Like almost any product, and especially those intended for safety,  motorcycle helmets have an expiration date. It is a fact that with the passage of time they lose qualities since all their elements have a certain degree of obsolescence.



As helmets get older,  their protective properties are diminished to a greater or lesser extent. It may simply be due to natural aging, but also wear and tear. There, for example, the interiors, which should fit perfectly on your head, can harden and compress, making that fit not perfect.

But also the micro-impacts, those small falls to the ground when we are getting ready to get on the motorcycle and we have the helmet poorly supported on the seat or the tank or many times hanging on the lever, they produce micro-breaks that cause the expiration of the motorcycle helmets. motorcycle accelerates.

Even so,  with the perfect maintenance of your helmet, you will not be able to prevent it from giving you the security you need after a few years.

If motorcycle helmets expire, what is their useful life?


Normally the manufacturer will establish some recommendations. It is not that they put an expiration date on their products, but you can find indications about this in their descriptive sheets.

The useful life will obviously depend on the quality of its components. There are many materials that a helmet can be made of both in its interior and exterior parts and a thermoplastic helmet will not have the same life as one of composite or carbon fiber and  Kevlar.

Normally, a helmet with a certain quality of materials in its outer shell usually corresponds to the same interior quality and in all its components; visors, vents, and straps, so that the obsolescence will be homogeneous.

The most common is that manufacturers place the age of the helmet in operation in its optimal conditions between five and eight years, although this will depend a lot on your care about it and the life you give it.

Aspects to take into account about the expiration of motorcycle helmets



First of all, that the quality of the helmet will influence its longevity with its unaltered qualities.

Second, you must bear in mind that slight impacts from unforeseen falls of the helmet to the ground can affect its integrity.

Thirdly,  an impact with the ground or any other forceful element in an accident will seriously jeopardize the integrity of the helmet and you should change it or do a test of its properties.

That is why from the Verti motorcycle insurance area we want to give you special advice. It is common that when you buy a second-hand motorcycle they give you one or two helmets. If you do not know the exact history of them, it will be better not to accept them, especially if they show any signs of neglect or impacts or if you do not know the age of the helmet, since you will not know when to change it.