Your motorcycle helmet plays a crucial part in keeping you safe when you ride. However, proper helmet sizing often goes overlooked by a lot of riders. It’s important to make sure that your helmet fits you properly, in order to make sure you’re as safe as possible when on the road…
Helmet Sizing: A Safe Fit
Know your head shape
Head shape plays a large role in helmet sizing. Despite this, most people don’t really give their head shape any kind of consideration. There’s three main head shapes which most people fall into. First is oval, the most common of the shapes. Then there’s oval, which is wider in the middle, and egg, which is wide at the top and narrow at the bottom.
Thankfully, it isn’t all that hard to figure out which one of the three head shape. All you really need to do is have a friend take a picture of your head from a top-down view. Try to have your hair as flat as possible too, so you can clearly see the shape of your head.
Watch for pressure
Your helmet sizing also involves the amount of pressure the helmet places on your head. A good helmet will have a constant, but slight pressure all around your head. That pressure indicates that the helmet and the liner evenly covers your head, and will absorb any impacts without putting your head at risk.
However, you don’t want a helmet which is too tight on the head. This will cause a lot of discomfort, making it more difficult for you to ride. Plus, a helmet which is too tight (especially at the top of the head) will transfer too much energy through the liner, and onto your head.
Avoid gaps
You’ll also want to avoid having any sort of gaps between your helmet and your head. The main places where gaps show up are at the temples and the pads which cover the brow. Having gaps in these areas means your helmet isn’t properly securing your head, and could cause it to bump or shake in the event of an accident. The only time you might want a little bit of space if is you wear sunglasses while driving.