Dropping new helmets

MotoX Luca
Edited Date/Time 3/26/2019 9:12am
Why do racers drop there brand new helmets ?
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mattyhamz2 3/18/2019 8:18am
3/18/2019 8:18am
Put the first scratches in it. Some say superstition, some have unfortunately had it proven. I happen to be one that didn't drop a new helmet and ended up eating it hard in my first ride out wearing it.
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seth505
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seth505 3/18/2019 8:26am
3/18/2019 8:26am
Because some people believe in palm readings and tarot cards.
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loftyair
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loftyair 3/18/2019 8:44am
3/18/2019 8:44am
I heard going under a ladder with helmet on works too.
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dl117
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dl117 3/18/2019 8:50am
3/18/2019 8:50am
done it to all but one of my new lids, that lid is hung up after being knocked out 1st ride with it.
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NVA57
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NVA57 3/18/2019 9:38am
3/18/2019 9:38am
Wow people seriously do this? I treat a new lid like a baby lol
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Honda Man 66
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Honda Man 66 3/18/2019 10:10am
3/18/2019 10:10am
I always just set it on the ground before I put it on. I do the same thing wirh all new gear. It releases the magnetism between the new item and the ground.
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dimetime
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dimetime 3/18/2019 10:11am
3/18/2019 10:11am
I failed to drop my new helmet and ate shit on the second ride. Worst crash of my 45 year riding history.
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Goon126
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Goon126 3/18/2019 10:27am
3/18/2019 10:27am
I've dropped every brand new helmet I've got. The wife just got me a fly formula carbon yesterday...She said I can't drop it ?
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SmokinJoe439
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SmokinJoe439 3/18/2019 10:31am
3/18/2019 10:31am
Never done the scratch my new helmet thing it's just a dumb superstition thing.
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peelout
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peelout 3/18/2019 10:47am
3/18/2019 10:47am
SmokinJoe439 wrote:
Never done the scratch my new helmet thing it's just a dumb superstition thing.
same, gotta be one of the dumbest ass things to do

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eeazye
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eeazye 3/18/2019 10:59am
3/18/2019 10:59am
I used to think it was nonsense. Then, the worst crash of my life was while wearing a new helmet I didn’t drop. First ride with it, turned my femur into several pieces. The first thing I thought about laying on the track, was shit, I forgot about that new helmet ritual. Never wore it again.

Since then, every helmet I own gets dropped once before I go out in it. And just to be clear, it’s not like slamming or throwing it on the ground, just let your arm hang down to your side and let it go.

Could be bs, but it works for me.
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rohleder644
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rohleder644 3/18/2019 11:03am
3/18/2019 11:03am
I'm not superstitious, but I am a little stitious.
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aeffertz
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aeffertz 3/18/2019 11:10am
3/18/2019 11:10am
They’re just treating their helmet the same way they were treated as a baby.
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tprice07
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tprice07 3/18/2019 11:23am
3/18/2019 11:23am
Buys $700 helmet, drops it on the ground...compromises it...continues to use it because they won't crash.
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SEE ARE125 3/18/2019 11:29am
3/18/2019 11:29am
Honda Man 66 wrote:
I always just set it on the ground before I put it on. I do the same thing wirh all new gear. It releases the magnetism...
I always just set it on the ground before I put it on. I do the same thing wirh all new gear. It releases the magnetism between the new item and the ground.
That magnetism is called gravity and it’s still there after you rub your clothes in the dirt.
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Markee
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Markee 3/18/2019 12:04pm
3/18/2019 12:04pm
You want to participate in the the insanity but complain about the abnormal?? Hypocrites!

I drop my helmets and put my left knee brace on first. God is real and America is Great. Amen.
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SPYGUY
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SPYGUY 3/18/2019 12:39pm
3/18/2019 12:39pm
Honda Man 66 wrote:
I always just set it on the ground before I put it on. I do the same thing wirh all new gear. It releases the magnetism...
I always just set it on the ground before I put it on. I do the same thing wirh all new gear. It releases the magnetism between the new item and the ground.
Finally someone that comes at this from a scientific perspective!
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NITRODOG
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NITRODOG 3/18/2019 12:40pm
3/18/2019 12:40pm
Traditions are important!
This is nothing more than a fun tradition that has been passed on from racer to young racer for as long as I have been around the sport (over 45 yrs) It's a Motocross helmet, It's going to get scratched, and it's best to get over worrying about scratching it before you go out to race....Of course now that helmets cost $800 and get custom paint jobs...I do see kids dropping them in soft grass! Ha! It's part of joining the "brotherhood" of Motocross Racers.

There are other great traditions...Like having the kids check their muffler bearings....and taking them "snipe" hunting at the track at night....."The noise from the bikes today must have scared them all away"

We also like to stop in Texas and get the kids some "Rocky Mountain Oysters"...because "You wont be really fast until you have some" Talon Hawkins crossed that bridge about a year ago and has been hauling the mail ever since Smile
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dadofagun 3/18/2019 12:43pm
3/18/2019 12:43pm
Always drop a new helmet, right sock first, left pant leg first, don't ever go under a ladder, never cross black cats path, no haircuts on Monday, never drive toward the direction in which you hear an owl.......just getting started. I'm a fucked up mess........
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dadofagun
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dadofagun 3/18/2019 12:49pm
3/18/2019 12:49pm
Oh yeah, two other important ones.......
If somebody gives you something that can cut you as a gift, give them a penny. Always carry a half-dollar coin in your pocket for each one of your kids. That last one my Daddy told me, he carries a 50 cent piece from the year each one of us born, and has since the day we were born.
dimetime
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dimetime 3/18/2019 1:59pm
3/18/2019 1:59pm
tprice07 wrote:
Buys $700 helmet, drops it on the ground...compromises it...continues to use it because they won't crash.
Again, no one is suggesting slamming it on the ground. Sheesh.

I drop mine from like two to three inches above the ground. If that "compromises" your new helmet then they're worthless in a crash anyway.
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WheelieNelson 3/18/2019 2:04pm
3/18/2019 2:04pm
I Drop mine in the grass. When I was on 80s I picked up a new tld helmet i'd saved for on the way to arenacross and went over the bars first practice.

I'm real superstitious, it's dumb and I know it. I also won't talk about injuries or big crashes while I'm at the track and I get quite peeved if someone in my camp does
smoothies862 3/18/2019 2:05pm
3/18/2019 2:05pm
I think jeff ward not jeffro was the first I heard of doing this. I would drop mine in grass a few inches of the ground. I know I know we joke on this forum. this is no joke. I didn't do it with my newest lid. 1st time in 30 yrs. worst injury ever. do not doubt the mx mojo! its yoda powerful.

save a head drop that lid.Pinch
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Utrider
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Utrider 3/18/2019 2:06pm
3/18/2019 2:06pm
So, answer me this.......Do you want your head in that thing the first time it hits the ground?

That's how it was put to me, (Utrider knocks on wood) worked pretty well so far.
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Caseclosed713 3/18/2019 2:24pm
3/18/2019 2:24pm
I drop them from the second level at my garage so about 13ft. I heard the higher you drop them the less likely youll crash wearing it.
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bultokid
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bultokid 3/18/2019 2:38pm
3/18/2019 2:38pm
Seen many National pros do it, especially back in the box van days when they just hung out by the van in the ol' lawn chairs.....damn those were great times
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tprice07
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tprice07 3/18/2019 3:18pm
3/18/2019 3:18pm
tprice07 wrote:
Buys $700 helmet, drops it on the ground...compromises it...continues to use it because they won't crash.
dimetime wrote:
Again, no one is suggesting slamming it on the ground. Sheesh. I drop mine from like two to three inches above the ground. If that "compromises"...
Again, no one is suggesting slamming it on the ground. Sheesh.

I drop mine from like two to three inches above the ground. If that "compromises" your new helmet then they're worthless in a crash anyway.
Easily one of the dumbest things a person can do.
eeazye
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eeazye 3/18/2019 3:38pm
3/18/2019 3:38pm
tprice07 wrote:
Buys $700 helmet, drops it on the ground...compromises it...continues to use it because they won't crash.
dimetime wrote:
Again, no one is suggesting slamming it on the ground. Sheesh. I drop mine from like two to three inches above the ground. If that "compromises"...
Again, no one is suggesting slamming it on the ground. Sheesh.

I drop mine from like two to three inches above the ground. If that "compromises" your new helmet then they're worthless in a crash anyway.
tprice07 wrote:
Easily one of the dumbest things a person can do.
So you’re saying your helmet has never fallen off your tailgate my mistake, slid off your bike seat if a gust of wind kicks up, or tumbled around in your rig if it wasn’t secured? All of those things are worse than letting go of it a few inches above the ground.

At most it gets a few scratches. And, I would contend that if any of the above compromises its ability to do its job, it’s not a very good helmet.
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tprice07
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tprice07 3/18/2019 3:50pm
3/18/2019 3:50pm
dimetime wrote:
Again, no one is suggesting slamming it on the ground. Sheesh. I drop mine from like two to three inches above the ground. If that "compromises"...
Again, no one is suggesting slamming it on the ground. Sheesh.

I drop mine from like two to three inches above the ground. If that "compromises" your new helmet then they're worthless in a crash anyway.
tprice07 wrote:
Easily one of the dumbest things a person can do.
eeazye wrote:
So you’re saying your helmet has never fallen off your tailgate my mistake, slid off your bike seat if a gust of wind kicks up, or...
So you’re saying your helmet has never fallen off your tailgate my mistake, slid off your bike seat if a gust of wind kicks up, or tumbled around in your rig if it wasn’t secured? All of those things are worse than letting go of it a few inches above the ground.

At most it gets a few scratches. And, I would contend that if any of the above compromises its ability to do its job, it’s not a very good helmet.
You are trying to compare something that happens accidentally to something that happens intentionally. Those are two very different things. Why on earth would anyone drop their new helmet. Even an inch. You spend a crap load of money to put a scratch on it? Stupid. It's not a point that can be argued otherwise.

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