Wednesday, March 30, 2011

So I'm sure everyone's tired of me talking about how awesome my wife is . . .

Tough shit .

I had been talking about getting a new helmet for riding to work . Just a local around town helmet that was legal ( DOT compliant ) and wasn't some stupid grafix ridden abortion . I've been wearing my beanie style job since the helmet law was enacted for short rides around town , but it's pretty rediculous overall and I wanted to upgrade a little . I have a nice old full face that I wear if I'm going for more than a short ride or if I'm spending any amount of time on the freeway just because I'm pretty and I want to stay that way . I know how much it sucks to come off on the freeway at high speeds & it's not fun . I've been lucky in the past , but now days I'm not much of a risk taker with shit like that .

I'm always scouring the swap meets & eBay for that perfect Bell helmet from the 70's , gloss white , no flash or fancy , one that would actually fit me maybe . . . and then Biltwell starts making these novelty helmets that are pretty close to the old Bell helmets . Not a bad price either . Maybe this is what I need ?

Well Amy does her homework and figures out that Bell is remaking the famous 3/4 open face helmet in a limited quantity . Why own a copy when I could have the real thing she decides . A modern version and compliant in my DOT mandatory state I live in .

Long story short , I got one of these for my birthday last week . Real Bell 3/4 helmet , the colour I wanted , no old ass dead foam in it , wont have to fuck with it to make it fit my mellon . . . perfect right ?

No way . It was almost a full size too small . Enter the simple ball peen hammer . It has dozens of uses , but hitting things is among the top 10 , and I've had to do this dance before . I've worn and collected vintage / old / busted helmets since I was a kid on a vespa and NONE of them have ever fit me correctly . I have a huge head , ( size 8 ) and every helmet / hat manufacturer has a different idea of what a size 8 should fit like .

After about 1/2 hour of light taps inside on the styrofoam interior , I gained about a 1/4 inch all the way around my head and guess what , it fits like a glove . You want it to stay slightly snug because it will form to your noggan eventually , but as you can see , it fits and I'm safe & sound as well as stylish this morning .

Horray me .



2 comments:

Arinn said...

now you're stylin'! number #5000 on the list "why amy is the best"

Anonymous said...

Been in my Bell for 1 1/2 years now and just gave the Boss Lady one for her bday. They're unbeatable for the dollar in my opinion.