We all love our motorcycles. The freedom from the Spring time ride, feeling the revitalized breath of nature flowing past you as you motor past the blooming flowers. Then you have the moments of peaceful finality as Autumn closes in, feeling the bite of the first hints of oncoming chilly air as you gracefully pass beneath those fiery orange leaves. Biking truly is an experience that is well worth the possible downsides that come along with the lifestyle. Of course, there are many precautions that you can take to make your rides as safe as possible.
From keeping your beloved bike in tip top shape, to properly caring for your ever important helmet. What are some good ways to care for the trusty motorcycle helmet, though? Well, luckily, you will find five good tips for caring for your helmet in the guide below.
1. Don’t Drop It
I mean, dropping important objects is not exactly encouraged in the first place. Isn’t the motorcycle helmet supposedly designed for hard falls, though? Well, yeah, but that doesn’t mean you should just drop it whenever you want to. Airbags are meant to be deployed, too, but you shouldn’t aim to have them burst out whenever you go for a drive, right? In all seriousness, even dropping the helmet from waist height can damage it, even if it doesn’t appear to be cracked or damaged in any way.
2. Keep it Clean
This is a tricky one, as you must keep it clean, but you also have to be careful about how you go about cleaning the motorcycle helmet. Firstly, you should only opt to use pure water. Secondly, only go for mild soaps, so nothing like… Clothing detergent or bleach, please. These two rules originate from the fact that most detergents can really damage the protective coating or graphics that are found on the helmet. Also, never place stickers on the lid, as that glue can do some real harm to it.
3. Treat it Like a Baby
Yes, treat it as you would a baby. Therefore, you should probably refrain from placing the helmet near fuel, cleaning fluids, or extreme heat. You know, as most parents would hopefully do. You should also not store your gloves within the helmet, as there could be trace amounts of fuel on them that completely destroy the helmet’s interior, plus the Velcro fastenings may cling to the lining and cause harm. Also, it is advised that you not use furniture polish on the helmet, as they can be mighty harmful to plastic helmets.
4. Respect the Helmet
You can respect your helmet by not hanging it from the handlebars like a pair of fuzzy dice. The same goes for clothing hooks, fence posts, door knobs, elephant trunks, etc. The reasoning for this is that the lining can actually be damaged while hanging freely, plus a hard fall from something of that height will absolutely not do it any favours.
5. Replace Every Five Years
We all love our helmets, but they aren’t immortal. You should begin looking for a suitable replacement around every five years, as your trusty helmet may be wearing out quickly, depending upon how much usage it gets. In any case, always keep the five year rule in mind. Also, any helmet that has experienced a crash or has been dropped heavily should be replaced immediately. It’s well worth doing in order to protect your noggin while riding, after all.
