I expect it is for legal reasons.... I'd be interested if an inspected helmet was ever approved by them. A visual inspection will not tell you if there are any cracks/scrapes to the shell that have been painted over (and as I say, I know this happens because someone did it with mine)... But we are all free to make our own choices.
It's not as bad as you think. Getting in another guy's sweaty lid is the hard part. Once you are moving more than ten miles an hour, you won't notice the smell.
To me there are reasons why I might & might not buy a second hand (previously loved in Ameri speak) skid lid. Though the "similarity" to gay sex doesn't even enter my head. Besides from a purely hygiene perspective, think of all the things we do with women (and probably would do with most women given the chance) & the idea of putting on a helmet that someone else has worn really holds no fear...
I thought there was legilation about selling second hand crash helmets? Certainly main stream press etc will not accept advertisements for them. UV and age affects the shell, there is no apparent degradation but it's there. Five years seems to be the norm. Like a seat belt and (perhaps) ABS you don't really use one until it's Oh Shit time when your life may rely on it. I'd only buy a second hand one if it was for display. The failing bolt on some Pangales was the rear shock front mounting bolt There's a thread on the forum about it.
The thing is that I want the most comfortable helmet possible. Helmets become most comfortable to wear after about five years. If a five year old helmet isn't good enough to protect your head from a crash, rest assured you're better off dead. The kind of impacts that a five or ten year old helmet will fail at protecting are also the sorts of impacts that will do such serious damage to the rest of your body that you'll be in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, even having worn the most advanced, newest helmet. So, yes, I prefer buying another guy's smelly lid off of eBay because it's much more comfortable than a brand new one. I always say that helmet stink is the new smell of a used lid.
I started off buying new lids because the idea of wearing another guy's sweat seemed unhygienic. After complaining about how helmets never seem to fit right, a friend suggested that I try one that's used. My first used helmet was an Arai Quantum/e. It smelled like a gym, but it felt top-of-the-line and custom fit. I have three main helmets, now. They're all Icon Alliances. Appearance is everything. Guys sell their "mint" condition helmets when they're uncomfortable. The hold onto their favorite helmets for years. It's the helmets that guys don't easily part with that are the ones to wear.
I would never ever buy secondhand. The Arai that I crashed in looks fine but it got a good enough bash to give me a brain bleed and concussion. The question is, "how much do you value your head?".. If the answer is, "not much", then buy secondhand and save a few quid.
Its not just a question of money or fit. Many would ride without a helmet if it were legal to do so - personally I think it should be for everyone over 18 (possibly with an additional insurance policy to cover injuries).
For me, comfort is most important. It takes months, if not years, to break in a new lid. It's like a baseball mitt. Someone has to wear it in for it to fit right. I'd rather another guy sweat the details so I don't have to, and I've found that, after I first became accustomed to wearing another guy's sweat, I didn't really notice it very much. Maybe, I notice the first time I get up in a new used lid, but then I acclimate.
If the helmet fits your head then it can't take "years" or even man months to break it in. If you are buying a quality helmet that fits the shape of your head then it should feel right immediately. Yes it may take a few weeks to get used to it but not "make" it fit. You are buying the wrong helmet for the shape of your head. But if buying someone else's sweathead does it for you, then carry right on buying second hand helmets that someone else has had a good sweat into. Yes, feck having an accident. Be comfortable in somebody else's sweat!
Glues and resins from manufacturing are another factor. It takes at least a few years to sweat out all of that.
With a bike you can inspect and if you don't know enough (or don't feel that you know enough) it is quite easy to get someone who does to inspect - or if you buy from a reputable dealer then you know that they will of checked it in their workshop. They value their reputation - unlike the eBay traders featured hear. You can't do that with a helmet. Arai would only be able to give a helmet a clean bill of health, if they x-rayed it. I don't know of anyone reputable who can offer any type of helmet inspection service. I you were honest and told Arai that the helmet had been involved in an accident, they would say, "it's scrap" without even looking. I'm confident that if you told them that it is secondhand and the original owner had a good sweat in it and now I'm going to, I am sure they would pass it 100% - whilst having a good snigger behind your back...
I thought they were called gloves, not hand helmets. Anyway, I buy 2 together. Looks funny with just 1 on.
I only replied to the question if I would buy a second hand 160 mph bike with "any day" I would never buy a second hand helmet
I would never buy a second hand helmet and I’m always amazed that people buy my old ones for seemingly good money on eBay when I list them every three years or so, although the last one I sold went to a collector of some sorts who wasn’t going to use it.
