These are on flea bay at the moment.

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/UK-Dispatch-Rider-Helmet/201080917163?_trksid=p2045573.c100033.m2042&_trkparms=aid%3D111001%26algo%3DREC.SEED%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D25460%26meid%3De8ce05f838f1441c944644f4b54dcc48%26pid%3D100033%26prg%3D10684%26rk%3D4%26rkt%3D4%26sd%3D251563118869 anyone tried one. If so. Are they any good ?

Cheers
Darren

email (option): dwrudd. at. lineone dot net

Ok if your head is bullet and car proof,certainly illegal to use and probably to sell here as a crash helmet for the road.

I was tempted by one of these a few years ago but found an original DR helmet in a larger size at the last minute.

I think helmets were debated some time ago and am I right in thinking that original helmets are, technically, legal due to them being manufactured before modern tests/stamps/kitemarks came into force whereas a 'new' helmet of old design (if they are manufactured to the same spec?) won't please the old bill. Steve M, is there an official line on this?

I haven't seen one of the copies but I'd be surprised if it's make of the same, saucepan-thick metal that the originals are. Having said that, I wouldn't like to crash in either helmet!

old originals are fine, up to you if you want to wear them. new or repro ones which don't meet regulations are not ok and there is a possibility if anyone can be bothered to check them that you will get a fine and a telling off. I am sure in a moment someone will quote the relevant standards act and tell you wearing an old one is silly etc, but wartime ones are ok, repro ones aren't.

Thanks Guys, more or less as I suspected.

I will keep looking for an Old original in big'ed size (61)

Not something I would wear regularly, but on meets etc. it would be nice.

Darren.

email (option): dwrudd at lineone.net

Lee. Big Mark the chef was wearing one of those repros at Goodwood. It's actually dated 1944 inside and I doubt the authorities could tell the difference from an original, once the newness has worn off a bit. Especially with a cammo net over it.

Steve Madden did confirm that a DR helmet was built for purpose and that grandfather rights prevail. Likewise, I'm sure that original pre kite mark pudding basins and dear stalkers are still legal. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

Is that across the board Ron? Would it be legal to ride a new GSXR 1100 with a pudding basin on or does the period of the helmet have to match the bike? I'm not suggesting anyone ride a GSXR 1100 whist wearing a 70 year old skid lid!

Well I'm not a lawyer. But the way I understand it. Yes they are legal, but you might invite some interrogation in the wrong setting. Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

and would certainly give your Insurance company reason not to pay out life insurance to your surviving relatives?

Dead while not wearing a seat belt cancels it out so I am sure they'd have a field day with a repro or even original non compliant lid; I doubt grandfather rights would stand up in court.

[HAS THE LOGIN CODE SUDDENLY BECOME CASE SENSITIVE?]

Again I say I'm no lawyer. But if something is legal, it's legal! It can't be nearly legal or part legal can it?

And yes, I've had to type that new bloody code up to four times before it's accepted.

Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

"It can't be nearly legal or part legal can it?"
Insurance companies will argue that point endlessly.

example, a mate who was knocked off his bike and badly injured found that although the other side admitted liability, as their driver was on the wrong side of the road, my mate was partly to blame because he was on the wrong bit of the right side of the road.
Figure that one out,

A middle eastern repro non-BSI approved helmet would fill their assesor with glee I reckon.

deffo some kind of hiccup with the new codes this is my 3rd try

FYI, if it makes any difference in your calculus: Helmets passing US DOT (federal Department of Transportation) scrutiny are tested at only 15 mph. The theory is, by the time your head hits the ground your head or your bike has probably slowed down to that speed. (Don't kill the messenger, I'm just relaying.)

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

Perhaps it would be best to stick to an original helmet and this one seems cheap enough? Ebay number 230652907116

'Always break at least one rule a day'.... ...I like to think that as much as possible I make the decisions and take the risks as I see fit...

I accept the consequences of my actions......Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

Perhaps it would be best to stick to an original helmet and this one seems cheap enough? Ebay number 230652907116 [/quote]

$1000?! Maybe I should sell my original and buy a repro...

I accept the consequences of my actions......Ian [/quote]

You speak as though you have some kind of freedom! The Government won't let you. Think back to all that you've done or experienced in the past week. Other than waking up in the morning, is there anything that the Government did not tax, regulate, prohibit, cause, or a combination of the above?

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

Yes, but I certainly could not post pictures on here !!

Thanks guys for all your comments, I will wait for a decent original.
Darren

email (option): dwrudd at lineone.net

Hi John...I'm only too aware how little freedom there is...

However, if the speed limit is 40mph and I choose to do 70mph there's no one who can take away the 'freedom' for me to make that choice...and I can do it in a Bowler hat if I choose to....

If I am spotted by one of the states 'enforcers' I will then have to 'face the consequences of my actions'...

The fact is they can't stop me doing, or thinking, a lot of things...they can just make me pay for it afterwards one way or another..

They have to catch me first though....and there's plenty of things they haven't caught me for yet... ....

There may be little real freedom in this ultra controlling society...but there is a certain satisfaction in 'twisting the tail of the tiger' and not getting bitten....Ian

email (option): ian@wright52.plus.com

I grabbed the tail of a very beautiful Tiger once. Her Name was Laura from VOSA.
I fell in love with her and told her that I never ever break the law.......But she still bloody well bit me Ron

email (option): ronpier@talk21.com

The fact is they can't stop me doing, or thinking, a lot of things...they can just make me pay for it afterwards one way or another..

They have to catch me first though....and there's plenty of things they haven't caught me for yet... ....

There may be little real freedom in this ultra controlling society...but there is a certain satisfaction in 'twisting the tail of the tiger' and not getting bitten....Ian [/quote]

All up to a point, Ian. After several violations it ceases to be just a fine, they take your license (at least here in the U.S.) and if you keep driving after that, they plop you in the klink. No more "freedom" at all at that point. And some times they can, in fact, stop you. E.g., if you are riding without a helmet and didn't happen to put one in your bag when you left home, they'll make you walk home or take the bus, leaving the bike on the side of the road to be retrieved later, when you come back with a helmet or a truck.

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

Hello,

Fortunately here in Maine USA we don't have a helmet law for those of legal age thanks to the effort of The United Bikers of Maine. The riders decide for themselves and can wear anything or nothing. UBM is the state's largest lobbying group and have a lot of influence in state wide elections. At one time there was no law at all but at one point they began the incrementalism that we all see happening today. Tiny little changes that they impose slowly over time, spoon feeding you until you wake up one day and realize that you can't do what you want to anymore. It's fun watching people at the USA-Canadian border, the first thing that most bikers do is pull over just a few hundred feet into Maine and they take their helmets off You can see the sense of freedom and exhiliration in their faces!

Ride Free!
James

email (option): jamescusteau@yahoo.com

UK Gov webpage on helmet law.

https://www.gov.uk/motorcycle-helmet-law

This does not mention any exemptions for 'old' helmets. My mate found out the same when he was stopped a couple of weeks back whilst wearing one. Told straight out that if he was seen using it again he would get a ticket.

Answer must be to go that fast they cant catch you

Hello,

Tiny little changes that they impose slowly over time, spoon feeding you until you wake up one day and realize that you can't do what you want to anymore.

Ride Free!
James[/quote]

It's the old story of the frog: if you put a frog in a pot of hot water he'll jump right out. If you put him in a pot of cool water and slowly turn up the heat, he'll boil to death before he knows what happened. We are the second kind when it comes to governments and regulations.

email (option): jonny.rudge@verizon.net

Well you can fight some and win but anything named "safety" is set in stone.
I would imagine that most on this list would predate compulsory helmets .
I certainly do.
A helmet like any other armour does nothing but make you feel safe and in the case of full face actually defeats the purpose.
I can remember doing the "Ton" back in the day, sans helmet, flat out on the tank.
After crossing the finishing point sitting up and not being able to see the road for all the pressure & wind tears.
So we could not ride really faast for very long.
However inside the old Bell, 140mph was no problem.
Safety is a state of mind and a lever of competency not a measure of the armour.
The night I hit the truck at 104 mph, my helmet did not have a scratch on it .
the jacket gloves & boots were just about worn through.
An old speed way rider taught me several important things when I was a lad and the most important was how to fall off without hurting yourself. Once you are not afraid of hitting the deck, your riding actually improves substantially but these techniques are not included in modern riding skills so riders baulk then get killed because they do not stay with the bike and let it adsorb as much of any impacts as possible.

email (option): wariron@tpg,com,au

Scanned this from Clive Law's excellent book on Canadian Motorcyclists and bikes;



Cheers,

Lex

ps, I'm wearing one of those fiber ones all the time......

email (option): welbike@welbxxx.net