What you have is an expensive novelty helmet with DOT stickers on it. It may have been DOT approved at one time, but that was apparantly based on bogus claims. It is no longer DOT legal, and everyone knows it, including law enforcement. There is no difference between the helmet you have and one of ACC's "kayak" helmets. Buy one of those and paste some DOT stickers on it, and they'd both be the same, and neither one of them legal. That's what it is.

Is it safe? Who knows. Is it legal? No.

However, I won't be the one to tell you not to wear it. You are old enough to think for yourself, and what you choose to put on your head (or not) is none of my concern.

If it was me, I'd be boxing my helmet up and sending it to ACC so they could send me my 175 bucks back while they're still in business to be able to do that.

 

Well that is interesting....kinda pi$$e$ you off that you spend 200 bucks on a beefed up novelty helmet. Makes you wonder how they passed the original DOT test.?.?. And like CHARLEY said, got to wonder what the odds are you are gonna hit a metal spike like that... And the impact test didn't show any penetration threw the helmet, just dents on the outside, and what helmet wouldn't dent? With that being said I am still up in the air if i want to send mine back, I use to ride with a $20 novelty helmet, spent the money on the acc convincing myself that it looked better and offered some protection, I still think that it is a lot better then a cheap novelty, and it seems that it still offers some protection, and lets face it most half helmets aren't gonna do you a lot of good anyways.... I guess I am just making excuses cause I want to keep it....

 

i am really curious why if they failed everything and no longer make ANY DOT helmets why do they not offer a refund for an EXT-004 and only the EXT-001 ---> 003?

i've been meaning to call and ask but my new helmet is back ordered from Bell until june so not sure i want to return it.

 

Well I just called them. They had my records on file as an original purchaser and were very helpful. They realize a lot people will just keep the helmet. I am also on the fence about it. I have witnessed first hand 2 M/C accidents that both involved face plants, and a half helmet will not save your face (the full face helmet saved both in the accidents I witnessed). My son wears a Shoei FF (his choice!), I may start doing the same, but the heat is just so unbearable behind the fairing, that riding loses its pleasure. Probably just keep them... not sure what the wife will do yet with hers.

 

Here is my logic, I paid about $180 for a helmet that has been proven not to be as advertised (Would I go to the trouble of returning it if it cost me $30 bucks to begin with? Probably not). I can return the helmet that was sold based upon fradulent claims and I can use 1/2 that money to buy a DOT and a novelty helmet. With both, I can then choose to wear what I want to wear based upon my personal choice.

If I choose to wear a DOT helmet then that's what I want to wear, not one that has a couple stickers that says it is something that it is not.

If it doesn't meet DOT standards (It didn't claim to meet SNELL) then by definition it meets NO standards. There are no standards below DOT standards (let's exclude the DOT may be safer than SNELL agrument).

 

Agreed. Anyone wearing anything less that a full face helmet, is giving up some degree of safety protection, and we all make those trade-offs based on comfort, weight & heat.

Is the penetration test with a pointed spike a reasonable "real world" evaluation? In the "real world", your head would have to hit that spike at literally a 0* angle or the spike/helmet would be deflected off to the side.

Is a FF Shoei really bullet proof? I doubt it's face shield passed the spike penetration test.

Not arguing here, just throwing out food for thought. We all make our own choices.

 

Im with you on this. I am pleased with the helmet. May get another helmet later but for now I will keep what I got.

 

It is simply astounding that people will knowingly were a helmet that offers no protection just to "look cool". Harley and bikers used to be non-conformist, rugged individuals not folks just conforming to "what a cool biker should look like". To each his own but coming from someone that has seen brains on the road, I'll go with a real DOT helmet.

 

1. The tests did not prove that it offered NO protection.
2. The tests showed that it came up short when impacted at a 0* angle by a pointed spear. (not very likely in the real world)
3. If you think any helmet will prevent your brains from being smeared on the road under any circumstances, then you're kidding yourself.

If your a full face helmet wearer, check to see if your face shield was subjected to the pointed spear test.

As I posted in the other ACC thread, it's a free country, and we all still have the right to choose the trade-offs we are willing to accept when it comes to comfort, weight, heat, etc. The ACC helmet is still far from being a novelty helmet.

You seem to have a of knowledge for someone that got their first bike last month......

 

No I don't think a helmet can protect under ALL circumstances, but I do know a good Snell certified helmet will absorb and disperse enough G's that would otherwise open your skull.

I am not trying to throw gas on a fire thats older than I am but as I said, I personally don't get it. That being said anyone wearing or not wearing a bucket has zero impact on my safety, again to each his on. I am far from a safety ****, been out the door of an airplane with my knees in the breeze over 400 times but any activity I love that can kill I try my damnedest to minimize that risk as much as possible.

And yes, got my first bike a couple of months ago, as in the first one I owned. My father-in-law gave me the use of his dyna for a couple of years, put about 20k on it, that is my first street bike riding. Before than I have been on dirt bikes about 15 years. It doesnt take a grizzled veteran to be able to read the test results. The ACC Helmets also failed the blunt impacts.

Again, not trying to flame here, anyone elses choices on personal safety gear have zero impact on my safety.

Ride Safe,
~ Woodie