Bell's Cruiser-Spec Half Helmets Have Been Recalled. Don't Even Meet The Bare Minimum of Impact Protection

Half helmets are already basically useless. This recall makes them worse.

Photo by: Bell Helmets

By: Jonathon Klein

Sep 2, at 8:05am ET

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From the jump, I've drilled into my kids' heads that if they're going to get on a bike, a dirt bike, an ATV, or anything else that could yeet them over the bars, they're going to be wearing a helmet. And, hopefully, it'll be a full-face helmet, one that protects their entire heads and faces, as half helmets are basically protection theater.

Just like the TSA.

Yet, while they're good at suiting up for safety, much of the riding public ain't, as while states and politicians fight to remove helmet restrictions, the vast majority of the riding public also wear the bare minimum of helmet protection, too, with the most popular style being that of the half helmet. You know the one, it's the cruiser, bagger, BROTHER helmet that the Harley-Davidson and Indian Motorcycle crowd loves. The one that does absolutely jack in ensuring you're safe during the event of a crash or accident.

But at least they're wearing something, right?

Well, according to the latest recall from Bell Sports, the parent company of Bell Helmets, even those might not be worth it either, as a number of them apparently got shipped to customers sans any impact protection...

The recall affects the brand's "Pit Boss" helmets, and is limited to those picked up in size medium and produced between January of last year and January of this year.

According to the NHTSA bulletin, "Bell Sports, Inc. (Bell) is recalling certain Pit Boss helmets, size medium, that were manufactured between January 1, 2025 and January 31, 2026. The helmets may lack proper impact protection. As such, these helmets fail to comply with the requirements of Federal Motor Vehicle Safety Standard number 218, 'Motorcycle Helmets.'"

What do you think?

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Comments

It's unclear what the recall means when it states that "The helmets may lack proper impact protection," as it doesn't go further in explaining it, but to us, that sounds like they either were shipped without any EPS lining or that the lining or shell don't necessarily meet the DOT, Snell, or ECE standards. Either would be bad, but, honestly, does it even matter with these helmets?

A while back, RideApart reported on a guy from Japan showcasing how motorcycle helmets work and how they protect your head in a hilariously insane way, in which he showed how stupid these half helmets really are. That's all I think about now whenever I see these helmets, cause they're never going to protect you. So while Bell will absolutely send you a new helmet to replace your recalled one, maybe use this as an excuse to buy a proper full face helmet?