We all ride with HT helmets, they are light,super comfortable, and look great. They fit close and don't catch the wind, like the giant brain buckets do. One of us had a pretty good crash last summer and the helmet did its' job and protected him. A great alternative to a cheap novelty helmet.

 

Thanks for the heads up Dave.
Redman please don't be riding near the white house.
Dave, off topic.. there has been 15+ of this white crap they call snow on the ground over at your old town Franklin this week. Ride safe down there,still hoping to get to ride this month for at least a couple of hours.

 

Welp- I'm gonna toss out my .02 just to stir the pot / debate for a second. I have/had a DOT labeled HT helmet, and loved it! I am also active duty, which requires I wear DOT, when the announcement was made that they lost their DOT rating I opted to keep wearing it- since it had the DOT tag, nonriders were oblivious to the current legal standing of the product. I used to wear the $20 plastic lids, when my wife became pregnant I quit arguing whether or not DOT standards are worth anything or not and WILLINGLY made the switch. (which seems a little 2 faced in retrospect after saying I knew they lost DOT certification and I kept wearing it anyway).

Back in OCT I had a pretty bad accident- three of us were riding on a 4 lane highway (2+2 divided). The state was repaving one of our 2 lanes, and so traffic was converged down to 1 lane. At the same point of this merge there was fender bender on the side of the road. Now think about it for a second, when traffic merges at 50mph everyone is riding their brakes so the brake lights stay on for a few seconds- Anyway, 2-3 cars ahead of us decided to rubberneck the fender bender, which caused a chain reaction of people going from riding their brakes to jacking up on them. The car ahead of us had very little warning that this was happening and got hard on their brakes as well, our lead bike went left, the 2nd bike and I went right (into the paved emergency lane) to avoid hitting the car. Our traveling speed at this point was about 45mph. The bike ahead of me was a triumph naked bike, probably 400 pounds lighter than my SG. He swerved in front of me to avoid one of the construction barrels, and well- he was down to 35ish and I wasn't.

I hit him squarely, my front tire to his back tire. the impact was so hard that it sheared my left for completely in half about 3" above the axle- it also broke a piece of his allow wheel 1"wide and 3" long- no idea where that piece ended up- but it was gone! I flipped over the bars, and slid 90' down the highway- n leathers but was wearing the required long sleeve shirt. While in the air I literally tucked into a PLF position (I spent 9 years in the 82nd jumping out of planes and for some reason automatically put chin on chest and tucked my arms and legs in) I bounced my head off the pavement pretty well in the landing, and while sliding actually had 2 coherent thoughts. 1. OK- you hit your head, what ever you do don't go unconscious. 2. Don't try to stand up until you know you stopped sliding.

I managed to walk away with horrible rash and very deep bruising, but nothing broken- and even turned down medical attention (minus saline to rinse the rash) knowing that I would be OK until I could get back to post and hit the Army hospital for x-rays and further attention.

The helmets clearcoat was generally screwed where I hit the road (I hit about 2" above my eyebrow, and half way between my eye and ear on the left side... basically where the hair line is on my (ever so slight) widows peak. The impact was enough that is completely seperated the blue hard foamy core from the fiber shell on the inside.

Now look- if you think about the speed, force of impact, location of head impact and everything else- I'm probably damn lucky (perhaps blessed by a higher power?) that I was as intact as I was. I personally credit (non-spiritually anyway) my good fortune to 2 things. 1. being a Paratrooper! Had I not gotten my limbs in and stabalized against my body I would surely have broken main bones (arms/legs). 2. That helmet - DOT or not, did it's job perfectly.

As I understand it, when HT was producing DOT approved helmets an independent facility did the testing and it passed, when the DOT finally got around to it, it failed. HT last I knew was suing the testing facility for the exact amount they were fined / forced to buy back other helmets in circulation. I have heard that once this case is completely closed they are going to reapply for DOT status, even if that means adding more layers to pass the anvil test.

Make no mistake about it- if that happens, I will buy AT LEAST 2 more of their helmets. For those of you still riding with them- hey, to each their own- I knew the risk, I took it, I feel it ended up ok in the end. I hope you have the same good fortune (not that I hope it happens obviously).

I currently have 2 Daytona helmets to replace my HT, again seeking lowest profile & greatest comfort. One of those is the $200 fiber one they sell, the other the $50 flat black. The fiber is my primary- I dunno if the fiber itself contributed to my luck, but I'm sticking with it anyway. We all break the law out of convenience/personal preference. Even those of you who wear DOT helmets- think about this... your argument is based around gov't regulation that aims to protect the general public from unsafe conditions that can cause harm if not followed/enforced. I would submit that speed limits serve the same purpose. Doing 56 in a 55 is the same willful disobedience of statutes set in place to preserve lives etc... remember laws are not actually a gray area- they're black and white... out moral and ethical reasonings is how we attempt to blur the lines of black and white. Oh, it's only one mile per hour above- OK, in one word answer this question- legal or illegal, well same for helmet laws.

Look- this is just my story and my take on the bantering that goes on. I'm lucky, I was breaking the law and the price I paid was incredibly low all things considered. I respect what my HT did, and would still recommend them to other riders NOT demanding DOT head gear. Please feel free to flame me as you wish- it still doesn't change my experience or beliefs, just gives you some actual information on what happened in a single instance. And sorry to be so long- I kinda jacked this tread for a minute or two.

 

Good Post Sig ...

 

At the risk of sounding like I am talking out of both sides of my mouth since I have put so much energy into keeping this thread non-discussion oriented, I would like to thank Sigjumper for sharing his story here. I am fully aware of the reason's that HT's are not DOT compliant so I have a really short trigger for someone climbing on the DOT soapbox when they are unaware of the facts. These are great helmets and I hope that anybody sitting on the fence will do the searches and get the facts before they decide that they are worthless just because they lack a certification that they were set up to fail. The rules got changed on them in the middle of the game and I wish them the best of luck.

 

We all know what happens when something says, "don't touch that, it's wet."...
Same thing happens when you say, "...not to start a debate or discussion..."

[This portion was deleted, because the dumbass author (me) confused the DOT with the Army Corps of Engineers!]

I'm like JD in that I don't care if you wear a helmet or not. Just felt like joining in this unsolicited non-confrontational conversation.

Do I wear a helmet, DOT or otherwise? When I feel like it... or not.

 

I think I might buy one of these when I can rub two nickles together again.

 

Don't get me stated on the Army Corps of Engineers.

 

Just Dave
I'm in the market for couple new helments and have done quite of bit of research with my main concerns being saftey, looks and pricing. I can read between the lines when it comes to rules and regulation as I have quite of bit expereince dealing w the Fed /Dot standards. With that said the AHH or Composite Craft looks pretty close to what I want, that is until I looked at the price 130.00+ for an unapproved DOT. Come on guys regardless of the R&D if the certification is not there how can you justify that price. Being the devils avicate here please explain.

 

If it is the right helmet for you then 130 isn't that much to spend imo.