A helmet takes care of your head. You need to take care of your helmet.

A full-face helmet can be the best value in motorcycling if you ever need the protection it’s designed to provide. Before you select a helmet as part of your overall motorcycle safety plan, it’s important to consider how helmets are constructed.

There are four main components to a motorcycle helmet:

• Outer shell: This is a strong, relatively thin shell composed of one or more layers of plastic or fiberglass. High performance helmets often include layers of special fibers such as carbon fiber, Kevlar, or proprietary materials. The goal is to make a strong—but light—shell that provides protection by:

  • Absorbing impacts and distributing that energy over a larger area of the shell

  • Preventing penetration by sharp objects

  • Protecting the rider’s head and the helmet’s impact-absorbing inner liner from abrasion

• Impact-absorbing liner: Often made from expanded polystyrene foam, this thick inner lining is lightweight and rigid, yet crushable. It’s designed to absorb energy by crushing, while increasing the time and distance for the head to decelerate to a complete stop. It also lessens impact forces to the head by absorbing and diffusing energy from external impacts to the helmet.

• Comfort liner and padding: These reduce rider fatigue and discomfort and provide a snug fit that holds the helmet in place at speed. The helmet needs to be properly fitted to the rider’s head for the outer shell and impact-absorbing liner to provide the maximum protection. Some helmets come with adjustable padding components and removable, washable liners to optimize fit and comfort.

• Retention system: The retention system is more than the visible chinstrap that is secured by a pair of D-rings. The chinstrap has multiple attachment points to the helmet that are designed to prevent the helmet from rotating off the head in case of impact.