Full Face Or Open Face: Choosing The Right Motorcycle Helmet

Visors are a wear item, not a lifetime part of the helmet, and most riders find a spare on hand is worth having, especially before a long trip.

Full face and open face helmets suit different kinds of riding, and the right choice usually comes down to where and how you ride rather than looks alone. A full face helmet covers the chin and jaw, giving more protection in a wider range of impacts, and tends to suit faster roads and longer distances.

Trying a helmet on in person, and wearing it for a few minutes rather than a few seconds, catches problems a size chart alone cannot. Padding also settles slightly with use, so a helmet that feels snug when new is usually the right call.

The liner deserves the same care. A removable, washable liner keeps the inside fresh, Hedon and following the maker's washing instructions protects both the padding and the stitching around it.

This is slower than fully automated manufacturing, and that is the point. A handcrafted shell trades speed for a level of finish and individual attention that a purely machine made helmet does not offer.

Any impact, including a helmet dropped from a moderate height, can compress the inner liner in ways that are not visible from outside. A helmet is designed to absorb one significant impact by sacrificing that inner material, so a helmet involved in a crash should always be replaced, not inspected and reused.