steve roberts Posted June 4, 2023 Author Report Share Posted June 4, 2023 1 minute ago, Rich said: The early Bell full face helmets as used in the States were as you say designed for car racing, with limited side vision and no way of fitting a peak. They also were too far down the head especially at the back and had the potential to cause neck or spinal damage in the event of whiplash. I used an Owen full face helmet in 1971 which addressed these issues. I remember reading that some riders disliked wearing them because they didn't allow for full peripheral vision. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmauger Posted June 4, 2023 Report Share Posted June 4, 2023 (edited) Big Alan Grahame wore an open-faced helmet until at least 1996, think full-face helmets became compulsory in 1997 or so. Recall reading many riders weren't keen on the 1970's / 1980's full-face helmet due to impaired vision & also potential increase of a whiplash injury due to the extra weight as the full-face 'lids' of that time at least were intended for road use & car racing. The Bell Moto3 appeared in 1980 or so & was popular with many riders though Ivan Mauger & Ole Olsen wore open-faced helmets, Bell Magnum or Star I forget which, for pretty much their entire career as did Peter Collins until 1979 or so. The modern full-face helmet we see today I beleive were originally intended for Moto-X, they come with a peak already attached, though it can be removed or easily break off in a spill. But said peak is angled upwards at which affects riders vision at sunny meetings, I noticed some riders at the Scunny v Redcar match last friday wore tinted goggles, many don't..... Edited June 4, 2023 by martinmauger spelling x2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ghosty Posted June 4, 2023 Report Share Posted June 4, 2023 Several post on here have stated that it is compulsory to wear a "Full-face" helmet for speedway can anyone copy & past where that is stated please. I understood it was any helmet that passed certain standards? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
E I Addio Posted June 4, 2023 Report Share Posted June 4, 2023 (edited) 2 hours ago, Ghosty said: Several post on here have stated that it is compulsory to wear a "Full-face" helmet for speedway can anyone copy & past where that is stated please. I understood it was any helmet that passed certain standards? You need to find out what the “certain standards” are. According to the ACU track racing regulations helmets for speedway , grass track and moto cross have to have an ACU silver stamp but they don’t specify what standard has to be reached to get the stamp. The machine examiner just has to check that the helmets have the appropriate stamp and that’s it. However the ACU regulations give Youth riders the option of either full face or open face ( because of the difficulty in sometimes getting a full face helmet to fit a small head properly). Since no similar option is given for adult rider one presumes open face is not an option. In the Speedway Office at Lakeside there was a poster on the wall with specifications for crash helmets and since only a full face one was shown I presume open face was not acceptable. Like a lot of things in Speedway it’s not at all clear what the regulations actually do say but I’m reasonably sure they don’t put the silver stamp on open face helmets any more. Edited June 4, 2023 by E I Addio 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
martinmauger Posted June 5, 2023 Report Share Posted June 5, 2023 (edited) On 6/4/2023 at 2:45 PM, martinmauger said: Big Alan Grahame wore an open-faced helmet until at least 1996, think full-face helmets became compulsory in 1997 or so. Recall reading many riders weren't keen on the 1970's / 1980's full-face helmet due to impaired vision & also potential increase of a whiplash injury due to the extra weight as the full-face 'lids' of that time at least were intended for road use & car racing. The Bell Moto3 appeared in 1980 or so & was popular with many riders though Ivan Mauger & Ole Olsen wore open-faced helmets, Bell Magnum or Star I forget which, for pretty much their entire career as did Peter Collins until 1979 or so. The modern full-face helmet we see today I beleive were originally intended for Moto-X, they come with a peak already attached, though it can be removed or easily break off in a spill. But said peak is angled upwards at which affects riders vision at sunny meetings, I noticed some riders at the Scunny v Redcar match last friday wore tinted goggles, many don't..... Think it was a Bell Magnum Ivan & Ole used & meant to say "they come with a peak already attached, though it can be removed or easily snap off or detach without necessarily breaking in a spill". Recall Italian brand AGV made light-ish off-road full-face helmets, presumably used in Moto-X as, like the Bell Moto3, they were fitted with studs so as to attach a peak. Think it will be in SCB regs somewhere about full-face lids being compulsory. From personal experience, I can confirm a full-face helmet will help prevent facial injuries. Years ago I got swiped off my road bike by a car "I didn't see him, to be honest I wasn't looking. I never do as I know this road (!)", despite wearing an almost new Arai 'gold star' ACU / FIM road & race-approved full-face helmet I suffered a concussion & lost 4 teeth (!). Bell Helmets once ran an advertising campaign "if you have a 10 dollar head, get a 10 dollar helmet".... Edited June 17, 2023 by martinmauger spelling 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted June 21, 2023 Report Share Posted June 21, 2023 First time I ever saw a full face helmet was in about 19972. Dave Gatenby wore one when riding for Sunderland 'Stars'. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted June 22, 2023 Report Share Posted June 22, 2023 7 hours ago, The White Knight said: First time I ever saw a full face helmet was in about 19972. Dave Gatenby wore one when riding for Sunderland 'Stars'. I remember Dave wearing one, but so far, I haven't been able to find a photo to confirm what year it was. However, I have seen a photo of Sunderland's John Goodall wearing one in 1971! Another rider from that era who wore a full-face helmet was Rayleigh's Alan Emmett. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted June 22, 2023 Report Share Posted June 22, 2023 15 hours ago, chunky said: I remember Dave wearing one, but so far, I haven't been able to find a photo to confirm what year it was. However, I have seen a photo of Sunderland's John Goodall wearing one in 1971! Another rider from that era who wore a full-face helmet was Rayleigh's Alan Emmett. Thank you for posting this Chunky. I had forgotten that, you are right John Goodall was the first one I saw. John was only with us for about half the Season in 1971, he returned to New Zealand. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted June 22, 2023 Report Share Posted June 22, 2023 Just now, The White Knight said: Thank you for posting this Chunky. I had forgotten that, you are right John Goodall was the first one I saw. John was only with us for about half the Season in 1971, he returned to New Zealand. I was thinking that you would have been there in 1971, and of course, our memories play tricks on us sometimes! Yeah, he went home, and came back six years later. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted June 22, 2023 Report Share Posted June 22, 2023 1 hour ago, chunky said: I was thinking that you would have been there in 1971, and of course, our memories play tricks on us sometimes! Yeah, he went home, and came back six years later. He left under a bit of a cloud. Came back to ride for Birmingham I think, memory sometimes lets me down these days.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted June 22, 2023 Report Share Posted June 22, 2023 57 minutes ago, The White Knight said: He left under a bit of a cloud. Came back to ride for Birmingham I think, memory sometimes lets me down these days.. Newport, actually... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted June 22, 2023 Report Share Posted June 22, 2023 I'm glad I have my books. I obviously can't remember off the top of my head these days. Thank you for the info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frigbo Posted June 23, 2023 Report Share Posted June 23, 2023 https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/1070/john-goodall 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beirao Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 On 6/22/2023 at 1:07 AM, chunky said: I remember Dave wearing one, but so far, I haven't been able to find a photo to confirm what year it was. However, I have seen a photo of Sunderland's John Goodall wearing one in 1971! Another rider from that era who wore a full-face helmet was Rayleigh's Alan Emmett. Andy Meldrum got one midway through the 1970 having sustained some shocking facial and jaw injuries at Ipswich when wearing an open face injury. John Berry remembers in one of his books that he was in no hurry to see the extent of the injuries. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chunky Posted June 24, 2023 Report Share Posted June 24, 2023 15 minutes ago, Beirao said: Andy Meldrum got one midway through the 1970 having sustained some shocking facial and jaw injuries at Ipswich when wearing an open face injury. John Berry remembers in one of his books that he was in no hurry to see the extent of the injuries. Yeah, I remember when Andy got injured; it was a bad one. I think there were a few who started wearing them in 1970, but I'd probably have to go through the old magazines to find them! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The White Knight Posted July 2, 2023 Report Share Posted July 2, 2023 On 6/23/2023 at 7:40 AM, frigbo said: https://wwosbackup.proboards.com/thread/1070/john-goodall Thank you frigbo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Technik Posted July 4, 2023 Report Share Posted July 4, 2023 On 6/3/2023 at 10:46 PM, 25yearfan said: If you talked to riders from the 60's a lot of them struggled when the pudding basin helmets were replaced by open faced helmets that went right round the side and over the ears because they couldn't hear as well! - I still recall seeing a few riders with pudding basin helmets in the early 70;s, when did these get outlawed? Dave Jessup rode one meeting for Mildenhall at Wimbledon in 1988 which was his final one and he was still wearing a monkey mask. I'm not sure if he ever did wear a full faced helmet, the only time may have been when he was sponsored by Briggo in the early 70's? Ray Morton and Scott Swain are two of the last riders I remember who wore open faced helmets. A question! - Are open faced helmets outlawed in present times or not? If you can find an open faced helmet with the correct approval standards then yes you can use one. They are still used in trials events, but these helmets are designed for such events & not permitted in racing disciplines. The ACU Gold sticker is no longer a recognised approval in SCB/FIM speedway events Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Byker Biker Posted July 5, 2023 Report Share Posted July 5, 2023 The issue in the late 60's and early 70's was that full face helmets had not been ACU approved despite being tested and certified by the stricter American Snell Safety Foundation consequently wearing the proven safer full face helmet earned the rider a £1 fine every meeting it was worn at. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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