Omni-Directional Suspension System Revolutionizes Motorcycle Helmet Safety

Every motorcyclist knows a helmet should be worn each time they get on their bike, but is the helmet you’re wearing doing enough to protect your brain?

Conventional motorcycle helmets were designed with the goal of preventing significant head injuries, such as skull fractures and subdural hematomas. This is a vital task, but increasing amounts of data and research highlight the long-term effects of concussions and the need to prevent traumatic brain injuries.

Angular acceleration is a major cause of concussions suffered by motorcyclists, but studies have shown traditional helmets are not effective at hindering this element of the crash impact. In fact, the protection they offer against related injuries is comparable to not wearing a helmet at all.

New System Advances Motorcycle Helmet Safety

6D Helmets took on the challenge of limiting the brain’s movement within the skull upon impact, and developed a system that has revolutionized the safety of motorcycle helmets.

Hourglass-shaped elastomeric isolation dampers, the “heart and soul” of 6D’s Omni-Directional Suspension system, are spaced between each helmet’s dual EPS liners. The dampers reduce the shock of a crash impact on the rider’s brain, and create an air gap that allows the inner liner to displace and rotate in any direction. By giving the inner liner space to move within the helmet, the air gap decreases the severity of the impact by spreading it out over a longer period of time.

“[It’s] like the difference between jumping off a bridge with a bungee cord or jumping with a rope,” explains 6D Co-founder and Director of Engineering Robert Reisinger when comparing helmets utilizing the new technology to traditional motorcycle helmets.

In a high-velocity impact, the dampers collapse to bring the two EPS layers together in an effort to absorb some of the force of the crash.

The system was originally designed with motocross athletes in mind, but the technology is a valuable advancement for the field of motorcycle helmet safety as whole. The patented technology is exclusive to 6D Helmets. The company’s ATS-1 Street Helmet retails online for $895.

6D recently launched its redesigned website to provide a simplified explanation of the ODS technology and educate motorcyclists about the benefits of the revolutionary system.