Motorcycle Helmet for a 9 month old.

We just had a call from a guy looking to purchase the BoneYard Red Motorcycle Helmet for his 9 month old son. We laughed at him and told him no way.  What age is a good age to start riding motorcycles?

Vega recalls 30,000-plus motorcycle helmets

Vega Helmet Corp. is recalling more than 30,000 XTS motorcycle helmets after testing found that a few did not meet crash protection safety standards.
 
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said people using the helmets may not be adequately protected in a crash. The recall will start in late January and centers on large, extra-large and extra-extra-large (or XXL) helmets. The models in question were made between May 2011 and last October, according to a notice posted Saturday on the NHTSA's web site.
 
Vega, based in Tukwila, Wash., said it will replace the recalled helmets.
 
The NHTSA told Vega that four extra-large helmets didn't meet safety standards when tested earlier this year. The company investigated and found that the helmets fell out of compliance partially due to changes in the model's shell design. Vega told regulators that the helmet's design would be reconfigured immediately.
 
Vega doesn't know how many of the helmets in the recalled population failed to meet the Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard so the company is recalling all of them, according to a letter from an attorney representing the company to an NHTSA official.

Bank Robber Mask

We should not be proud of this, but we are.  Our Crash Test Dummy Face Mask, or Ski Mask (as some people call them) was used it a real bank robbery!

SCOTTSDALE, AZ - The Scottsdale Police Department is investigating a bank robbery that occurred at a Bank of America Thursday morning. Scottsdale police said a man wearing a black hooded jacket, light ski mask and jeans walked into the Bank of America near Hayden Road and Via de Ventura round 10 a.m. The suspect fired a handgun at the ceiling and demanded money from the teller before fleeing with the cash, according to the report. Police said the bank was filled with employees and a few customers at the time of the robbery. There were no injuries. Read more: http://www.abc15.com/dpp/news/region_northeast_valley/scottsdale/Police-Man-fires-gun-during-robbery-at-Scottsdale-Bank-of-America#ixzz2EmGUfKQ9

A New York man died Sunday while participating in a ride

A New York man died Sunday while participating in a ride with 550 other motorcyclists to protest the state's mandatory helmet law.

Police said Philip A. Contos, 55, hit his brakes and his motorcycle fishtailed. Contos was sent over the handlebars of his 1983 Harley Davidson and hit his head on the pavement.

He was pronounced dead at the hospital.

"The medical expert we discussed the case with who pronounced him deceased stated that he would've no doubt survived the accident had he been wearing a helmet," state Trooper Jack Keller told ABC News 9 in Syracuse.

The ride Sunday was organized by American Bikers Aimed Toward Education, known as ABATE, a group of motorcycling enthusiasts who lobby for motorcycle awareness and freedom.

The Onondaga chapter of ABATE has sponsored the helmet protest ride for the past 11 years every July 4 weekend.

"ABATE is very saddened and still shocked about the fact that we've lost another rider in Philip and that our hearts go out to him and our prayers as well," Syracuse chapter president Christinea Rathbun told ABC News 9.

New York is one of 20 states that requires motorcyclists to wear helmets.

Jim Hedlund of the Governors Highway Safety Association told the Associated Press that a helmet meeting federal standards reduces the chance of fatality in an accident by more than 40 percent.

Still, ABATE believes each motorcyclist should have a choice how they ride.

"Mandatory helmet laws do nothing to prevent accidents," it says on the ABATE of New York website. "The decision on when to wear a helmet while operating a motorcycle should remain with each responsible adult rider."

Finally, An Actual Innovation In DOT Motorcycle Helmet Technology

Motorcycle crash helmets have essentially been the same old thing since they were invented 60+ years ago — an energy absorbing chunk of styrofoam glued into a hard outer shell. Sure, some have better graphics or neato vents or whatever, but that’s the basic technology. Now, a tiny motorcycle company in California is bringing actual technical innovation to that formula, all in the name of reducing concussions that result from low-speed impacts.

That styrofoam and shell formula is actually really good at dealing with large impacts. The density of the styrofoam (or “EPS” as people with a vested interest in making this stuff sound expensive call it) can be varied with great specificity, allowing controlled deceleration of the head. What it’s not terribly good at is reducing shocks from low-speed impacts.

If you recall the Del Rosario helmet concept (still in progress), it addressed the absorption of low-speed energy with gel inserts between its carbon arches and the shell. This new 6D helmet does something similar, affixing gel between the two layers of styrofoam. It locates that gel between two discs (one on each layer of EPS) that move in six different direction, hence the “6D.”

We asked John Del Rosario to take a look at the 6D design for us. “This is actually pretty neat, separating the high & low impacts is the key,” he says. “Gel-type material affixed between two plates is what gives it the multidirectional and damping qualities, I’d say it should fit in great in motocross because of the lower speed type of impacts.”

Here, you can see the gel dampers located between the two layers of EPS and the gap that doubles as extra ventilation.

Traditional Snell and ECE-rated helmets work well in impacts above 9mph, but struggle to provide energy absorption at lower speeds. At 9mph, that force can be up to 120g, double the threshold at which concussions begin to occur.

The gel dampers in the 6D helmet are designed to provide that low-speed protection, while traditional styrofoam remains to deal with faster hits.

At 4.5mph, the 6D transfers 49g of force to the riders’ head. An ECE helmet will transfer 79g at the same speed.

Such low speeds may sound a bit silly, but most accidents on motocross tracks or while riding off-road simply involve falling to the ground. The quoted speeds above aren’t how fast you’re riding, they’re the speed at which your helmet collides with something.

Other innovations should help boost safety a little bit too. There’s cutaways in the shell where the helmet would meet the clavicle in an impact, designed to reduce collar bone breaks and there’s padding on the chin designed to absorb energy from either face plants or the helmet ramming into the sternum. As with many other helmets sporting a dirt peak, the screws are designed to shear away on impact, preventing forced rotation of the head. The gap between the two layers of styrofoam made necessary by the gel dampers is also used to flow extra air.

6D claims there’s not a substantial increase in weight compared to traditional helmets, but we’d worry a bit about additional bulk. The outer circumference of the
helmet may need to be larger to accomodate that new found gap between EPS layers.

Sales of the ATR-1 motocross helmet are slated to begin in February, 2013, no price has yet been announced, but the general consensus seems to be that the 6D will be one of the pricier motocross lids on the market. A street version dubbed the ATS-1 is also under development.

Forgot about this Blog.

Wow, how time has passed.  It seems like we forgot about this Blog.  Check out our new Motorcycle Helmet.  Also, here is a link to cool Biker T-Shirts.