We're not claiming that a comfortable motorcycle helmet can prevent motorcycle accidents. But the goal should certainly be to create an environment that minimizes unnecessary distractions by trying to gain as comfort as possible during the ride.

Comfort has several factors. For example, the material that makes up the motorcycle helmet's liner should feel comfortable against the skin. The internal padding of the helmet should act as a comfortable cushion between the head and the helmet internals, and the liner shape should perfectly match your head shape. The perfect helmet would be so comfortable that the rider would forget that it’s there.

The internal helmet shell structure on poorly designed helmets can have protrusions or shapes that press through the padding and into a sensitive area on your head and cause pain, rawness and headaches, so there should be no pressure points from these areas.

The chin strap should be comfortable and have smooth padding that doesn't rub the neck. The visor should have an opening that doesn't block the vision and which can be easily adjusted for air flow. And the helmet shouldn't be too hot or too drafty.

In our experience, it can take at least up to an hour of actual riding to determine whether a motorcycle helmet will have an acceptable level of comfort. Therefore, we recommend that you try before you buy. Forget about being self-conscious, and try wearing the helmet at a local motorcycle shop for at least 30 to 45 minutes to minimally determine if it will be comfortable.

Many helmets will feel comfortable (or not) for the first minute or so, but be aware of any "hot spots" or pressure points that develop over time. Make sure there's enough front-to-back room so that the chin isn’t pressing up against the inside of the chin bar.

Try clenching your teeth -- the helmet should provide enough room for you to keep your mouth closed without undue discomfort. And buckle it up, to see how the attachment system works and to make sure the chin strap is acceptable.

Note that a comfortable fit in the motorcycle shop still can't duplicate the riding experience, because of factors like noise and wind pressure that can greatly affect helmet fit and comfort, but it's better than buying a helmet site unseen.

Know Your Head Shape!
Although human heads have an infinite variety of shapes and sizes, they unfortunately can't be custom ordered or exchanged - at least not quite yet! You're stuck with what you came with.

It's our opinion that head shapes can be grouped into five basic categories with infinite variations.

It's important to know your head shape and which helmet brand and model will fit by matching your head shape to the helmet's internal shape. Not every helmet will fit the same, and almost every helmet brand and model is different.

This isn't to say that head shapes only match these categories. Like many natural occurrences, head shapes fit into a normal distribution. There are very narrow, “long oval” head shapes, and there are very wide “earth” head shapes, and every combination in between. It's possible to have combinations of any and all of these shapes in an infinite number of variations.

Fortunately, many motorcycle helmets are available with internal shapes that roughly match these head categories, although most helmets can be characterized as having an "oval" or "round" shaped profile using the elevation view (e.g., if the head was sliced vertically from top to bottom).

Some helmets can be slightly modified with optional padding available from the manufacturer. The problem is that there doesn't seem to be much logic to the design of motorcycle helmet internals, especially at the lower price points. Color, graphics and cool-looking features apparently drive sales, rather than important factors like comfort, shape and perceived noise levels.

Keep in mind that there is no universally recognized standard for describing head and helmet shapes, and, in fact, there are probably helmet manufacturers who will disagree with our opinions regarding the most common shapes. For example, manufacturers might be concerned about liability problems if they sold one of their "round" helmets to someone with, for example, an "oval" shaped head.

If the rider became injured in a fall, who knows what liability issues might arise? The bottom line is that if a manufacturer claims that their helmet is designed for a round head, there's no real way of knowing what they mean by "round".

Profit issues motivate the helmet manufacturers, especially at the lower end, to sell helmets with a generic shape that will meet the minimum fit requirements for the maximum number of potential customers. This is an important factor, because the generic internal helmet shape may not fit your individual head.

This problem is compounded because each helmet manufacturer may have a slightly different idea of the generic shape, and each model within a brand can fit differently than its shelf mates. That's why the chances of finding a good fit increase as the number of different brands and models of helmet are tried on prior to purchase.

Some manufacturers, like Arai, have developed helmet models that are specifically engineered to fit different head shapes, and they use this as a market differentiator. As far as we know, Arai is the only manufacturer to capitalize on internal helmet shapes as a selling point.

It remains a mystery as to why other manufacturers don't exploit this obvious market need, or at least offer a variety of helmet liners for riders to develop their own semi-custom shapes.

Here's the Arai Tecs III document (.pdf) from Arai Europe with a huge amount of information on how Arai helmets are made, head shape information and more; note that sometimes the same helmet model may have different internal shapes, depending upon the country where it will be sold.

Note that our description of helmet head shapes is different than Arai's. Arai describes their head shapes based on head circumference (front to back or side to side). Our head shapes (illustrated above) show the head in an elevation plan view; i.e., looking at the head from the front or back. Our opinion is that matching both described head profiles to the helmet is crucial for a comfortable fit, although many helmets seem vary in the elevation view dimensions more than they do for circumference.

Both methods of describing head shapes are somewhat compatible. For example, Arai states: "The traditional Arai fit - the "Long Oval" - For heads whose length is distinctly narrow side-to-side, combined with a longer front to back measurement". Consider that a side-to-side profile is similar to what is described in our illustrations by looking at the head shape from head-on.

Our descriptions are based on years of experience with several webBikeWorld evaluators who help with the product reviews. We evaluate many helmets during the course of a year, which helps us develop a good understanding of shapes. And our feeling is that the top-to-bottom head shape is very important with regards to fit.

Don't forget that all the information we provide is our opinion, based on experience, and your experience may differ!

Anyway, back to the five categories of head shapes. We've arbitrarily labeled the different head shape groupings and have given them the following descriptions (in no particular order):

•Round - Shape A in the matrix above.

•Oval - Sometimes known as "long oval", which is said to be the most common American head shape;

•Earth - The Earth shaped head is somewhat wider in the middle, approximately near the temples;

•Egg - Wider at the top and narrower at the bottom.

•Reverse Egg - Slightly narrower at the top than at the bottom.

These are the designations we use to define helmet shapes in webBikeWorld helmet reviews. For example, it may be our opinion that a particular motorcycle helmet's shape is best suited for round shaped heads, like the OGK FF-3. The FF-3 fits a round or earth shaped head just about perfectly. But don't forget that not all heads -- or helmets -- exactly fit these arbitrary shape definitions.

Another example is the Shoei X-11. It's our opinion that this helmet will fit a round or oval head shape best. Here's the disclaimer: the manufacturers of these and any other helmets that we review may completely disagree with us. Don't forget, we usually only see one example of one helmet model, so your experience may be different than ours. But we think we have enough experience with a wide variety of helmet shapes and designs to be pretty sure about the way we call it.

Remember that in the absence of scientific proof, discussions about motorcycle helmets are simply opinion, and ours is just that. Your experience may be completely different than ours regarding motorcycle helmet fit, perceptions of noise levels, air flow and any other factor.