Bell Brings Back the Star
BELL BRINGS BACK THE STAR
BELL HELMETS, POSSIbly the most famous name in head protection in motorsports history, now under the $600 million Easton-Bell Sports umbrella, has created what it calls a “significant” step forward in motorcycle helmet design. In a nod to Bell’s own past, the new street-going design is called the Star.
This past January, the moto-press was invited to Bell’s headquarters in Santa Cruz, California, to see this new-from-the-chinstrap-up full-face skid lid, and have a behind-the-scenes look at the 54-year-old company’s stateof-the-art R&D facilities, which include rapid-prototyping and CNC-machining equipment as well as a fullscale test lab.
Starting point for the Star was the radical Feuling SS, which incorporated highspeed, stability-enhancing design elements-a truncated back and a thin strip of molded rubber called a wicker bill-patented by the late Jim Feuling. Four-time 500cc World Champion Eddie Lawson wore a variation of the helmet to victory in the 1993 Daytona 200. Hall-offamer Scott Parker dirttracked in the design.
“The initial Feuling design was a good starting point, but adding the chin contours had an amazing effect when a rider’s head was turned,” said Bell Product Manager Chris Sackett. “It became a more predictable, stable and linear turn without the ‘whip’ effect that some helmets produce.”
The shell is composite, a mix of carbon-fiber, kevlar and fiberglass called TriMatrix. Its shape was tweaked in the University of Washington’s wind tunnel in Seattle to maximize airflow and create downforce at speed. Bell’s Velocity Flow Ventilation-10 intake and six exhaust ventswas put to the test in a water tunnel, a costly procedure usually reserved for jet fighters and other high-performance aircraft.
According to Sackett, engineer Erik Tews slaved over the faceshield mechanism alone for two years, filling three notebooks and crafting 21 prototypes before arriving at the final design called 3Mode, which allows the wearer to toggle between Lock, Crack and Friction modes. Similarly, shield removal and reinstallation is a one-finger effort. “They asked for simple,” Tews said, “so I gave them simple.” Further, Bell claims its Nutra Fog II is the most effective anti-fog, anti-scratch and UV coating developed to date.
The Star is manufactured in China at one of Bell’s three production facilities to both DOT and Snell M2005 standards-verified not only in the Santa Cruz lab (more than 13,000 helmets evaluated annually) but also at the plant itself.
“The list of things I would change on the helmet is very short,” said Tews. “I am very happy with the finished product.”
Custom bike-builder and designer Roland Sands, the last Bell wearer to win an AMA roadrace national, will collaborate with the company on a new line of graphics due out this fall.
-Matthew Miles
