I remember somebody saying something about simple ideas often being the most brilliant. This thought struck me when I first learned about Vozz Helmets new Voztec System, which results in a helmet that pivots on top and allows the rider to quickly (even with glasses on) put the helmet on, and take it off. Of course, Vozz claims several other benefits, as well. The video below summarizes all of them.
The helmet does not require a chin strap, but instead has an adjustable chin cup. Additionally, given the way the helmet is put on, and taken off, according to Vozz the helmet can be made to fit “like a glove”, and the opening at the bottom is much smaller (contributing to reduced buffeting and lower noise levels).
Vozz is releasing the RS 1.0 early next year. You can visit the Vozz web site for more details, including a video that illustrates the unique way in which safety personnel can remove the RS 1.0 from an injured rider. The video below is featured on the Digital Trends web site.
See more of MD’s great photography:
I’d like to see the Sharp rating before I purchased one of these, for sure. However, to all the people saying they worry about an EMT trying to rip it off…come on, if you’re unconscious they will restrict your head and get you to the hospital with your helmet on rather than risk your spine. If you’re conscious, just tell them.
I see this and all I can think about is rear entry ski boots and how great they felt in the showroom compared to how terrible they were on the slope. Thankfully that fad passed.
Absolutely brilliant. I hope they succeed commercially.
MotoGP riders have been doing great with full-face helmets for years, even performing high-side crashes for the crowds. I like to stay with what works. BTW, ever check out what an EMT worker that’s not employed by the city/county earns? Makes you think twice about an unfamiliar system for removing a helmet in the event of a crash.
I’m glad to see someone trying a different way of getting helmet on/off the rider.
The ways MotoGP rider suffer crashes are vastly different than majority of riders on public roads, that’s a poor comparison of safety or function of helmets. The way MotoGP riders fir their helmet is not designed for long hours in the saddle or day in/day out usage for commuting.
EMT pay wages have little to do with their knowledge about removing motorcycle helmet from injured rider.
Watching the VOSS helmet video, demo of helmet functions, it seem like a good design start, brand new way of doing things with likely better than age old design. I would give it a try. over two decades and 700k miles of riding, My helmet have only made contact with pavement twice while I’d been wearing it.
You’re right. MotoGP riders rarely smack their heads on blunt objects like curbs, sign posts, guardrails, or car bumpers. Y’know… The kind of things that can split a two-piece helmet in half like an Easter egg…
Have you ever seen any (moto, bicycle, ski, hockey, work helmet that split into 2-piece after impact?
More specifically, have you ever seen a Vozz helmet split into 2-piece after impact?
BTW, Easter egg does not split into 2-piece upon impact neither.
Okaaay… Kinda misplaced logic there. But anyway.
Wear your new Vozz in good health. I truly wish you well, along with anyone else who buys one. I won’t be joining you, but I’ll keep my fingers crossed for you… 👌
okay, I remember hearing about this a few months back, and i’m pretty sure this is how Kylo Ren manages to get his helmet off and on so many damn times in the Force Awakens, but what about the Snell and ECE certs…? what’s the FIM safety director’s acceptance of this, or is this just DOT approved for now and the race world’s simply not there yet…?
I really can’t see the racing organizations EVER approving any kind of modular helmet. As for getting the helmet off an injured rider’s head, things like Arai’s quick release cheek pads and the Eject bladder system (which works with any brand and style of helmet) have pretty much solved that issue.
I prefer to “take my chances” with the tried and true composite full face helmet that has saved my head on numerous occasions.
Snell has approved at least one modular that I know of, the LS2, a few years ago. It’s more likely that the manufactures of the modular helmets don’t want to bother with the extra cost of Snell certification. Racing is such an insignificant portion of the motorcycle population.
I vaguely remember a conversation I had years ago with I believe a shoei rep over the modular and him saying something about the nature of the flip up design and the way the test was conducted or the standards of the test around the chin bar area or something, the flip up just would never pass the test even if they wanted it to…?
but here with this, the mechanism is moved to the rear and AWAY from the natural direction of travel or AWAY from the crash leaving essentially a solid area of protection where it matters most.
I like the idea of an “easy” removal system for EMTs, but if I’ve had an unplanned get off hard enough to be unconscious and require advanced medical assistance, my life may be further gravely endangered while some well-meaning ambulance driver runs back to his truck for his phone, scans the QR code, waits for his 3G network to get all the instructions to his cellie, then another ten minutes pass while he looks for a screwdriver… meanwhile I’m trying to avoid walking into the light.
The system sounds good on paper, though I wonder how a beard would affect fit/snugness. As someone said before, though, I too am no first adopter. Gonna stick with my tried and true Arai chin strap and D-lock system until this thing either revolutionizes helmet design or, more likely, fades quietly away as not being all that safe or simply not worth it.
re: “The system sounds good on paper, though I wonder how a beard would affect fit/snugness.”
what I’ve always wanted to see was helmet technology advance to the level of custom mould/custom fit. i’d “shell out” (pun intended) HUGE for that. I run custom molded ear plugs, so it’s the same principle as getting measured for Dianese or Vanson leathers.
now apply THAT business model to helmet design (which I suspect is done currently for those fancy pants F1’ers and Moto’GPers, yeah like their heads are more valuable than the rest of us) and you have the ultimate in value/safety proposition. from an engineering perspective, I suspect an internal helmet shell that results from a 3D head scan no different than they do of the human body for Motion Capture and Hollywood digital effects would result in not only a safer and lighter helmet (no excess material like current off the shelf brands) but also more comfortable (a problem for me for over long durations) and more or less theft proof.
I would think, no other motorcyclist or car driver at least, knowingly steals say a $2K – $3K helmet that’s got no chance of fitting him or anybody they know…? it’s literally “thumb print” grade security built in.
Bell already does that with some of their helmets.
No strap to attach to the helmet lock. I’d be really worried about what to do with a $700 helmet. I wouldn’t leave it on my cycle, but I would hate having to carry it around. Cruiser dudes have their “trunks,” but not on my Ninja.
You run a cable lock around the chin bar and through the eye port.
Yep,and one more thing to carry.
I wonder how the visor design handles moisture. Is a Pin Lock or similar system available?
I like it when companies think outside the box and offer products that are innovative and potentially a superior way of doing things. That being said, I have only one head so I will not be among the beta testers for this helmet. It looks like it could be comfortable and convenient, but I’d like to see how it performs in the real world before I trust what few brains I have to it. And by the way, I’m still pissed that ‘The Bastard Executioner’ was cancelled.
I remember buying a NAVA helmet in the early 80’s. Nava offered the face shield that would close itself with wind force at speed. These helmets were only popular for a few years. Does anybody else remember this brand? I still have mine
Yep had several Nava’s. Very smooth poly carb shell if I remember right. Back then a lot of people were still painting helmets ( mostly Bells). Nava’s couldn’t be painted.
I had one, and really liked it. They were the best looking helmet made in the early 80’s, as well.
I had a Nava in 1983, and rear ended a parked car at 30 MPH. Went totally over the car and only suffered two injuries, hyperextended knees, and a doozy of a concussion. The Nava only had one scuff in the right rear of the helmet about 3 inches up from the helmet’s base. It looked like someone just kissed the spot with a 60 grit sanding disk. That was it for me. Looked good and kept me alive I’m sure, but still, you’d think it could do a better job in the concussion dept.
The metal latch and hinge only need to be as strong as the plastic they’re attached to. The way some people talk about modulars and now this helmet suggest they think the fiberglass in their full face is as strong as steel…
I’ve seen a Corvette in an accident. Body parts everywhere and jagged sharp edges. The steel Nissan, on the other hand, was still all in one piece.
i hear Jorge Lorenzo is looking for a new helmet;)
I think I saw this helmet on “The Bastard Executioner”.
It seems like a nice helmet. My only concern would be it separating in a crash.
Other than that, it seems like a great idea, right?
I’m more concerned with the QR code with instructions for removal. Seems awfully small and easy to miss, assuming they’d be even looking for something like that in the first place.
Very interesting concept! Love the fresh approach. Be interesting to follow the testing and real world approach to this new concept. Just as it was when the first full coverage helmets then the modular helmets come out.
I live in southwest Florida. My concerns are weight and VENTILATION.
Your bigger concern should be asking yourself why you live in Florida (sorry, just not a place I want to be).
well like you said it’s South Florida, not even riding “helmet free” would provide enough ventilation say June – August (been there lived that). the only option is to stopping riding and climb into a car no different than if you were living South of “Boston” (New England accent) with 20 degree temps and 2 feet of snow.
I’ve known rear-entry to be snug, but never ever both quick and quiet at the same time.
hahaha, and who knew it was more aerodynamic as well?!!!
If it’s quick, it sure has HELL won’t be quiet! 😀
I don’t understand the connection. Why would this be so?
there are no rules, it’s PRISON RULES…!!!
This is the first major innovation in helmet tech I can think of in a long time. Whether it will turn out to be as significant as the original Bell full-face, or even the first modulars, remains to be seen. But, the claims of a one-time fitting with the chin cup, and a dramatically smaller neck opening due to not needing to shove your entire head into “the bucket,” make sense to me. The safety claims are a big “maybe” that depend entirely on how good a job they do of educating EMTs on how to exploit the feature.
I’d love to try one for an day or two and find out.
Over twenty years ago I owned Levior F1 helmet based on similar idea of quick wearing without playing with strap and reduced noise. It was only done different way. Chin guard was rised a little, together with separate hard bar moving smothly on its own “hinge” with some free play for comfort in closed position. Everything worked well and had fully integrall shell except of chin part. I tested my durring track day, sliding face part over the grass and it was not open despite of huge piece of grass and sand in my mouth as visor fellt off 🙂 It was really smart and silent helmet, but not developed later and gone from the market after several years.
A small, but not insignificant concern about flip face helmets is the latching mechanism releasing in an impact. The UK’s Sharp test program rates helmets on this. If the chin bar of a front opening helmet released, the helmet would still be on your head and provide protection and would be no worse than an open face helmet. But the Vozz could come off your head. I’d want to know why the Vozz latching mechanism had a greater fail safe level than Schubreth, Shoei etc.
I don’t understand: a check of both UK’s SHARP testing web site and Australia’s CRASH testing web site fails to list the Vozz helmet as tested. Do you know something we don’t?
I think he meant that to be taken as a hypothetical…as in, “If this thing came to market, I’d want to be assured that it was better than etc…”
It would have been nice if Vozz could have provided a video without having to suffer through a d… 30 second ad.
First world problem.
A lot of intelligent thought went into this very appealing product. My only reservation concerns how much warmer these helmets may be on hot days.
I’d sure take a closer look!
So when the EMT’s try to pull this off an accident victim’s head?
I agree, even if it is safe, will the average EMT understand how to do it?
Hmmm, this improves my thinking of Aussies one big notch. One benefit for sure is to get out of cocoon in medical emergency.
The tightness in long run might be of issue, but presenter clearly says the chin bar is adjustable. So, ready to go.
Oh yeah and forgot something.
Putting on and off prescription glasses might be bit easier.
Don’t forget the Britten V1000. Another motorcycle innovation from down undah.
OMG, bite your tongue. don’t you dare let a Kiwi hear you lump them in with the Aussies.
Woops!
I was at a table in Vegas many years ago, and the guy standing next to me had a strong accent I (incorrectly) interpereted as coming from New Zealand. I asked him if he was familiar with Britten’s work, and after realizing I was asking about a Kiwi, he snarled, “What would I know about them sheep humpers?” or something similar. “Whoa, Dude, sorry I asked” was the only reply I could think of that wouldn’t have gotten us both thrown out of the Mirage (or wherever), suppressing my inclination to tell him to go back to Queensland and shove his Olivia Newton John records up his Australian arse. So yeah, you’re correct, it does appear there’s a bit of animosity between the two countries, or at least toward Yanks who make the wrong assumption. After watching “Lord of the Rings” ten thousand times, I know where I’d prefer to live based on scenery alone, even if I did have to put lipstick on my ewe occasionally. Oz is still on my top ten places to visit when I retire, though, that country has been one of America’s allies for a long, long time, and Zoe (stunt double for Uma in K.B., plus her role in “Death Proof”) still gives me funny tingles down under.
This is a great idea. No chewing and little conversation. Wind noise will be minimal. Should be n easy sale if reasonably priced.
$647 msrp at current exchange rate.
sweet 7lb 90z baby jesus
…and that’s the same price as a ‘mainstream’ Arai and significantly less money than the top–line AGV’s, like the Corsa and Pista line.
So I’d say it is in the ballpark in the “premium” helmet market. The question is whether it will perform up to the standards of the class.
But I’ve only got a ten-dollar head….
I read it was a $888 helmet somewhere else and I have a $100 helmet head. Oh well.
faq last question below: $888 AUD = today’s exchange USD
I should have added USD to my $647 msrp – sorry
http://www.vozzhelmets.com/support/the-helmet.html#faq
I’m guessing the chin cup is in front of the chin, otherwise you couldn’t talk or chew gum without your chin running into a cup below your chin (see the fit video on youtube). So I guess what is holding the helmet on is the jaw and neck roll area of the helmet. It seems there would have to be some pressure on the jaw and neck roll area to keep the helmet down, so it seems like at the jaw there’d be the same problem with talking or chewing.
Since a lot of noise comes in under the ear, this oughta be a quiet helmet.
Football helmets use a chin cup, and the players have no problem talking or chewing gum…
or losing their helmets after some hits
That’s because of the snaps that hold the chin straps to the outside of the helmet, not the chin cup design.
Heard about these a few days ago. I question the integrity and strength of a split polystyrene liner. DOT and ECE approved yes but still a question of safety. Also no chip strap but rather a chin cup so how did the DOT and ECE regard that part.
On a more humorous side my riding friends and I were thinking that with such a snug neck area anybody with a double chin is going to have some problems.
Cool idea any how.
“I question the integrity and strength of a split polystyrene liner.” – I question regular flip-ups for the same reason….
If you pull out the fabric liner of your full face helmet you’ll probably note the few seams in the split, multi-piece polystyrene liner. How else do you think they get it in there?
Ah I misunderstood what was being said here. I meant helmets where there is a hinged separate part instead of a one-piece shell.
Obviously read/replied too quickly….
re: “On a more humorous side my riding friends and I were thinking that with such a snug neck area anybody with a double chin is going to have some problems.”
double chinners and cigarette smoking bike messengers need not apply.