The Right Accessories For Your Helmet
Choosing a new helmet is not just about finding one that you like and bringing it home. It’s about creating an entire experience. Think about it. A helmet spends all of its working hours on your head, and if you tweak that experience to suit you better, you will end up adding to your riding experience. So how do you do that?
Visor
A visor is one of the most important things on a helmet quite simply because it’s what you see through. Most helmets come with a see-through visor from the factory but that isn’t always the most practical choice. Factories offer see-through visors because they allow you to see clearly in the night as well. However, if you ride only during the day, a see-through visor will let in a lot of sun. That’s where a tinted visor comes into the picture. Bell and Airoh both offer these and they fit right on to the helmet, in place of the original stock visor. Less sun in your eyes will not only enrich your riding experience, but it will also be less taxing on your eyes.
Noseguard
These come with most helmets from the factory so why is this important. Simply because quite a few people choose not to replace a noseguard if it becomes loose, or more commonly, if they lose it. Noseguards do a very specific job of deflecting your breath away from the visor to eradicate fogging. Imagine if your visor keeps on fogging up during a ride. You will simply not be able to enjoy the ride out of fear. Helmet manufacturers like Bell offer separate noseguards, for example the Bell Qualifier Noseguard that you can fit onto your Bell Qualifier helmet in a matter of minutes.
Microfibre cloth
A microfibre cloth doesn’t attach to your helmet nonetheless, it is very important to have one in your backpack when you are riding. Bugs, dust and water, all of these things come in contact with your helmet while you are riding. If you don’t clean them on time they can solidify on the shell of your helmet, or worse, on your visor. A microfibre cloth allows you to wipe your helmet, especially your visor, without leaving a scratch on the helmet surface. Make sure you wet it slightly so that none of the particles on your helmet end up scratching it.
Helmet interior cleaner
On the subject of cleaning, you can’t wash your helmet’s liner every time it starts giving off an unpleasant scent. What if you are in the middle of a road trip? Or, what if you live in a place where it rains a lot and the forecast is not clear for the next few days? A simple answer to this is a helmet interior cleaner. These are sprays that can be sprayed on to the liner of the helmet. They remove the odour and clean the liner to an extent. Most of these sprays allow you to immediately use the helmet afterwards. It's not a permanent solution but it will tide you over in the above situations. (Read: Helmet Cleaning & Maintenance Tips)
Bluetooth Headset
And on the subject of road trips, how frustrating can it be to stop every 50km to check your GPS. Or to answer a call from your buddies riding ahead or behind you. A simple solution to this is getting yourself a Sena Bluetooth headset that fits on to your helmet, and hooks up to your smartphone. All the important stuff like GPS instructions and calls are routed through it, and on models like the Sena 30K, you even have an intercom system that lets you talk to your riding buddies.
