After investing your hard earned into a new helmet you are going to want to take care of it, fortunately they aren’t too difficult to look after as all you need to do is keep them clean. Most helmets these days have a removable liner which should be washed after every ride. You should wash this by hand in warm soapy water, rinse and then dry somewhere out of the sun. Personally I throw them in the washing machine on a gentle cycle but some helmet liners are delicate and could be damaged in a machine so we don’t recommend this so wash at your own risk!
As for the outer shell, wash by hand in warm soapy water and allow to dry out of the sunlight, prolonged exposure to UV rays can damage a helmet so avoid leaving your helmet in direct sunlight as much as possible.
While your helmet is clean and the liner is removed use this time to inspect your helmet for damage, check the outer shell for stone chips or cracks forming. Also check that the helmet straps haven’t deteriorated particularly where they join the helmet shell and check the inside of the EPS liner for dents, damage or cracks.
Most helmets come with some kind of carry bag or even better a padded helmet bag, even if you have a large motocross gear bag always put your helmet in its own bag to keep nasties like motocross boots and dirty gear away from the delicate paintjob of your helmet. Chips and scratches are what scrutineer’s at racetracks are looking for and you don’t want to have your helmet knocked back just for lack of care!
Hit the link for more tips on How To Wash Your Motocross Helmet from MXstore.
Avoid sitting on your helmet: if you are out riding and have nowhere to sit down, your body weight crushing down on the helmet is not good for it so sit on the ground if you really have to!
Avoid hanging your helmet on your handlebars: Everybody does it, but for one it could fall on the ground causing damage. We have also seen a bike fall over with a helmet hanging on the bars, the clutch lever punched a huge hole in the helmet EPS liner of a new Troy Lee Designs helmet so either way, hanging your helmet on your bars or anywhere else similar is a bad idea!
