What do you do with your helmet when it is not being used?

[bikerfish1100]

Just for context, I'm not advocating for garage storage... I'm just not buying a lot of weak arguments put forward that suggests storing a helmet in the garage will shorten it's service life that don't pass the common sense test.

i must be missing something here. how does this "It is not wise to store helmets near gasoline, cleaning fluids, exhaust fumes, or excessive heat. These factors can result in the degradation ofhelmet materials, and often the damage goes unnoticed by the wearer" flunk the common sense test? The issues of exhaust fumes, heat, gasoline and (likely) cleaning fluids are all germaine to the garage question, yes? And unless your garage in Atlanta has a/c, (and it certainly could, but i'm just sayin') heat is most certainly an issue for anything stored inside.

Motorcycling entails the acceptance of some risks as being inevitable, with the purposeful intention of reducing or eliminating as many risk factors as "reasonably" possible. in that light, i will advocate for not storing a helmet in a garage, as that is an easily controlled factor that can be eliminated, and bring about some slight improvemetn in the controlling of other associated risk factors (helmet longevity and effectiveness).

[TANDEMGEEK]

i must be missing something here.

Yes, you are.... the common sense part.

Heat: No, no A/C in the garage here in Atlanta. So, if it's 100F - 105F outside, then it's probably about the same in the garage. Of course, guess what: if it's 100F outside and I'm riding my motorcycle with my helmet on, the helmet is also 100F, if not more given how solid objects tend to absorb and hold heat in direct sunlight. But, the last time I checked, the temperature required to deform EPS is a heck of a lot higher than normal ambient air temperatures and once a solid object is heat-soaked to a certain temperature, the time spent at that temperature won't really matter: it's a helmet not a turkey. So, the common sense part would be, don't put your helmet where it will be subjected to abnormally high heat that could, in fact, damage the shell or EPS liner, i.e., out from under Halogen spot lights, off of furnaces and the like. As for the example of the styrafoam cup & heat tolerance, last time I checked folks pour scalding hot coffee into those suckers. So, just how hot would the air in a garage need to be?

Exhaust fumes: Short of my previous example of someone committing suicide by running their car in a closed garage, just how much CO2 do you think builds up in a garage when folks warm-up cars and the like? I've got a CO2 sensor in my garage and the ONLY time it goes off is if I run a 2 cycle leaf blower to blow wash water off the cars/bikes or leaves out of the garage. Frankly, I'd bet there's more C02 in the air around my helmet when I'm sitting or riding in traffic during a Code Orange or Code Red SMOG alert during August than you'll find in the average garage where someone's warming up their car or bike.

Gasoline and Solvents: As mentioned before, unless you store your helmet on top of an open gas or solvent container or next to them on the floor, it's pretty hard for any vapors from those open containers (never mind closed containers) to defy gravity and do damage to your helmet. Yes, gas vapors are heavier than air, as are most other solvent-based vapors. Again, this is why it's considered safe to install a gas-fired furnance or water heater in a garage, so long as it's elevated off of the floor where any gasoline vapors might collect. It's also why garage floors are set lower than any adjacent living space floor such that you must always climb up a step or two to get into the house.

In closing, IMHO it's not just the presence of potentially harmful elements that you need to consider, it's the concentration levels. Again, for any of these concentration levels to be high enough to damage a helmet during it's 5-year prescribed service life, you'd have to assume that there'd be a heck of a lot of other things stored in your garage for much longer periods of time that would suffer as bad or worse a fate, never mind anyone who goes out and spends any time working in that garage.

[bikerfish1100]

TG- my only point in this is that the garage exposures, even if relatively small in comparison to real trouble levels, or in comparison to those exposures that are part of the actual riding environment (sun, traffic exhaust, etc) is that the garage exposures are ENTIRELY avoidable and UNNECESSARY.
i choose to avoid those readily avoidable potential concerns. ymmv.
(and i don't know about in your garage, but i know that if it's 90 outside, it can climb to quite a bit more than 90 inside of mine, and stay there for much longer than the outdoors does)

[TANDEMGEEK]

i choose to avoid those readily avoidable potential concerns.

That's where we differ.

I choose to cast a critical eye on some of the dumbed-down 'information and guidance' offered up by litigation-wary manufacturers and perpetuated by well-meaning folks (to include MSF) that defy logic and reality for vast majority of enthusiasts.

As I said, there are many good reasons to store gear in a home and they stand on their own merit, just as the good reasons to store gear in a garage. There's no need to perpetuate the dissemination of junk science to 'justify' why someone else's choice is less prudent than your own.

Peace and out....

[marchyman]

I choose to cast a critical eye on some of the dumbed-down 'information and guidance' offered up by litigation-wary manufacturers and perpetuated by well-meaning folks (to include MSF) that defy logic and reality for vast majority of enthusiasts.

I bet you leave your battery connected to the bike's electrical system when you charge, it, too

[mistercindy]

I keep it on a shelf in the garage next to where I park the bike. Please don't let this start a flame war, but suggesting its not good for the helmet to be in the garage seems pretty Henny Penny to me.

Just my $0.02....

[big_ed]

Here's an idea (if you're a hoarder)

[GlobalRider]

What do you do with
yours to keep it from being dropped or scratched when it is not being used?

Nothing...I'm careful!

When it is stored for the winter, it goes into a lined Dow Canvas helmet bag.

[leadfoot]

I keep it on a shelf in the garage next to where I park the bike. Please don't let this start a flame war, but suggesting its not good for the helmet to be in the garage seems pretty Henny Penny to me.

Just my $0.02....

AGREED!!!!!!


OOPS, Hide the helmet!