The Devil Is In The Detail

Yes, Davida helmets are aesthetically very pleasing, they're beautifully put together, and as is widely known, have a world-wide reputation for being a far superior-fitting helmet that can deliver a supreme level of comfort & unrivalled performance, eliminating lift at speed & ensuring an exceptionally quiet ride.

For all of this though, SpeedsterV3, Davida Jet and Ninety 2 helmets are at the end of the day a safety product, designed to be highly effective in their primary function of protection.

There are numerous reasons why you can be truly confident in the integrity of your Davida helmet and that they are more than capable of giving you the level of protection on the road required by the Safety Certifications they carry.

Hand Crafted  By Davida In The UK

Every Davida helmet is hand crafted in the UK at our factory in Merseyside by our team of highly skilled and dedicated technicians. No part of the helmet manufacturing process is automated by a machine. Creating a Davida helmet is highly labour intensive, requiring it to be passed through many hands all the way through it's production.

Virtually all our staff has worked for Davida for over a decade, many for twice as long as that and some have spent their whole working life serving the company for more than 30 years. Together, the staff at Davida have more than a century of experience in producing the highest quality, hand-crafted motorcycle helmets.

Davida are one of only a handful of helmet companies who haven’t chased larger profit margins and outsourced the manufacture of their helmets to countries where a day’s labour is less than a quarter of European rates...read more

ISO 9001 Accredited Company

Davida is an ISO 9001 accredited company, so every process of the helmet’s birth is followed, logged and audited. Made to exacting standards, each stage of the manufacturing process receives meticulous attention to detail.

From the production of each and every helmet component, all the way through to the delivery of your helmet to your door; every action and process within  Davida UK is tracked and monitored on a daily basis according to the ISO 9001 regulations.

In addition, an authorised and independent ISO 9001 expert regularly undertakes inspections at our factory to ensure everything that happens here within Davida UK exactly follows and meets the ISO 9001 requirements.

Being a ISO 9001 accredited company is not required by UK or European law, but a voluntary discipline Davida have chosen to work to.  It gives us, as the manufacturer, and you as the customer wearing our safety products, the reassurance that every Davida helmet we produce is a product of exceptional quality, giving both you and us the confidence that every Davida helmet is manufactured to the exacting standards expected from a UK company.

Davida stand confident and are proud of the integrity of each and every high quality helmet we produce here in the UK.

Independently Tested To DOT FMVS No 218, BS:6658 Type B 1985 & ECER22-05

Not every Jet, Speedster V3 or Ninety 2 helmet made at Davida is sold. From every batch a proportion is sent to be independently tested to destruction to ensure your Davida helmet will perform to the highest standards.  

The Ninety 2 is sent to BSI House & tested at the British Standards' facilities within the UK & The Jet  & Speedster V3 is tested by the TUV at their facilities in Germany.

Here they undergo a series of rigorous tests to ensure that they are capable of providing you with the protection required by the BS: 6658: Type B 1985 or the ECER22-05 & DOT FMVSS No 218 Safety Certifications.

Unlike most modern creations from large factories, the Davida helmet does not undergo any in-house testing here at our factory. Davida are not involved in, nor have any influence over the testing procedures undertaken within the British Standards or TUV testing centres.

Our choice to have Davida helmets independently tested, together with our ISO 9001 accreditation here at the factory, gives us the unwavering  confidence in the ability of the Davida helmet to meet the Road Safety Certifications they carry.

Different Road Safety Certifications

Whilst the testing processes of different helmet Safety Certifications vary slightly, they all aim to simulate the typical impact scenarios the rider on the road may encounter.

To pass these tests and gain the certificate of approval, Davida helmets, containing heavy, metal dummy heads are dropped vertically onto different shaped anvils, both blunt and sharp. Complicating matters is the fact that the helmets are re-tested at -20 and +50 degrees Celsius, temperatures at which the helmet materials may act differently.

The stringent tests of the BS:6658 Type B 1985, DOT FMVSS No 218 &  the ECR22-05 measure the impact absorption and retention of the Davida helmet. Impact protection for the rider is achieved by the combined action of the helmet shell and liner. The head is adequately protected when surrounded by a sufficiently rigid shell and the necessary volume of shock absorbing material.

They are comparable certifications, neither better nor worse than each other, just different in the details of the impact tests the helmets are subjected to.

Replacing Your Davida Helmet

Any helmet which has received an impact should be replaced, even if there is no visible damage to the helmet exterior. Any impact the helmet receives will damage the interior shock absorption liner and compromise its ability to absorb the energy of any subsequent impacts.

We meet many customers out on the road and at shows with their Davida helmets and find it highly satisfying to see how good our helmets look and perform after 20 years of regular use. The leather interiors are still beautiful.

There are many reasons why the Davida helmet can achieve such longevity

The Size

The size of the Davida helmet on the first day of use will be the same for the duration of its lifespan.

Using shells and liners which are proportional to each head size means the fully leather lined interior plays only a small role in creating the overall size of any Davida helmet. The interior can therefore be designed to have just enough foam padding behind the luxurious leather to give the Jet helmet its superior level of comfort. This design ensures the interior cannot crush down, being leather it cannot degrade or become noticeably bigger with use

With use, the fully leather-lined interior will 'bed in' slightly, subtly changing to follow the fine contours of your head and thus becoming even more comfortable with age.

In comparison, some helmets are made using only one helmet shell size and the various different sizes are created by thickening the interior comfort padding. With frequent use, the interior padding crushes down and, as the interior space inevitably becomes larger, a gap between the interior and the head will develop. Eventually the helmet becomes too big and the wearer will experience an increased level of wind noise and will feel the helmet lift and move at speed.

Wearing a correctly sized helmet, that is, one which does not move or rotate on the head, is more than just about comfort as it plays a significant role in its effectiveness to offer protection in the event of an impact.

Materials

Shell

All Davida helmets are  made using a fibreglass composite shell which, unlike polycarbonate shells, do not have a limited lifespan due to the degradation which occurs when they are exposed to UV.

Double D Ring

Davida helmets are secured using a webbed chin strap and a double D ring, this is superior to a mechanical buckle fastening which can fail over time.

Leather Lining

Leather lining only improves with age and will not deteriorate like synthetic polyester based linings

Goggle Strap Retainer

The leather goggle strap retainer is fixed to the helmet shell with a stud, not glued.

Paintwork

Every raw fibreglass helmet shell must undergo a meticulous process of preparation to ensure an absolutely perfect base is created prior to painting. It is then hand masked and hand sprayed to the highest standard. Some complex designs with multiple colours requires the helmet to follow the hand masking and hand painting process more than three or four times.

Finally, when our paintshop is a 150% happy, we use an ultra fine paper to thoroughly buff the paintwork prior to application of a generous layer of gloss or matt lacquer.

At this stage the paintwork it then highly polished.

Davida offer an unrivalled choice of more than 80 different paintwork designs as standard

A Closer Look At The Davida Jet

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