Looking after the visor and lining

A helmet is the one piece of riding gear in direct contact with your scalp every day, for hours, in Indonesian weather. It is going to get dirty. What is not reasonable is leaving it that way.

1. Visor: clean water, soft cloth, no alcohol

A clear visor is made of plastic that scratches easily and is damaged by solvents. Clean it with clean water and a microfibre cloth. For stubborn dirt — insects, sap, road dust — soak it first with a damp cloth for a few minutes to soften it, then wipe.

Avoid: dry tissue, rough rags, alcohol-based glass cleaner, and petrol. All of them will haze the visor permanently. Haze is not only a cosmetic problem — at night, fine scratches turn oncoming headlights into glare.

2. Never wipe the visor dry

This is the number one cause of scratches. Dust on the surface is abrasive; wiping it without water is sanding. Wet it first, always.

3. Lining: air it every day

After riding, set the helmet upside down or on its side somewhere with moving air — not in a bag, not in the bike's storage box. Sweat trapped overnight is where a smell that will not shift begins.

For washing: removable padding can be cleaned with baby shampoo or mild soap, rinsed thoroughly, and dried in shade with air moving over it. Padding fixed to the shell can be wiped with a damp cloth and air-dried.

4. Never dry it in direct sun

Direct sun accelerates ageing in the shell material and weakens the adhesive in the lining. Dry it in a shaded, breezy spot even though it takes longer.

5. Do not hang it on the mirror

Almost everyone does this. The mirror stalk presses continuously on one point of the lining until it dents, and a helmet baking in an open car park goes through heat cycles it does not need. Carry it, or put it in the storage box.

6. Replace it after a hard impact

This is the one most often ignored. The impact-absorbing layer inside a helmet is designed to absorb energy once, by crushing. After that, its capacity is reduced — even though the helmet looks perfectly fine from the outside and shows no crack.

If your helmet has fallen hard from a height or been through an impact, consider replacing it. A helmet that looks intact is not necessarily still working.