Wonky Head or Dodgy Helmet?

[Dynamoduck]

I’ve only started riding recently and I bought myself a Scorpion Exo 1400 Air Carbon. There’s barely any wind noise and it’s really light.

I can ride for about an hour with the helmet being really comfy but anything more than that and I start to get sharp pains on the top right of my head. I realised that my head is slightly off centre in the helmet with my nose pointing just to left to the centre of the visor.

Has anyone else had this problem and if so what did you do to fix it?

[trickywoo]

Sounds like it could be too small but a properly fitting helmet will feel tight until it beds in.

I couldn’t open my mouth and comfortably close it again with my current one when it was new but it’s bedded in nicely now.

[samjlevy]

It maybe too small but my break in.

You should be able to get different pads for it to customise the fit.

[airsafari87]

Either too small or you don’t have a Scorpion shaped head?

Sounds weird but not all helmets fit everyone. People tend to fall in to 1 of 2 categories, you either have an Shoei shaped head or an Arai shaped head.

I have a Shoei shaped head and I can’t wear, Arai, Bell, X-Lite helmets for example otherwise i get similar pressure pains to what you seem to be experiencing.

Alternatively I can, very comfortably wear Shoei, AGV and HJC.

I don’t know enough about Scorpion helmets though to say which side of Shoei or Arai they fall in to?

Edited by airsafari87 on Saturday 16th July 11:39

[Pebbles167]

airsafari87 said:

Sounds weird but not all helmets fit everyone

Found this to be very true after a few years into riding. For that reason I tend to wear Shark helmets, as they are very round, much like my football head. Some of the stuff from the likes of Shoei just got uncomfortable in my usual size after about an hour, even though they were supremely comfortable at first. Meant I would have to have sized up, which meant it was loose, so a non starter.

If you can, get to a decent bike/gear shop and try on as many brands as you can to get a good feel. A properly fitting helmet is a vital passive safety measure for longer riding, more likely to see the van pulling out on you of you're not constantly adjusting your helmet position and bemoaning its lack of comfort.

[Biker 1]

I had similar a few years back, although different lid brand. Hopefully bedding in will help. As for the pain only on one side: one of my relatives is an osteopath. Apparently most of our bones are not quite symmetrical, including the plates that make up the skull. I doubt it's a dodgy lid - more likely the asymmetric shape of your bonce....
If you're still having problems in a week or so, I would seriously consider looking at a different brand of lid....

[Sporall]

I had a similar experience with a variety of HJC lids. Tried one in a shop for about 20 minutes and thought it was great. A short while later I ordered one from Sportsbike Shop and wore it indoors with a balaclava and I had a severe pain develop on the right side of my head. I tried it several times and it always happened around after about an hour although it felt perfect up till that point. As I'd left the tags etc on and not worn it out they were happy to take back for a refund.

[Nath911t]

I got one of these about 2 years ago (been using Scorpion since about 2014) and found when riding after about 10/15 minutes, I had to move the bottom of the helmet slightly over to the left and then it was ok for the rest of the time.

While it's a nice light lid to carry around and fairly quiet, I did notice it would sometimes vibrate the internal visor a bit. That isn't so much of a problem now. When the weather is warm I drop the internal visor down with the outer visor mostly up like I've been doing for years at normal 30/40/50 mph roads. The internal drop down visor has now decided to break on one side and won't go up/down as normal.

I can't find the receipt and from when I enquired to Scorpion USA about a UK customer services, well there isn't one so now I have lid, I hardly use. Shame really. Scorpion USA did say to go out and buy another drop down visor but couldn't let me know from where in the UK. Not only that the whole mechanism is out of sync.

I'm now back with my EXO510, or whatever number it is and while you notice the weight carrying and slightly more wind noise at higher speeds it doesn't feel that much different riding the bike.

[TimmyMallett]

I have the same lid and whilst I don't have the same issues you do, I did notice that these lids are tighter than other brands (even though I meticulously measured my head when buying online) They do seem a little narrower side to side to the effect my ears fold up when I put it on and I have to reach in and tuck them down. I think a larger side would be too big though.

It might not be the lid, it may be your posture. The only way to tell is put it on and sit and watch TV for an hour

[black-k1]

I don't have experience of this specific lid but, like many have said, lids do take a little while to "bed in" and become truly comfortable. I know that when I buy a new Schuberth, I'll have around 2 weeks where any journey more than about 45mins to an hour will result in a headache. However, after this initial period, the helmet will fit like a glove and will be all day comfortable for a number of years. This is unlike a number of other helmets I’ve owned, including a Shoei, which fitted really well to start with but after a year’s regular use felt like it was possibly a size too big.

As for the slight miss alignment, I’ve never encountered such issues.

[Dynamoduck]

Well I went back to the shop I bought it from and they said it's probably still bedding in. I told them I've been riding almost everyday after work for about a month now and nothing has changed and they said it normally takes about 3 months to bed in but can take up to a year!

They've got no reason to lie as it's too late to return the helmet but that sounds crazy to me as I don't want to have put up with it for any longer.

I'll keep bedding the helmet in for a few more months but if it doesn't change I'll have to start looking for a new helmet.

Edited by Dynamoduck on Monday 18th July 11:35

[Riff Raff]

black-k1 said:

As for the slight miss alignment, I’ve never encountered such issues.

FWIW, if I look at myself in a mirror, my nose is well off centre in the helmet. We’re talking inches here, not millimeters.

I can only presume I was a forceps birth!

[TheTrash]

TimmyMallett said:

I have the same lid and whilst I don't have the same issues you do, I did notice that these lids are tighter than other brands (even though I meticulously measured my head when buying online) They do seem a little narrower side to side to the effect my ears fold up when I put it on and I have to reach in and tuck them down. I think a larger side would be too big though.

It might not be the lid, it may be your posture. The only way to tell is put it on and sit and watch TV for an hour

I have this helmet and have the same problem with my ears when putting it on, once it's on it fits like a glove though.

[TimmyMallett]

TheTrash said:

I have this helmet and have the same problem with my ears when putting it on, once it's on it fits like a glove though.

The Airfit thing seems like a bit of a gimmick though, do you use it?

[TheTrash]

TimmyMallett said:

The Airfit thing seems like a bit of a gimmick though, do you use it?

Agree that its a gimick, have never used it either.

[babelfish]

Dynamoduck said:

Well I went back to the shop I bought it from and they said it's probably still bedding in. I told them I've been riding almost everyday after work for about a month now and nothing has changed and they said it normally takes about 3 months to bed in but can take up to a year!

They've got no reason to lie as it's too late to return the helmet but that sounds crazy to me as I don't want to have put up with it for any longer.

I'll keep bedding the helmet in for a few more months but if it doesn't change I'll have to start looking for a new helmet.

Edited by Dynamoduck on Monday 18th July 11:35

If you aren't getting any help from the retailer, have you tried removing and reseating the interior?

I was always a Shoei sized head but went to Schuberth for sound levels and were perfect for me. On a long trip with a new helmet it was giving me grief (forehead). I unclipped all the internals in the hotel, reseated them and was good from there on.

Edited by babelfish on Tuesday 19th July 02:34

[SAS Tom]

airsafari87 said:

Either too small or you don’t have a Scorpion shaped head?

Sounds weird but not all helmets fit everyone. People tend to fall in to 1 of 2 categories, you either have an Shoei shaped head or an Arai shaped head.

I have a Shoei shaped head and I can’t wear, Arai, Bell, X-Lite helmets for example otherwise i get similar pressure pains to what you seem to be experiencing.

Alternatively I can, very comfortably wear Shoei, AGV and HJC.

I don’t know enough about Scorpion helmets though to say which side of Shoei or Arai they fall in to?

Edited by airsafari87 on Saturday 16th July 11:39

Don’t think this has been true for a long time. I have both Shoei and Arai helmets and they both fit well.

Different manufacturers do have different shapes though and even some models within the range will be a different shape.

[SAS Tom]

Nath911t said:

I got one of these about 2 years ago (been using Scorpion since about 2014) and found when riding after about 10/15 minutes, I had to move the bottom of the helmet slightly over to the left and then it was ok for the rest of the time.

While it's a nice light lid to carry around and fairly quiet, I did notice it would sometimes vibrate the internal visor a bit. That isn't so much of a problem now. When the weather is warm I drop the internal visor down with the outer visor mostly up like I've been doing for years at normal 30/40/50 mph roads. The internal drop down visor has now decided to break on one side and won't go up/down as normal.

I can't find the receipt and from when I enquired to Scorpion USA about a UK customer services, well there isn't one so now I have lid, I hardly use. Shame really. Scorpion USA did say to go out and buy another drop down visor but couldn't let me know from where in the UK. Not only that the whole mechanism is out of sync.

I'm now back with my EXO510, or whatever number it is and while you notice the weight carrying and slightly more wind noise at higher speeds it doesn't feel that much different riding the bike.

Either go back to the dealer you bought it from or go to the distributor Tran Am. One or the other should be able to help and I believe the helmet will still be under warranty. Certainly Tran Am should be able to get you any spares.

[SAS Tom]

Dynamoduck said:

Well I went back to the shop I bought it from and they said it's probably still bedding in. I told them I've been riding almost everyday after work for about a month now and nothing has changed and they said it normally takes about 3 months to bed in but can take up to a year!

They've got no reason to lie as it's too late to return the helmet but that sounds crazy to me as I don't want to have put up with it for any longer.

I'll keep bedding the helmet in for a few more months but if it doesn't change I'll have to start looking for a new helmet.

Edited by Dynamoduck on Monday 18th July 11:35

It shouldn’t take up to a year to bed in. If it’s still the same after 3 months then I think it’s unlikely it’ll change.

Can you feel more pressure in the painful point than other places around your head?

[Dynamoduck]

SAS Tom said:

It shouldn’t take up to a year to bed in. If it’s still the same after 3 months then I think it’s unlikely it’ll change.

Can you feel more pressure in the painful point than other places around your head?

Yes that’s the only area that hurts, the rest of my head is perfectly comfortable.