Nog wat details... maar ik kan ze niet laten liggen...
Ten tough disciplines.
A good helmet can master them all.
Safety. Our helmets exceed the requirements of the standard ECE Norm 22-05. Virtually all BMW Motorrad helmets have a six-fold segmented EPS inner shell, which guarantees perfect density for the damping elements in each of the six zones.
Fit. Our helmets are available in sizes 48 / 49 to 64 / 65 and they can also be adapted to further improve their fit by way of the various neck and cheek pads that are available in different sizes.
Ventilation. Every closed BMW Motorrad helmet is characterised by its highly effective low-pressure ventilation system. In the open AirFlow helmet, a special grid filter creates a pleasant cooling effect.
Functionality. Each to his own: BMW Motorrad has just the right helmet for both the comfort-oriented rider and the more ambitious sporting rider.
Fasteners. All BMW Motorrad helmets are fitted with an additional neckband which retains it in the optimum position in the event of a collision.
Comfort. Virtually all BMW Motorrad helmets are fitted with a washable, active-breathing, germ-proof interior made of DuPont Coolmax ®. In the case of the System 4 Elite helmet it is even made of a unique phase-change material that compensates for temperature deviations.
Aerodynamics / Aeroacoustics. Since we have our own wind tunnel, we are able to test each helmet under reproducable conditions and to enhance both the aerodynamic and aeroacoustic features to their optimum levels. Low-noise helmets represent a great addition to active safety
Weight. Every extra gram is at the cost of riding enjoyment. The new System 5 helmet weighs under 1700 g, the SportIntegral is as low as 1350 g and the weight of the SportIntegral Carbon, at under 1000 g, is the lightest integral helmet in the world, in all sizes.
Appearance. If it offers excellent protection, it also has to look the part. Our helmet designers have developed a dynamic look for every helmet type, a look that sets new standards.
Visor. All our standard visors are optically corrected injection moulded 3D models and have antifog and antiscratch coatings. They therefore conform with optical quality class 1 in accordance with the norm DIN EN 166.
DESIGN
Only the most precise tools are good enough for your helmet.
The human hand, for example.
Nothing is so good that it couldn't be made even better. It is on the basis of this credo that not robots, but engineers with motorcycle experience and inspired designers come together to create our helmets. Because only they can display the required sensitivity and precision as well as the required experience to enable them to continue on the ongoing successful search for innovative solutions.
The most important steps to the perfect helmet.
Immediately after the duty book, i.e. the instructions with all conditions to be fulfilled, is drawn up, our designers begin to devise their drafts, by hand, in the traditional way, with an unshakeable feeling for colour, form and aesthetics.
This leads to the creation of the so-called clay model: a full-size, three-dimensional model of the helmet actually made of clay. This, too, is the result of a complex manual process.
Now comes the time for the high tech activities. Every point on the surface of the clay model is scanned by a laser beam, and the data fed into a high-performance computer.
With the aid of CAD (Computer Aided Design) programmes, the data is used to create digitally represented, virtual models that can be worked on and optimised on-screen. At the end of this stage, all the individual components of the helmet have been finalised and stored in the computer. A milled aluminium data-control model is then made to check the surface data.
This tested and checked data is then used to produce the first actual helmets, which are subjected to long-term testing under the most demanding conditions, to ensure that they are suitable for everyday use.
After the homologisation process and certification stage, it is finally time for the serial production.
WEATHER TESTS
Munich. Fifty degrees. Monsoon rain.
Our engineers' favourite kind of weather.
No matter how devastating the conditions, a BMW Motorrad helmet can cope. And the head it is protecting remains dry and safe. Because it does not just fulfil but far exceeds the highest safety standards in the world.
Our engineers are quite prepared to go well out of their way to guarantee this. Once the valuable helmets have entered serial production, our testers spend a great deal of time and effort partially destroying them. Three times as many helmets as legally required meet this premature end. If a single defect is located in a single helmet, production is halted to allow the fault to be corrected.
This includes:
Placing the helmets in the climatic chamber and bombarding it with ultraviolet radiation of sufficient strength to make the sun look a bit pale in the face.
Performing optimisations in the climatic chamber to improve ventilation, wind sealing and condensation resistance.
Using a special acoustics laboratory to test the noise development in the helmet in various speed ranges.
Using the BMW wind tunnel to perform complex procedures for ascertaining the helmet's aerodynamic properties, including upward thrust and lateral forces that occur in sideways glances.
Testing not only with dummies but also by real test riders made of flesh and blood, to ensure that the helmet offers great protection against the rain, heat, wind and cold.
VISOR TESTS
The test series for our visors.
Too much is only just enough.
We go to great expense to ensure that you can enjoy a clear view. The manufacturing costs of our injection-moulded 3D visors are several times greater than for conventional visors. It is therefore no surprise that a BMW Motorrad visor is one of the very best that you can treat your vision to.
And we are just as relentless when it comes to the visor tests. To conform with the strict ECE norm, the resistance of the visor to penetration, for instance, is checked, by dropping a 3 kg hammer with a steel core onto it from a height of 1 metre. The visors are then inspected and no splintering of any kind is acceptable.
In another test, the visors are subjected to sand blasting to test their scratch resistance. This is deduced by measuring the light scatter.
BMW helmet visors also excel in their optical quality. The visors in the System 5 helmet, SportIntegral helmet and System 4 Elite helmet conform with the optical quality class 1 (norm for personal eye protection) which is unusual for motorcycle helmet visors. All non-tinted BMW Motorrad visors fulfil filter category '0', which means they allow over 80 % of the visible light spectrum to pass through, while filtering out 99.998 % of the dangerous UV radiation (measured according to DIN EN 1836).
PRODUCTION
Take four layers of carbon fibre. Then add one layer of Kevlar®.
The production of a BMW Motorrad helmet is an extremely complex process, both for us and for our cooperation partners. It requires enormous expertise and the knowledge to master highly modern technology. And a great deal of manual work as well.
For instance, the production of the extra-light SportIntegral Carbon helmet is particularly complex. Four layers of carbon fibre and one layer of Kevlar® are draped carefully one after the other by hand into the right form. And then are baked in an autoclave, a high-pressure oven at pressure of 350 bar and temperature of 120 degrees for several hours. The impressive result is a helmet shell of unbelievable stability and a thickness of only 1.1 mm!
Of similar complexity is the manufacturing process of the new System 5 helmet. In this case, the separate glass-fibre layers are put in place by hand in raw form, Kevlar® inlays positioned and a precisely measured amount of resin added. This sandwich is then subjected to a temperature of approximately 150 degrees Celsius at high pressure, to merge the layers into one.
Quality on the production line - the product of precise manual work.
If they had the time, the assembly experts would love to place their own signature on each helmet they produce. And they would have more than enough reason to. After all, the production of a BMW Motorrad helmet involves no robots but it does require a great deal of manual work with millimetre-precision. Great concentration is a primary factor - even the smallest of errors are exposed and corrected in the subsequent merciless final check. Once the manufacturing process is complete, it is safe to say that each and every one of our helmets is unique.