These helmets are the bomb! Anyone know if they are "Novelty" helmets, or if they actually correspond to some manner of (Japanese) safety standard?
From what I can figure, the Japanese equivalent to DOT approval is the SG mark. It is a two part standard set up by their Industry Consumer Product Safety Association. There is one standard for use on mopeds and anything under 125cc, and another for everything above 125cc (the higher standard can be used on a bike below 125cc, of course). There are a couple of voluntary standards as well. Read about them here:
http://translate.google.com/translate?hl=en&sl=ja&u=http://www.e-ags.com/other/kikaku.htm&ei=O1DpTMOqJISClAewyKjECw&sa=X&oi=translate&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CDAQ7gEwAA&prev=/search%3Fq%3D%2522psc%2Bsg%2522%26hl%3Den%26lr%3Dlang_ja%26tbs%3Dlr:lang_1ja%26prmd%3DivsRunning the Tachibana site trough Google Translate, there is a reference to the SG standard that says "our products can be used regardless of PSC-SG emissions because it is safe to get product specifications." I think this means they are OK for use on any size machine. I think.
In looking for a US vendor for the Tachibana helmets, I found a Japanese web site,
http://global.rakuten.com/us/, that will ship to the US. (It appears to be roughly equivalent to Amazon in that it carries about a billion items in different stores.) One store, leotanimoto, offers the GT750:
http://en.item.rakuten.com/leotanimoto/10014254/Another company, retro racing, has a similar helmet for a lot less and it carries the SG sticker for all engine sizes:
http://en.item.rakuten.com/retroracing/33000000/This is really tempting.
If you want a more motocross look:
http://en.item.rakuten.com/crowracing/blaster-strobe/Again, SG compliant for all engine sizes.
Browsing around the motorcycle section of the Rakuten site, I ran across all kinds of gee-gaws I'd like to get my hands on. If shipping isn't too onerous, it could be a useful resource.
~john
