Is it socially acceptable to polish my helmet

[mycallsevern]

I was clearing out the cupboard under the stairs and I found all my car cleaning stuff from when I had a shiny CRX. So I decided to have a go at my bike with it. Fistly I LOVE ALLOY WHEEL CLEANER!!! and my wheel brush, its just so easy. Secondly is Autosol cool! and thirdly I used some of my very expensive Maquires car polis and my bike now goes 10mph fast...honest it does.

However I want to further reduce my drag coefficient so I was wondering if its alright to polish my Arai (note how I didn't use the word helmet). Does ny one know and has anyone every polished their or someone elses helmet?

[masterofinsanity]

got my missus to polish my helmet before, just a bit of spit and a good rub will sort it.

[zxr_oli]

However I want to further reduce my drag coefficient

is that line serious?
i dont spose a polished helmet will make much difference

[deviant]

particularly since i believe matt surfaces tend to have lower drag than shiny ones

[rene]

yeah it dos! not only dos it reduce drag!

my mum cant stand my helmet being dirty so she normaly gives it a quick clean when i get home

[Boonie]

Want...to...write...paragraph...on...drag...coefficients...and...airflow...over...surfaces...

Fluid...dynamics...head...going...to...explode...

[deviant]

you could at least tell me if i am right about matt and shiny surfaces.

just out of interest what do you do for a living boonie?

[mycallsevern]

yeah it dos! not only dos it reduce drag!

my mum cant stand my helmet being dirty so she normaly gives it a quick clean when i get home

Your mum cleans your helmet?

[masterofinsanity]

you could at least tell me if i am right about matt and shiny surfaces.

well a silk hankie would slide over a polished surface faster than a matt one, does that answer your question?

[lindaloo]

ive used car polish b4 to get rid of small scratches etc, works a treat

[Boonie]

I lead a team on system assurance testers (user acceptance testing IT solutions) for Rolls Royce Engineering and also the prison service. We build computer networks to mimic the networks of the client and then see what would break them so they don't. The job is really boring and soul destroying so spend my time reading about things of more interest to me.

Would get a job as a mechanic orenginer, but made that mistake with computers. They were fun until I made them my career. Don't want to make the same mistake again.

[superman]

LOL
If you look at this thread step back an re read it.... you quite easily get the wrong end of the stick. . i only let the mrs polish my helmet cant do it myself.


i think mycallseven saw it from the start thats why he called it an arai

[deviant]

you could at least tell me if i am right about matt and shiny surfaces.

well a silk hankie would slide over a polished surface faster than a matt one, does that answer your question?

no.

do some reading on the theory behind swing bowling in cricket and that should explain why I think a matt/slightly rough finish on a helmet (or anything else) would cause less drag than a highly polished...erm...arai.

or don't, of course. fluid dynamics isn't that interesting.

[Boonie]

I merely implied more interesting than my job.

[Caz]

having done my best to try and forget all my fluid dynamics lets see what i can remember

think of a golf ball, they have dimples in to induce spin and lift and therefore to make the ball go further. However lift / spin are a different matter to drag. a highly polished surface will have less wind resistance. but if you were to hit two similar golf balls through the air - one highly polished and smooth, the other with the now conventional dimples - the one with dimples in would induce spin and therefore travel further.

I'll dig out my fluid dynamics books when i get home if I must