Schuberth C2 Crash Helmet

So what is special about this helmet.

I have used open faced helmets since 1966 and I find them safer in the sense that you can hear and see more of what is going on around you when driving.

The trade off being less face protection but I have driven defensively and have never come off a bike in my life.

Regards

Mick

It is a full face with a chinguard that pivots up (like the BMW system helmet).
What made it a bit special for me was - the better "head model" used to shape the inside. Quiet, claimed excellent ventilation and a pilot style internal drop down sun visor (legal) as my vision suffers greatly when riding into the sun - don't seem to get on with tinted lenses.
I agree there is an element of risk-adjustment (volvo drivers) when kitted out in super protection. However, at the speeds I ride (nothing special) wind noise requires earplugs and this design drops that problem to levels not seen since the old Everoak models.
http://www.schuberth.com/c2/index3.htm

This arose because I was going to order a new visor and found the helmet was now several years older than I had thought - therefore due for replacement.

As I have no immediate plans to use the helmet protectively it is the day-to-day comfort and reduction of fatigue that I want to maximise. Just as my relatively recent purchase of an electric jacket has improved riding by reducing bulk.

Looks like a nice piece of kit:

There is a revew here and another here

Regards

Andy

I was considering a flip front helmet until I was in attendance when a BMW riding friend high-sided and face-planted into the tarmac. The full-face helmet he was wearing saved him from serious damage but cracked right through the chinguard in the process. I'm not convinced that a flip-front would have done as good a job and had he been wearing an open face I wouldn't have liked to have seen the results.

Steve

The full face v the open face debate does worry me alot.

I have to be honest and explain that I first wore a helemet in 1965 when it was nearly all open face. So I was brought up on them and have got used to them.

I drive a Sunbeam which has a cruising speed of 55 mph and I probably average 45 on country roads. I find wearing an open face helmet keeps me more in touch with the world around me. I can see more and hear better and hence feel safer than if wearing a full face helmet.

The problem is, if I ever do come off ( I never have yet) will the open face offer as much protection and of course the answer must be no.

The main driving point is that I feel more in touch with the road when wearing open face so I am more in control and less likely to come off.

It's an awkward one.

Regards

Mick

The accident I described above took place at slow speed - maybe 30mph, quite possibly even less. It was a tight, downhill right hander after a blind approach which the chap just got wrong and unfortunately dabbed the brakes when he should have kept leaning, and IMHO is an accident that could as easily have happened to someone on a classic such as yours.

It's definitely a personal choice issue though. I've always used full-face helmets and now I really wouldn't feel comfortable without one. In the same way I'd also not feel comfortable riding a motorbike without a back protector and either leathers or purpose designed all-weather bike gear with armour etc, plus proper boots. I didn't have any of that stuff (other than a full-face lid) when I started as a teenager but I think once you're used to it there is no way back.

Regards
Steve

quote:

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Originally posted by Mick Parry:
I have driven defensively and have never come off a bike in my life.

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I ride, as far as I am able, within the advice of the police Roadcraft manuals. Appropriate (for my speeds and all year riding) protective clothing reduces stress and exhaustion – with benefits to concentration.
As mentioned, many of my concerns stem from travelling at a less sedate pace than Mr Parry. I have an open face helmet which does all the beneficial things that you suggest - it just fails to function at 85 in the rain or most speeds at zero degrees of heat.
As to the integrity of the mechanism - I suspect that these new designs come closer to the strength of fixed full face helmets.
I have compensated for the slight “distancing from danger” that they can induce – I find the reduction of wind noise entirely beneficial.
However – has anyone used this model? It presently cost £350 although I will be buying in a sale.

On another note. I now invariably wear leathers – the point having been made to me that an “off” at 70 mph unprotected could be like holding your hand against a sanding disk – an image that held considerable power for my imagination.

quote:

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Originally posted by Adam Meredith:
As mentioned, many of my concerns stem from travelling at a less sedate pace than Mr Parry. I have an open face helmet which does all the beneficial things that you suggest - it just fails to function at 85 in the rain or most speeds at zero degrees of heat.

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Cue Mr Parry - he will be along in a moment as his transfer rate is just a little less than the normal speed - just to be on the safe side.........

Signature - surely it's just a Naim ?

I was taught the basic rule for purchasing a Crash Helmet was; 'if you have a £5 head wear a £5 helmet'. A mantra that has searved me well over the years. Defensive driving is all very well but when you hit diesel on a roundabout or mud on a country bend there is little the laws of traction and grip can do to save you. Saying nothing about mechanical failure, puctures and other road users. Before you know it, your day is ruined by an episode of 'ground-sky-ground-sky-ground-sky-kerb'

Buy the best equipment you can afford and wear it! I started out with a paper mache 'pudding basin' with leather ear flaps at age 6 but have moved with the times and wear the best I can find on both my modern and vintage bikes. i would not have it any other way although you do not need a crash helmet is this part of the world and people ride in t-shirts and shorts.

My 2p's worth

Andy

I would agree entirely.
I had my first encounter with tarmac for 30 years last January when a combination of ice, mechanical failure and, as it almost always has to be admitted, my own lack of skill or care put me down on London's North Circular.
The advanced motorist ideal that all accidents are the rider's fault, and therefore theoretically under his control, is a good starting point for encouraging responsibility. Even the best (and I am not that) can stray into an area where the combination of speed, grip and marginal lack of concentration change control to calamity.
But - I suspect that most helmets from reputable manufacturers, if well fitting, offer similar levels of protection. It is this model's comfort and utility that I was seeking advice on.
By the way - the £10 helmet/head thing - as with tyres, there is no such thing as a £350 helmet. It is more like a £150 helmet, selling for £350. You should see the wholesale price of bike tyres.

Adam, what bike do you actually ride??????
I've got a 1997 Triumph T509 Speed Triple myself :-)
Had it from new, still immaculate :-)

Computers are supposed to work on 1's and 0's - in other words "Yes" or "No" - why does mine frequently say "Maybe"?......

2003 VFR 800 - with lots of odd letters - VTEC & ABS and something I peeled off (combined Braking Something). Fuel Injection.

For all that - not a bad bike and, at essence, closer to my first bike, Tiger Cub, than a car.

I agree Adam and my IAM instructor (also Police Class one) is still empahtic to this day that all accidents are the riders fault,to a lesser or greater degree. Not sure I feel the same but them I probably fell off more than he did

Don't think I want to get into a MRRP Vs Dealer Cost discussion with you though..... That way lies trouble

BTW A friend recently came up for a ride around Maine with his VFR800 thingy and very nice it is too, IMHO that is one of the best engines ever placed between two wheels.

Regards

Andy

quote:

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Originally posted by Adam Meredith:
2003 VFR 800 - with lots of odd letters - VTEC & ABS and something I peeled off (combined Braking Something). Fuel Injection.

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Classic stuff!

Oh, an active DBL something. Nice amp but too many buttons. I peeled off the "aux" one.

Deane

[This message was edited by Deane F on Tue 18 January 2005 at 4:27.]

Bought.
Frighteningly "good" fit - in that it grips every cm of my head with equal determination but no pressure points. The internal form seems well matched to a real, or my, head - or perhaps my head is conforming to its profile.
VERY quiet, very steady and a joy to be able to see out of a visor again.
This, and a new Goretex jacket and gloves, has rendered preparation an embarassing series of wrong moves as I try to find my way in and out of new zips, velcro and buttons. Still look like a scooter rider (to real bikers).

Can we all now sing :

"Ga-ring-ding-ding-ding-ding-da" like that infuriating frog ?

Doesn't sound very french.

Fair call.

Pouvons nous tous maintenant chanter :

"Ga-ring-ding-ding-ding-ding-da"

comme cette grenouille fâchante ?

touch!

e ?

pas en englais.

Moi ? C'est Ecosse !!

quote:

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Still look like a scooter rider

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Olive Parka with Fox fur on the hood edge? (I still have one complete with road tears) This is from the time when it wasn't dangerous to ride without a crash helmet.


Howard

I remember taking my Tiger Cub (bike for the unknowing) to the Golden Valley bypass and "winding it up" to 70 - all without lid.
It blew up 3 days later.

Ah, to remember !

I bought a Yamaha RD125LC and spent a hoot of cash getting it tuned up a bit, uprating the brakes and adding better tyres. Track days at Knockhill were fantastic !!!

My mate bought the previous year's model (skinnier tyres, poorer shocks, different frame, worse brakes) and we tooled into a large roundabout one day.

Me - knee out, bike over, on the edge of traction and loving EVERY minute of it.

Him - sparks as he slid off the roundabout...........