Does anybody know any safety or technical reasons for not using a full face street helmet while riding an ATV (off road ofcourse). I just went on a 200 mile trip through the dessert and the dust was just brutal. Had to use industrial type mouth and nose covers. I was surprised to see another rider wearing a street full face helmet and when he removed it, he had a big smile across his face...no dust. Not only that, but with a single pass over the shield with his glove, he completely cleaned it. Other advantages he mentioned were clearer radio comunication, keeping warmer in cold temp, no need for goggles, and in hot weather, he would just open the shield a bit for more air circulation, he could lift the jaw bar together with the shield without removing his gloves when standing still, etc. We could not think of a single disadvantage. Any comments will be appreciated.

 

I used to use a full faced snowmobile helmet. On a dusty trip my eyes would be full of dust. Now I wear an mx type with goggles & in dusty conditions a bandana over my nose & mouth. I do not know what kind he had but it did not work so well for me.

 

Well I think some reasons are that they are a lot hotter and heavier, and bulkier.......

I know I would not want to be wearing a road helmet on an ATV in the summer. You sweat a lot more moving an ATV around the trails than you do on a street bike.

I can't imagine that there is any safety issue. The street helmets are designed to withstand a LOT more impact. I used to ride with a guy who wore a street helmet all the time on an MX bike. It was because his father said off-road helmets were junk and would not protect his head enough. Of course this was 20 years ago when the off-road helmets were not up to today's standards. The new generation of helmets are excellent.

 

Everyone in my family all use street helmets. No problems at all with heat, cold, dust etc. The good ones are vented well and you can always raise or crack the visor for more air flow. No fogging problems and very rarely bothered by dust. The style with the flip up front are really nice - quick and easy when you stop to open things up. Add to that if you do use a radio it works better with a voice activated mic.

Jaybee

 

Thanks for your comments. I guess it won't hurt trying a street helmet and if it is too hot in the summer I can either limit it to the cold season or get rid of it. I was concerned about safety issues, but I guess you have a very valid point about the fact that they are designed to withstand greater impact. Thanks again.

 

I have both, i Love street for cold riding and dusty riding and wet riding, but i like the MX for harder riding cause its lighter.


Good luck

Fred

 

You don't get hot in the woods, going slow, when it's like 90-degrees? Man I would be cooking. Those street helmets feel so stuffy to me, maybe it's my fat face!....lol....... I could see like in the open trails that opening the visor would give you a cool down. But in the slow tight woods, I would think that would not help much.

Keeping the dust out would probably be nice.... but isn't spitting dirt part of the fun in ATVing? lol

 

The offroad helmets have the plastic part which covers your chin/mouth area. That part of the helmet is bendable and made to absorb the shock of a branch or hit of some sort so the shock is not felt thru your whole head.

On the full faced street bike helmets, the whole shell of the helmet is hard. So when you hit something, the whole helmet takes the shock of the hit.

When all is said and done, its is all about which you feel more comfortable in. I have both but tend to wear my full faced one more often.

 

i find that street helmets have only about 90 degree vision on each side, mx helmets have 100 degrees or 110 degree's

i just dont feel comfortable if i cant see slightly behind me.

 

Jacob, when you say 100 degrees vision with an mx helmet, do you mean with your gogles on? I ask this because when I ride (always with my gogles) I do find that the gogles reduce the vision area.