I'm buying a little 125cc to commute to the station with. I know next to nothing about motorcycles and associated safety equipment. Can anyone vouch for any decent full face helmets under £200 quid and anywhere cheap to buy online? I'll obviously try them on before buying.
Ta.
You need to wait until the next BMF show, where you will get kitted out properly from head to toe for as little as £150 (decent brands).
Google "BMF" and look at their website.
look for ACU certified helmets. £200 should get something decent - I'd suggest you look at Shark, Caberg, Suomi
HJC make some decent and well priced lids, but you really have to get the one that fits, for me Suomy fits my head and I've tried just about every lid out there, I've got a Bayliss rep and it's very plush and comfortable.
Buy the best one you can afford. Mine did it's job last month when i was knocked off and now sports a crack along the side where i hit the road.
Racevisors.co.uk seem to be a good place but i would also suggest going around a few shops and finding a brand that fits your head and see what specials the shop are running. You may also want a helmet that matches the paint job on your bike.
Also get good safety gear allround. It could make the difference between getting up off the road with aches and pains like me, or never walking again or worse.... Even on a 125cc the speeds you could crash at are way higher than you'd get on your mountainbike.
Shoei, Arai and Shark are 3 popular brands that always get good reviews.
Fit is EVERYTHING!
What fits me won't necessarily suit you if you get me...
Best brands are Arai, Shoei, AGV. Other good brands are Suomy, Shark, HJC.
£200 gets you a very good helmet, though to be fair even the £100 helmets these days are pretty bloody good! You can spend £500+ on an Arai though if you wanna pretend you're lining up on the grid with the MotoGP boys! 
second Mr Tall. CE armoured jacket and trousers* are a big plus. Get some good gloves too. I was involved in a collision at ~60mph and landed on my head and left arm. result; mild concussion and small crack in elbow. If I'd been in a crappy helmet and an anorak (like the kid on the scooter who pulled out in front of me) I'd have been hospitalised for more than a few hours...
*armour on back, shoulders, elbows, hips, knees.
They all test to the same standard. once they reach the standard, they stop testing. Bottom line, the best protection comes from the best fit. After that, you're paying for weight, ventilation, paint jobs and "other features". The fit should be close and it's quite normal to squeeze the cheeks and make you look like a fat kid in a lift. remember, the confort padding inside will compress over time, they never get tighter. Just make sure they don't pinch anywhere. Personally, I prefered a double D ring buckle. More of a fiddle but you always did it up tight, no buckle to work loose but each to their own. I'd rather buy a lid that fits with a buckle fastner than one that doesn't just because it had a double D ring. Whatever the weather, I always wore a thin balaclava under my lid. Went in the washing machine once a week and helped to keed the lid fresh. As for what standard to look for, just go with the EU mark. Don't worry about the ACU sticker. There was a scandal a few years back where someone had imported a load of cheap Chinese helmets and just bought a load of stickers from ACU, no testing involved!
Depending on where you are and what size you are, I'm just about to sell a load of motorcycle kit. Rukka winter jacket and trousers, Daytona Gore-tex boots, Wolf kangaroo 2 piece and Oxtar boots. Couple of Oxford tank bags as well. I used to be a motorcycle instructor but gave that up and sold the bike so I could use the cupboard space.
Think there are EN standards now, go for fit first and foremost. HJC do seem to have good helmets for your £££.
+1 on D-rings. I wish they'd do them on cycle helmets...
The big bike show is at the NEC the end of this month - if you can hang on until then and get there you will pick up a load of gear for not much cash!
I use Shoei and Shark for what it's worth, as both fit me very, very well. But as everyone said above... it's all about what fits you
Thanks very much. I'm going to wait for Christmas to come and go before I buy any other protective gear. I was always planning on going to a decent sized shop to try a load on anyhow. Just wondered if there were any makes to avoid really.
There was loads of good offers on helmets at stoneleigh at the weekend at the dirtbike show some have visors on them others need googles.Go in your local motorbike shop.Helmets are much better valve than they use to be.
Back in the mid-eighties when i was doing motoX.Basic Arai was £150 then.
+2 on D rings, a slight faff but far more secure and comfortable than seat-belt type fasteners.
No real makes to avoid, but as has been said, try loads on and spend at least £100, ideally nearer your £200 budget. Fit should be slightly too tight (but not uncomfortably so) when new as the lining will give a bit in use.
Take a look HERE some really good deals on ALL types of motorbike clothing.
I've hit the road a few times and can only repeat what has been said get a lid that fits well and is comfartable , armoured jacket and trousers are a must and waterproof boots are a godsend. Don't scrimp on gloves either your hands are usually the 1st contact with the tarmac.
da funk
Onzadog said, "They all test to the same standard. once they reach the standard, they stop testing. Bottom line, the best protection comes from the best fit. After that, you're paying for weight, ventilation, paint jobs and "other features"."
So a lot of people say. Total rubbish IMO. It's like saying "This pole is set at 1 metre, so every polejumper that clears it jumped exactly 1 metre".
HJC do decent entry-level helmets, but they don't tend to last very well- the padding compresses and so you end up having to replace it early even though the shell itself's perfect. Annoying, that. My Arais have all worked out cheaper in the long run, my Condor lasted twice as long as my HJC til I had a big crash, then I sent it away for testing and they gave it the thumbs up, then it lasted as long again- so even though it was 3 times as expensive it lasted 4 times as long. Still, that's a big expense up front.
Other protective gear's well worth having, if I'd had hip armour in my old motorbike trousers I wouldn't have broken my hip, so all in all I kind of wish I'd had hip armour As a cyclist especially you can't afford a big leg injury. For some reason, motorcyclists seem to see shoulder armour as an essential, even though it's fairly ineffectual, but lots of riders don't bother about knee or hip armour even though it's more likely to take a hit, and more likely to make a difference. Odd that.
NW, if all the jumpers have cleared 1m, that doesn't mean they've all jumped the same height. However, it does mean that they all cleared 1m but there's no measure of how much by.
Just for info, I always used Arai, BMW and Shoei helmets.
I look for the Snell standard, its the best standard in my opinion.
HJC are superb safety for your money.
After a certain point you are paying for lightweight, ventilation etc. but you do NOT need these for a station bike, they only matter for longer riding like a full commute.
As long as it is up to standard its fit, fit and fit that matters.
textile jackets are okay, but IME you can't beat cow when you're rolling down the road.
As said above, fit is everything with helmets. Don't just buy a name without trying them on. I fit Arai, AGV and Shark, but not Shoei. I have a Shark that i'm well pleased with at the mo, I had an AGV Stealth but it was really noisy
oh and +3 for double d rings
I dont like the look of my shoei raid 2. it was a half decent helmet a year ago and it was 200 quid. its now gone up to around 270rrp but god knows what its worth if i was thinking of selling it.The fit was better for me over most of the arais around 200-400 but one thing i found out was to buy the helmet you have tried on. dont go and buy the same brand,model and size elsewhere. i did, and i asked if i could try it on just to be safe.jeez,it was completely diffrent to the exact same thing i tried on elsewhere.the one i tried on in Edinburgh was snug and a good fit but the one i tried on in aberdeen pulled on like it was a size too big.so i ended up going down a size.
does anyone know if that fin on the top of some helmets makes any diffrence at higher speeds? does it stabilize the head at all?
I'm goona buy a simpson bandit next time! 
Like countless others have said ..."fit is everything"
£200 notes will get you something decent. They're all CE certified, BSi no longer. ACU only relevant if you're going racing around a track.
Have a look at the Government helmet test results database here, although many of us bikers don't believe these results!!
I have £400 Arai for the road, have always had Arai's and think they're A1.
I use an Airoh open face for Trials riding, and Lazer helmets for MotoX racing. So you'll find different brands don't all fit, you'll need to make sure pressure is even all around the head and not pinching in anyone place and that the helmet can't be pulled off the head lifting from the back of the helmet forwards.
Black visor is a given, unless at night 
...Oh and never ever buy one from the internet...damaged in post you'll never know how it's been handled and it might not be a cheap purchase if it don't protect you when you crash!
If it fits I'm another one for D ring strap fasten and also wish cycle helmets had them rather than click buckles. You always tighten as required (eg as hair length and thickness changes).
Very dubious about whoever claimed you could get full kit for £200. My kit cost more than that 30 years ago and my jacket wasn't that good then.
For a 125 I'd want a good helmet and good abrasion resistant jkt and trousers. Where at least boots that cover your ankles too, no trainers.
I'm always dubious of people who say,"if I hadn't worn/done such and such I'd be dead" - says who? Totally no chance of proving that. I had a cycle crash and crushed my helmet in the collision. I had a really bad headache and flashing lights all evening. I could say if I hadn't worn a helmet I'd be dead. But reality is I may have just had a worse headache.
But for all that protect your head first.
Fit, Fit, Fit.
I found mine in the form of a Shoei.
Not cheap, £180, but good quality.
Had a £50 FM jobbie been a nice fit I'd have happily had one of them.
As said, all tested to same level, which is very stringent.
Don't have a bike now, but gear all stored away for "the day"!!!
Also, always carry it by the strap, not by the mouth bit. Apparently the strap is designed to have an enormous load capacity.
As said, fit is everything.
If you're near Swindon or Slough then George Whites are worth a look - both places have outlet shops where you can get great deals, but also they have loads of stock to try lots on. Else if you're near Biggin Hill then Helmet City have a shop there now. Helmets especially get their colours/patterns changed a lot so go "obsolete" very quickly. I picked up an AGV S4 from them for £130 which is ace, fits my head great, visor and vents are great and it got a 5-star SHARP rating too. It's just in last year's colours.
On that note, consider colours. Black isn't very visible, especially at this time of year. Mine in red with white stripes sticks out like a sore thumb and I'd take an accident avoided due to that over an accident wearing the most protective thing going.
Onzadog "NW, if all the jumpers have cleared 1m, that doesn't mean they've all jumped the same height. However, it does mean that they all cleared 1m but there's no measure of how much by."
Of course. But your post implies that all helmets provide the same protection, just because they all pass the same (very basic) testing, which isn't the case. The SHARP tests show up differences in performance. Whether you trust SHARP is your own lookout of course, I think the tests are a bag of old ***** but they do show that not all helmets are the same.
I agree. However, the way the system is set up at the moment, it's hard (if not impossible) to buy the "safest" helmet. The bar has been set (low) and every one who clears it is deemed legal. There's no measure for how much they cleared the bar by. It wasn't my intention to imply they're all the same, just that they don't come labled EN+2 or EN+10 for people to be able to compare them. They're either EN or they're not. (now who mentioned the simpson bandit?)
My take on this 0 a £500 will offer more protection than a £50 one - but not by a huge amount. More expensive helmets tend to be more comfy as well.
Get a armoured textile suit and decent boots and gloves - if that means buying a cheaper helmet so be it.
You are more likely to damage your legs than your head and decent riding kit also makes journeys in bad weather less unpleasant.
It would also be worth considering a 100cc scooter as well as a 125 motorcycle.
Second that, for a station bike get a scooter not a bike, electric start, twist and go - no gears to worry about, space for helmet etc under seat and some leg protection from the elements.
I used one for 5 yrs (150cc) and preferrred it to the Duke I had too
Buy for fit, do not do online.
I'm a serial helmet buyer/replacer as I usually do a lot of miles (10-20k pa) commuting, and basically buy last years helmet either at one of the big dealers (J&S) or when I've gone to a show. I've often a couple of helmets on the go.
I look to spend £100-150 on a bigish name (currently Melandri rep Nolan), not Arai (too expensive) or Shoei (don't fit) as I'll replace it within 12 months.
The problem I think is someone spends £400-500 on a helmet, they keep it for ever and won't replace it even if its dropped/scraped etc - whereas for me, I usually don't even bother buying new visors (which can be expensive) - oh, and mine never get to the 'smelly' stage...
Get down to Heine Gericke, they have branches all round the country, you'll be able to kit yourself out with top quality kit a very good prices.
You'd have to be a complete git to go round shops trying on helmets and then go home and order the one that you liked the most from here
http://www.georgewhite.co.uk/?category=online_shop&subcategory=15&shop=2
I wouldn't do that ever
(HJC FG-14 RRP £150 was about £70 from George White when I got mine, but now it's £40!!!)
Mr MC posting)
some of the cheap far-eastern imports are built to scrape through the tests- only have any strength in the points hit, and are appalling everywhere else.
As others have said fit is paramount. I have a square Shoei-shaped head and cant even get an Arai on. Shoei's fit me like they are custom made.
MC has a nice AGV Stealth which she picked up in a sale for ~£140ish. AGV test well in the new SHARP tests, and whilst that test has its detractors AGV (along with Shoei, Arai) has the racing heritage to fall back on. They have been used and tested in anger for years.
Also get ear plugs. In 20yrs time youll be glad you did. You still hear everything, but the reduction is enough to prevent permanent damage. A box of 200 disposable pairs is 20-30 quid from internet mail order places, but have (like helmets) a range of size and fits. PM me your postal address and I'll even send you a few different types of disposable plugs so you can find one that fits.
b.r wrote ,"The problem I think is someone spends £400-500 on a helmet, they keep it for ever and won't replace it even if its dropped/scraped etc -"
That's one place Arai really win for me, the crash damage inspection- helps to avoid that difficult decision of replacing a lid just because it might be structurally damaged, even though there's a good chance it isn't. When I sent my Condor in, they also (free of charge) replaced the strap, which was worn, and replaced one of the internal pads as well (which on the Condor are glued in, not normally removable) and reattached some loose lining, and even touched up the paint on the scrapes. All for absolutely nothing, I didn't even have to pay postage. If it weren't for that, I'd have binned it as it looked absolutely ****ed, and it was wearing out from constant use anyway.
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