What's everyone's opinion on used helmets? Like from craigslist, etc? I saw a used Shoei x-11, in my size, with new liner, bag, and mirror shield for sale for $200. I've always been leary of used because you just never know. It's easy to tell if it's been in an 80mph wreck clearly but how bad can just dropping it on the ground and stuff hinder it's performance? There seems to be some really great deals, but no amount of savings is worth my life. On the flip side I did just snag a Dainese Legua Seca for $100 off there.

 

be very careful buying used helmets as the shelf life is about 5yrs for non snell and about 10 max for snell. ive found great deals on arai helmets but everyone i reply to always says 6 7 8 10 years old when i ask about the age.

 

The used helmet market is so cheap BECAUSE of leary customers. Not many people will buy used, so the supply > demand situation drops the price.

It's pretty easy to tell if a helmets been dropped form a questionable distance, as there's going to be some sort of scuffing \ marring \ chips in the finish where it hit. If you're buying off Craigslist, it's easy enough to inspect it before you hand the money over.

I was in a wreck with my Scorpion EXO-1000, landed on my shoulder and bounced the side of my head against the ground. Left a nice chip in the helmet's finish. I sent it to Scorpion, and they sent it back saying it was A-OK.

 

I could sell you a used shoei that only hit the ground once. The only visible damage is a crack in the vent. With a new visor nobody would know that I did a face plant in it. The shell did deform enough to crack the vent and the energy absorbing liner did its job cushioning my fall. Would you like to buy it?

 

I appreciate the help guys, the real help that is, as I am sure this is a topic for new riders that doesn't get broached that easily because any store is going to tell you only buy new since they don't want to lose out on a couple hundred dollar, if not more, sale. I also know that I can ship it to shoei and they will x-ray it and give me the ok. This has the date of manufacture in it (06-08 I believe), not a spec of paint missing, no scratches, etc. I guess I will take my chance, but will send it out to make sure it's in good shape.

 

Yep, Shoei will do that...*however*...if it prooves out that the helmet is damaged, they won't return it. Just be mentally prepared to loose it, should it actually be damaged. That being said, its probably ok. Too, it will take quite awhile to follow thru on this process...weeks & weeks. What are going to wear in the meantime?

Helmets are more hearty that the sales folks would have you believe. Most would say if you drop it just once, that its protective ability is diminished...& I suppose that's true if dropped from the top of a building. But, just dropping from you bikes seat, its highly unlikely. Put it this way, I used to motocross, & my helmets would take knocks all the time. If I were to believe that after one bump, that it should be replaced, I'd have gone broke buying new helmets.

 

I've got another Shoei RF-1000 lid right now. Good to know about the no return policy if it is damaged, but I'll still be sending it out most likely. I know certain instances might make it feasible to sell a helmet that has been in a serious crash and still look good, but I'm guessing that 99.9% of the time it is fairly noticeable and I don't think it rolling off the chair when changing shields (2nd time now dang it) has that much affect on it.

 

lax4ever,

I don't want to mislead you here... I looked at the Shoei website yesterday... They explicity state that, "Your helmet is returned to you if it passes the inspection or not." http://www.shoei-helmets.com/CustomerService.aspx

From experience in the past, this was *not* the case. I would call the customer service phone number listed & get a definite answer on this.

Whatever you choose to do, good luck. From what you said, your helmet is probably fine.

 

I've written about this before on this board, and at the risk of pissing a whole lot of people off, I'll briefly write again. Conventional wisdom holds that you're almost always better off wearing a Snell rated helmet in the event of an accident. Unconventional wisdom, however, holds quite the opposite. To find out why, read the article that Motorcyclist magazine published a few years back. The article made a number of the helmet manufacturers very unhappy, and Motorcyclist lost a few hundred thousand dollars in ad revenue as a result. The article can be found here- http://www.motorcyclistonline.com/ge...iew/index.html Note that the results of the tests that Motorcyclist ran can be accessed by holding your mouse over the picture of the black and gold helmet next to the section entitled "the rules rule".

 

dont buy a used helmet first u can get new road approved helmets for the same price and who knows wat can of worms that u could be opening when u get it