Old stock helmets?

I'm very tempted to purchase a new, nice looking Shoei helmet. The seller has both the RX-7 and the RF-200 new in the box. Both of these helmets are no longer sold in the regular venues but there are a bunch hitting the after market sales (eBay). I'm looking at one for $65 ($80 with shipping). The Snell certification is something like 80. Are there any major reasons I shouldn't get one of these? I know, I know, spend the money and get a good one. But the color matches my bike. Old bike, old helmet.

Hoo

Helmet Age

Any helmet with less than 5 - 7 years of 'shelf-life' could be fine for purchase. Hey - if it matches your bike, sounds like a winner, but not if it was fabricated in 1980.

The styrofoam encased between a helmet's hard outer shell and the inner lining has water vapor forced into it during manufacturing. This 'inherent moisture' will keep the foam pliable for about 5 years, thus providing you with impact-absorbing protection.

After about 5 - 7 years, the foam starts to become progressively stiffer (I have even seen some helmets where the foam was turning to powder), and, once rock-hard, offers drastically less impact-absorbing protection. Older helmets may look showroom-new on the outside, but age will have degraded their crash protection internally.

Like anything else in life, nothing lasts forever - that includes helmets.

Good luck, and Ride Alert.

Have you ever noticed a film on the inside of your windshield in your cage? This is largely the result of "outgassing" of the plastics in your dash. While modern helmets are made of different plastics and foams a similar principle applies. I would be very nervous about the protection offered by helmets that old. (Disclaimer: I have seen no scientific tests which support the reduced protection of older helmets and do not know if any exists. All comments are based on swag.) Besides newer models seem better vented and better fitting.

PT9766 said:

A 20 year old helmet will have degraded so much over that time that it will not provide any significant protection.
Please don't buy it!
PT9766

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Can you please provide some factual data to support this statement? My helmet is about 10 years old now and still in perfect condition. I would like to know if this is really true, or just your opinion.

thanks for the link

Does it really make sense

to risk you head using older helmets. There are many articles that talk about older helmets and with the information in current articles about the DOT rating even <$100 helmets are effective.

How much do you value your life?