Mod helmet internal shape

[zenwhipper]

I have been looking for a new skid lid. I currently have an Arai Quantum II - sixe XL. I just tried on the Schuberth C3 (size XL) and it feels pretty good. But the problem is I have a large-ish frontal, upper forehead that makes it tough to find the correct helmet. The C3 (XL) felt pretty good except for where my dome impacts the front above the forehead. An XXL just felt loose all over. I know some folks modify a particular trouble spot in the interior by forcing in the internal helmet foam. The C3 - seems to have an inner shell that would make it difficult to modify the interior. I guess my questions are thus:

1. Anybody ever did some mild spacial enhancements to their skid lid? All it would take - is a spot the size of a table spoon - strategically placed and relieved out to allow for more interior space.

2. Anybody do this for a Scuberth C3?

Grazi

Scott

:huh:

 

[03HiYoSilver]

Scott,

I did some modifications on a Nolan N102 but not on a Schuberth. If you can remove the Liner, you can get to the Foam Type Base Material and do your surgery.

Hope this helps some.

 

[zenwhipper]

Scott,

I did some modifications on a Nolan N102 but not on a Schuberth. If you can remove the Liner, you can get to the Foam Type Base Material and do your surgery.

Hope this helps some.

The C3 has a interior shell made "of specially optimized EPS foam" (see pic below). I examined this and pressed it with my thumb-and it feels difficult to modify, rather hard. A standard helmet has what I call closed cell foam that seems like you could mod it fairly easy. And I'm not above modifying my helmet in this way - but the C3 seems less 'open' to this mod.

Thanks for the comment.

Scott

 

[CAJW]

Scott,

On a trip years ago with my Arai Quantum, I found that after about 3 days of running around the Colorado mtns., my "pointy" type forehead shape was creating a real bothersome hot spot. I took a small whiskey bottle from the mini-bar in our hotel room, used is like a body & fender tool to make a small depression in the foam until the desired clearance was obtained. I then emptied the bottle and life was good again! Later on while playing pool, my buddies and I figured that a cue ball would be an alternative tool, but not as fun to use!

 

[TILAM]

Just be careful not to "modify" the foam too much. It is what compresses in an impact. If it's pre-compressed it wouldn't protect your brain from sloshing around too much.

 

[03HiYoSilver]

With this I am wondering if a Hot Wire or Heated Wire of some kind would suffice to do this minor cutting?

 

[redtail]

Here's a heads up!

Mine is an Icon Airframe. I have the same problem, and on a long ride it's completely painful. Especially at the top of the forehead.

So, I removed the liner, and used a grinding wheel to remove material until I had clearance. I think removing material might be better than compressing it. Kind of like once something has been folded, it now folds real easy! I don't know, but it feels better to me.

What I didn't do, was be careful to keep the ground foam from getting into the air vents. Now, every once in a while, I can hear a little piece ricocheting around inside. :blink:

The helmet's totally comfortable now and I only had to remove a small amount to relieve the pressure! I just ordered a new liner and cheek pads to freshen it up and squeak another season out of it!

 

[pinhead]

I have the exact same problem with most helmets, even the ones that are designed for long oval heads. I never worried about it before I had the FJR because I never rode more than a couple hundred miles per day and just dealt with the forehead hot spot. But now that I can go a smidge further in a day, I had to find a way to deal with it. It's too bad you can't test helmets on week-long trips before committing to buy.

Anyway, I really wanted to avoid shaving or trimming any (possibly beneficial) foam out of the forehead area so I decided to add some cushion to the center area of the helmet, directly above the center of my head, to lift the helmet a little and relieve the pressure on my forehead. I used foam weather stripping first, like you would use to seal a window or door, and while it worked great at first, it compressed after a couple thousand miles and became useless. It was just too soft. Now I''ve got an oval-shaped layer of stiffer foam in there, like the kind they used to make older style sleeping pads out of (think camping/backpacking, usually blue in color) between the helmet's closed-cell foam and removeable liner. I think I've got 4-5k miles out of it and it has held up great and relieved the pain.

Just a cheap/free thing to try, though I'm sure someone here could find a reason that your balls might fall off if you do it.

 

[zenwhipper]

I was looking on some of those other mc boards and came across this.

https://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=667299

Seems like some folks are having slight fitment issues with the C3 in the area of the forehead. Some folks did do some modifying of the interior EPS foam. So that could be an option if I bought this helmet and it gave me some troubles.

Man... the wife just laughs at me with all this stressin' I do over buying motorcycle stuff. :lol:

Scott

 

[semongtaulie]

I've slightly compressed some of the foam using the handle of a screwdriver. Gives you fairly good leverage and you can choose different size handles to suit your need.

 

[Tree Doc]

Have you tried on an Arai RX-Q or Vector 2? They are intermediate oval shapes as opposed to the Quantum's round oval. They should give a similar fit yet be more relaxed in the area of the forehead.

Also, what crown liner is in your Quantum. It will be a Level III, 5, 7, or 10mm. You can play with these, too to get the right fit.

 

[dustyrains]

With this I am wondering if a Hot Wire or Heated Wire of some kind would suffice to do this minor cutting?

I used a curved, serrated grapefruit knife to carve out some foam that was pushing on my ears, on one of my old helmets. Worked pretty well, as I recall.