Cycle News - Archive Issues - 1970's

countries, but most of the helm ets you lo ok at will be ei ther American or Japanese . The Japanese helmets ar e usually fiberglass and their shells are generally some of the highest quality fiberglass around. If y o u don't know the manufacturer, you1l have to check th ose stic ke rs for any sa fe ty eva luation th at y ou n eed. Mo st of the J ap an ese he lm ets will h ave at least a Z90 'a nd in many cases a Snell stic k er. I have an " HA " helmet that has a Snell sti cker and it is very c om fo rtab le o n my head. It is a little on the heavy side, but offers good in su lati o n from wind n oise. Of the Japanese helmets I checked , almost all were on the heavy sid e. T his is due to th e h igh density of th e shell an d the ex tra padding in the liner for co mfo r t. The Japanese products are generally on the order of their motorcycles ; i.e ., go od quality for th e price. Of the Am erican h elmets, there is m ore variety . I sp ent a da y a t Gran t Helmets in Los Angel es an d while they d on 't at this time carry a Snell sticker or th e S.H .C. A. sticker , they seem to be ver y conscientious ab o u t their product. They have one of th e most comp lete te sting labs I've ever seen and it is not just for show as they test every b atch of h elm ets that come out of their factory. It is a good thing th at th ey ar e co ncerned ab ou t whether th eir produc t is safe o r n ot as th ey se ll more helmets th an anyo ne, marketing under severa l different brand names. A lot of their helmets are sold for a "price" through discount departinent sto res and while CYCL. NEW' T A K E S A HOLIDAY The Cycle News office will be closed from DECEMBER 2 1 thru JA NUA RY 4 ADVERTiSERS ••• •• T h e dead line for o ur first paper after vacation is Wednesday, Januar 5. at 5 m. the st or es ma y sell th em ch ea p, the buyer is ge t ti ng a bargain , as Gr ant's chea pest helmet will exceed the Z90 standards . Gr ant shells are polycarbonate. Bell is probably o ne of th e best kn own o f the Am erican helmets. T hey hav e b een inn ovators in th e in dust ry an d any Bell you p ick up w ill have all of th e trick stickers . The reason b eing th a t Bell markets a p roduct th at will pass any test by any lab now approving helmets. Bell sh ells are fiberglass . l awn two Bells and they ar e th e most com fo rta ble I've ever had . You must keep in mind th at my he ad may b e different fro m yours whe n [ speak of comfort. Bell h as a comp lete test facil ity wh ich was use d in developing the Z·90 sta ndar d s b y ASA . Anoth er bi g American manu facturer is American Safety Equ ipment Corp. They market the Buco line of helmets. For y ears Buco would n ot submit their helmets to anyone fo r approval. They have th eir own very elab orate testin g lab s an d they d eveloped their o wn set o f standards. They fin ally go t a Snell sticker but th ey really didn't need it , ex cept for people like you an d me who didn't know how good th eir testing was. Bu co helmets were fiberglass until rece ntly an d n ow they have switched to poly carb onat e material for th e she ll. The hel m et n o longer carries a Snell sticker, but th is doesn ' t m ean that the helmet is n ot safe, as Buco is very strict in t heir te st ing. In fact, at this time n o polycarbonate helmet carr ies a Snell sticker. Chec kin g in to th is, I cal led the Snell foundati on and was informed th at th ey didn't care what material a shell was made from , all th ey were concern ed abou t was wh ether th e helmet passed their tests or not. I have seen some of the Snell tests performed o n p oly carbona te sh ells with th e same liner th at was us ed in a fiberglass sh ell a nd w hile th e resul ts we re di fferent , th e amo unt of "Gs" that Bell Star cuta way the head form took inside the liner wa s ab o ut the same. In other words, from a standpoint of impact an d penetra t ion , th e he ad survived in eit her ty pe sh ell w ith a good li ner. Buco also d oesn't carry th e S.H.C.A. st ic ker, but they are deeply inv olved in AMA professional raci ng and sin ce A MA is go ing to req uire th e S.H.C.A. sticker in 1972, y ou ca n figure th at they will so o n hav e th is. I own a Buco helmet also . (I guess you mi ght cal l me a helmet fr eak ; I own so me 20 helmets). It is very co m fo rta b le and the wind noise is tol erable. One thing I h ave notice is that wh en riding moto cross or really fast in the w oods , th e Bueo will drop o ver my forehead eno ugh to p ull m y goggles o u t of p ositi o n , ma king it very h ard to see. The h elm e t is constructed in such a manner th a-t th e brow part of th e helmet is lowe r th a n m ost any o th er helmet. Bucos reas oning b ehind th is seems to b e th at this brow area is th e w eakest point on a h elmet an d so .th ey have d esign ed th eir helm et for more strength in this ar ea. T hey have a reall y di fferen t helme t an d h aving their own standards has resu lt ed in a differen t lo oking product. With a face sh ield, the h elm et is quite co m fo rtab le for motocross or other types of rac in g and I noticed n one of th e problems that I had when wearing goggles. I h ave a coupl e of Premier helmets th at I hav e b een eval ua ti ng. They are fib er glass an d h ave th e b est outsid e fin ish I'v e ever seen. The paint jobs are really out of sight. They ex ce ed the Z90 specs and ar e very c omf or tab le. One model has a sound hole , which the manufacturer refers to as th e " Prern-so nic" h earing devi ce. \Vhen you are wearing the h elmet you can h ear normal voices ju st lik e yo u weren ' t wearing a helmet, but w he n you are exp osed to a loud n oise suc h as a screa mi ng two-stroke engin e, th e noise (Please turn to page 19) INDIAN DUNES PARK • Wishes You HAPPIEST OF HOLIDAYS! John ID MOTO-CROSS LEATH ERS Competition proven for the mini-racer, too. For brochure and complete information: contact : Montecito Enterprises, ~ .o . Box 434, Carpinteria,Cal. 93013 SACHS MX CYLI NDER PORT ING $20.00 III III III Motorcycle repair - all makes K & G Engineering 2353 Sa n Ferna ndo Rd ., Los A ngeles, Ca . 90065 :12131 222 -877 8 ~~~ Hodaka Montes.a Greeve s Holiday Race Schedule (To Be Run· RAIN, SNOW OR SHINE): Dec. 26th - XMASCROSS - Juniors, Powder Pu ffs, Old T im er s. All en tri es get Christmas gifts... ! Jan. l st - A LL.J UN IO R MOTOCROSS - T op finishers ad vance to Sunday 's All-Class events. Motorcycles 111e4t1Huute't ~i:t~::r.S po rt Puch Cycle Maico Guy R. Loui ~ (114) 893-7057 7574 Westm inst er Ave., Westm inst er , Ca . J an. 2nd - MA NUFACTUR ERS SWEEPSTAKE MX - All Classes. $1 500 Cash Purse! J an. 2nd - Minibike races on small course. Jan. 8th & J an. 9th - WORLD MINI GRAN PRIX - For Minibikes and Mini cycles on th e b ig International Mot a Course! Semi-Finals, Jan. 8 th . Championships Ev ents, Jan. 9th. Jan. 9 th - A LL-GLASS MOTOCROSS (O n Sh adow Gl en ob stacle co ur se) .~~~ 1032 ~ DON'T MISS ·THEM•••! Full fields of riders explode into the wildest two-wheeled action now going! First race - all days - 9:00 a.m. $2 Ad ults - $1 Ju niors - both Kids and Park ing are FREE. w. BROOKS 51:- ONTARJO.CA 9176 2 · 7'14 983-5811 SUZUKI WEST NOW YOU CAN ORD ER YOUR SUZUKI GENU INE PART S AND KIT ·PA RTS THR OUGH OUR MA i l ORDER DEPART MENT . DEPT. CN-W P.O. BOX 2446 *Open riding for non -eompetito rs 7 days a wee k, including Christmas and New Year's days. Bring t he entire family and enjoy mo re t han GOO-acres of Good, Dirty Fun! Hills, strea ms, trees: picnic tab les, race tra cks and miles of t rails. Take Int. 5 t o Castaic Ju ncti on -Trac k entra nce 2 mi. west o n Hwy. 126 . Inf o rmat ion : (805) 259-8000 . INDIAN DUNES PARK 28700 Saugus-Venlura Rd. Valencia, Calif. Phane (805) 259-8000 ltl 1l, g: N ~ rJ e ~ ~ w z w d ~

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