Helmets

[monster]

Please help ,what is better a motorbike helmet or race car helmet.About to buy first helmet from G.P.R only to be told should look at bike helmets if only doing karting,also any suggestions about rib-protectors.

[BillyT]

It really depends on your budget and what racing your going to be doing.

[speedy king]

I would love to have one of the Arai car racing helmets however my budget when i started ment i got a Lazer bike helmet. Many people use bike helmets however it's difficult to find in bike shops SNEL Type A helmets now, though if you are lucky to find them they tend to go quite cheap for stock clearance

[monster]

budget of less than £300,i am going to do Senior Rotax

[BillyT]

If you have that much then I would get the cheapest Arai from GPR. With the left over change get a tillet or ribtec rib protector.

[superbird]

Bike helmets are fine if you can find the right Snell rating; they have a wider aperture than car/kart helmets. You can't however use car/kart helmets on the road.

BTW, I would be very surprised if bike helmets are less safe, there is a higher risk of head injury on a bike...

[ukkartace]

if i were you i would buy one of the cheaoest arai helemts available from GPR, i think its just below the £300 mark. no other helmet comes close to that of an arai, and arai have all the best accesories available. for rib protectors i would advise getting a tillet P1, the latest model, expensive but worth every penny as the pain and medical costs of not having it clearly out wiegh not buying it.

[superbird]

Last year that Arai was the SK5, I dunno if they changed it now though

[#15 tkm 4/]

Arai Sk5, thats what i got and i think its £299. Great fit, looks good and does the JOB well (the most important bit!!)

[Alex Hodgkinson]

I got two Sparco Formula (car helmets) at the kart show. They look similar to the SK5, are £100 less, lighter, more comfortable I think, and go further down at the back

[monster]

Thanks for your help,now can anybody tell me if a race car suit is acceptable for karting as seem to have different approvals.

[BillyT]

Yeah i would definatly assume so.

[monster]

Only assume ,you like me then, need to know for sure though before i buy.Thanks anyway

[Andrew Hornsey]

Are you racing in MSA permitted races, or just "arrive and driving".

For MSA events, a helmet must comply with either Snell SA95 (Although this may be withdrawn from 31/12/2005), Snell SA 2000, or K98. Alternativly, if you can find one that is rated BS6658 Type A (NOT type B) then you can use that.

The BS standard was used on Bike road helmets until the European 2205 standard was introduced - this standard is NOT allowed for motorsport in any way.

For karting, Car Race suits are NOT allowed. Kart suits are not fire proof, but abrasion resistant, whereas car suits are the opposite.

Even if you are just arrive and driving at a local circuit, I would recommend that you go with the above. Many circuits do not check their owner driver equipment for arrive and drive, but at the end of the day, it is better to be Safe rather than sorry.

Hope that helps - if you want more info, PM me

[monster]

Thankyou very much for that info,cheers

[speedy king]

Kind of relevent question, where do any of you get your helmets painted? Looked at JLF but surely they are some of the most expensive around, even though they're very good, i can't really get that sort of money

[BillyT]

http://tentenths.com/forum/showthread.php?p=1226508

Here's the answer.

[ukkartace]

jlf is expensive and his designs are ok but not worth that price. i'm hopefully getting a uffedesign helmet paintjob the same guy that does kimi's helmt and my teammates last year, hes excelelent and best of all hes possibly gonna do it for free.
there are a few british painters eg. gremlin designs - which i've heard are ok. how much are you looking to spend?

[speedy king]

http://www.hkrc.co.uk/pictures/event...p=DSCF0784.jpg

I have a really flash idea i've made myself but for it to be painted it would cost a fortune, so idealy a design like in the above link, good bold two tone design.

Would really want something for no more than about £250, if possible, less

[BillyT]

Thats a nice simple design.