Mailbag #17: I have a good helmet, and a bad one...

Just dropped my helmet :( have a dent on it now. Planning to use it for commutes, and buy a new one for trips. Have a budget of Rs 2000. I guess I can only get an AGV in that price, right? Any advice?
HD

My advice is to make a will. But before I explain that rather macabre piece of advice, let me give you a little background. You already know how a helmet is constructed. Now, if a helmet were to fall, say off the seat of your bike with no one in it, usually the damage will be minimal. Since there is nothing inside to compress the EPS liner, the helmet should be all right. Let us say, still useable, but retires a year early. However, if the fall was bad enough to dent the shell, then the dent itself will have either broken or compressed the EPS. That's not good. From here on out, that helmet is just a souvenir. That's part one.

Part two is the fact that I've seen your Vemar lid. And frankly, it isn't in minty shape. There are scratches all over it, the visor isn't all that clear either. So in any case, you should be thinking about replacing it soon. The question of differentiating the risk in a commute and on a long ride doesn't actually arise. Most accidents, whether you like it or not, are urban phenomena. You're far more likely to have a big one five km from your home/office that 300 km from the nearest dhaba. So the only reason to have a better lid on a longer ride is either comfort (since you will in it for a longer stretch of time) or fashion. Which is it?

Okay, enough sarcasm. My friend, get a hammer and chisel and make hole in the top the helmet – if that's what you need to see to throw it away. If you're planning to store it as memorabilia, remember to use loads of shrink wrap to pack the lid. Otherwise the foam will stink, and spiders like to live inside them.

About the budget, live a little. Stretch it just a bit. You should be able to snag a Sparx for Rs 2500 onwards. They're fit-finish and comfort levels are far, far superior to the AGV Pacific. The price includes a spare visor, the interiors are removable, its a comfortable helmet and it meets ECE 22.05, which is tighter than ISI. If you have trouble stretching the budget, try thinking of it this way. It's for your head. You get only one in a lifetime. Without it, you're no use to anyone. Again, I suggest you upgrade to a better helmet. If you don't want to, of course, you still have the AGV option. It won't compare in comfort or finish or design to the Sparx, but its a solid lid.

Whatever you end up buying, wear it whenever you ride. Stop thinking of it as optional in all situations, and don't give yourself the silly option of an inferior lid on one kind of ride and a better one for some other. Any half-serious crash will cost way, way more than the money you 'splurge' on your helmet. And it will feel even worse if you were wearing a lid you knew was inferior at the time, when a perfectly good one was wasting away on a shelf at home. Which might have saved you all the trouble.

Related links

• Motorcycle Helmets
• Joe Rocket is coming to India!
• Auto Expo 2008: Sparx, KBC Helmets