Triumphrat

jjimmydutch · 08-10-2010, 05:09 PM

I am looking to get a 3/4 helmet with a face shield for highway/rain protection. Have seem some here but the ones that interest me are not being sold in the states or in the $500. range. Also I am sick of the cheap neck straps they call chin strap on most helmets. I am more comfortable with a chin cup attached to the strap. That way I do not feel like I am being strangled. Does anyone wear a chin cup on the strap or know of on produced for motorcycle helmets?

Black Dog · 08-10-2010, 06:29 PM

I don't know about the US, but here in the UK no helmets have been sold with chin cups for many years. The reason is that they are dangerous: in a crash, the chin cup can't keep the helmet on your head. The only way that a chin cup can be made safe if it is backed up with a proper strap under the jaw, which will keep the helmet in position, and some helmets were sold like this, but were not popular. My advice would be to look for a helmet with a padded panel on the chinstrap, which will prevent chafing of the neck, and then get it adjusted properly. You should be able to get a finger underneath it, but you must not be able to roll the helmet off forwards (or any other way). My full face is like that (double D-ring, so it gets adjusted every time I put it on) and I don't notice the strap at all. My open-face lifts at higher speeds and the strap can dig in, giving the choking feeling. But better a bit of discomfort than a helmet that goes walkabout just when you need it most.