was a thursday pre-game practice in half-pads. Ended up going backwards over the tackle pile that I didn't realize was right behind me. Trying to catch myself ended in two spiral fractures of the metacarpals in my right hand. I did land very strangely though, like if you make a V-shape with your thumb and index finger and tried to catch yourself with that.

I buy a new helmet every time my wife gets herself a new pair of shoes.
Seems fair.

On a more serious note, I got pranged by a car about five years ago, I don't recall even hitting my head during the incident, but a small mark on the back of my then brand new helmet said otherwise. I still suffer from post-concussion issues. So that helmet sits on the shelf collecting dust with the rest of the collection.

Target practice with propane bottle inside. Just say'n.....

That helmet definitely did it's job. Better invest in a new one, it wont take another hit like that. Glad you're ok.

I have to get a new one because my overloaded KLR blew over, but the fall was broken by my helmet that I placed over the left hand guard while I went into the gas station. Lame. But the bike fell just as I was walking back out, and it fell on the helmet HARD.

Yep, Josh did the same thing this weekend. Toasted a helmet. I try to set my helmet on the ground outside the fall zone of the bike.

In the middle of a 100 mile ride, a buddy put his helmet on the end of his bars when we were stopped. He pulled his gas cap to see how much fuel he had. While trying to slosh the tank he tipped the bike over & filled his helmet with premix. The rest of the ride pretty much sucked to be him.

Wow that was looking good coming up that hill, until it didn't. I've had a few of those myself, so I don't ride those kinds of hills anymore. Regarding blocking your fall I have broken both wrists, an ankle and my left shoulder. I must be sticking everything out I can!

My son's both have lots of road racing under their belts. We have boxes and boxes of Arai's sitting on the shelf, each with its own story from Daytona to Willow Springs. Any impact at all and they get replaced. Even without an impact they should probably be replaced every three seasons or so.

Interesting to read of your experiences, I don't get to ride much rock here (mostly clay & sand) but know that I ride better standing and have a better chance of getting past an obstacle on the pegs rather than on the seat. Any time I'm sitting down paddling I am cursing my slowness to get on the pegs and I'm definately not a professional (unless you define professional as "that imbecile has fallen off again hasn't he?").

As to falling off (I am a professional here) I use a tuck and roll technique and to date haven't damaged anything, I do wear a pressure suit and decent knee braces and plenty of bruising usually occurs but no breakages. Mind you, I have been called "somewhat slow" so there may be a co-relation here....

Given my record of regular crashing, I don't replace the helmet too often, small knocks I don't worry about but when there's bits missing (trees!, I blame the trees!) I replace. Depends how fast you ride and the exposure to risk (how close is the ambulance?)
Crashing at speed is something else, the track helmet gets replaced whenever it touchs the ground.


Looks like a great riding spot and sounds like you had a blast, wish I had the opportunity to ride that sort of country!

Yeah, it didn't look that bad from the top view, until she started through it. Then I realized how rough it really is!!

It's so easy to view pictures and think "I could sail right through that, standing on the pegs" and so very different when you're the one battling all those rocks!

If I had any suggestions, it would be to try to keep the feet up. Not that I can do it every time, but usually when my feet go down, the rest of me follows shortly.

My worst helmet ender was after a LD trip.

I used to be in the habit of placing my gloves in my helmet. One morning on the trip, I noticed a bit of a smell in the helmet. Okay, what ever. By the end of the day I started getting a bit of a rash on my forehead. And thus the rest of the trip saw me trying to do my best in keeping the helmet and my skin dry, and wear a make shift do-rag.

When I got home, I tried Lysol, and other chemicals to try to get the smell out of the foam. It was getting better, but at some point I said fark it, too many chemicals can't be good for the foam, and tossed the helmet was. Sad day, really like the darn thing.

How, I never, ever, put my gloves in my helmet.

Here's the view from below. Trashy approach around a corner. Off-camber with diagonal ledges. Tires were moistened just prior to hitting the rocks. The shadowed spot to the left was a 2' deep hole with running water.

I'm with an earlier poster, foot on pegs. Maybe the bikes are too big or loaded for that? I suppose if you're riding anything over 400cc it makes more sense. There's a reason the pros stay on the pegs.

And there's a reason that 99.9% of us aren't pro's.

In this case, we had to start from a dead stop on a steep loose hill about 40' before the ledge. If the guy in front of me hadn't stopped at the obstacle, I would have been on the pegs with some momentum and cleaned it.

You can tell the girl knows how to ride, it was just one of those times out of 100 that falling where you cannot plant a foot happens. That time it was in a tricky rock section and on a tall bike.

Standing is not a default position, but only another "tool" to be used from a dirt bikers tool chest. She was not out of position considering the small amount momentum that she had. Just too bad the guy was not higher up the hill to help spot better in that trouble area.