W

H
Y
HISTORY
1958 a story of success begins with the
formation of a small company to manufacture
motorcycle helmets in Tokyo by Watanabe Shin.
His entrepreneurial vision was steered by his
strong desire for quality, and an undeviating
ability to innovate - characteristic virtues of
rising Japan.
The brand name MARUSHIN was created from
Watanabe‘s first name “Shin“, which means
“reliable and tenacious“ and the Japanese
word for circle – “maru“.
Maru symbolises the protective circle around
the head of Mister Shin, and is consequently
the perfect name for a helmet brand.
The Maru will protect all MARUSHIN helmet
customers, keeping away harm by employing
the latest technologies.
In Japan it is traditional not to boast about
special achievements, but let us make an
exception here.
MARUSHIN brings you products with an incre-
dible price-performance ratio in each sector.
You already know that MARUSHIN helmets
are produced innovatively with highest quality
machining and hand-finishing for individualists,
In the beginning MARUSHIN helmets were
only distributed in Japan. In the late 80‘s this
changed, when the german businessman Ull-
rich Holzhausen recognised the potential of the
Japanese brand.
After Watanabe Shin died, his son sold the
brand with all the tools and machinery to Mr.
Holzhausen, the founder of JF Motorsport
Gmbh, a big motorcycle accessories whole-
saler in Europe.
HISTORY
The brand was able to establish itself quickly
in the European market, because of its high
standard of quality and comfort, combined with
a really high level of involvement in the professi-
onal bike scene.
Mr. Holzhausen’s passion for motorsport forged
many successful driver sponsorships and
gained success in many racing series. With
drivers like Edwin Weibel, Jochen Schmid and
Christer Lindholm, MARUSHIN was able to win
the Pro Superbike title eight times out of ten.
MARUSHIN also supported Katja Poensgen
from her early years until she became the first MARUSHIN has always been a pioneer in qua-
woman to ride a 250ccm bike in the world lity standards and has never engaged in price
championship. wars or dumping.
Young riders and rookies have also been gran- MARUSHIN stands for quality and passion
ted great support by MARUSHIN, not only on inseparably combined.
the motorcycle scene, but also kart riders, who
have now entered the formula series.
After over 50 years of developing and selling
helmets, we can look back and be proud.
HARD DOES NOT
MEAN SAFE
Should a helmet shell be hard or soft?
The assumption that, the harder the shell, the
safer the helmet, is not correct.
There is still a wide held belief that “only hard
helmet shells are safe”, but this can be dispro-
ved by basic physics.
Spreading impact energy is essential, The hard-
ness of the shell is irrelevant.
It is of course true, that the helmet shell has to
have a certain level of hardness and greater re-
sistance to protect the head from hard impacts,
i.e. from sliding on the tarmac. The key though,
is spreading the energy!
In a soft outer-shell the molecules can move
about easily and therefore distribute the energy
equally to surrounding molecules. The effect is
that the impact energy is not concentrated onto
a single point, but rather spread across a wi-
der surface and can therefore be diffused much
better. If the shell should still break, more energy
would be destroyed, so this construction acts
like a crush zone.
Manufacturing a helmet shell:
The classic construction consists of a so called
Roving-Procedure (Fabrics are not merged, i.e.
not interwoven) or a Roving-Cut-Procedure, in
which several fibreglass layers are melded into
a synthetic resin.
// RTM-METHOD
// RTM-METHOD
MARUSHIN uses so called Forms with the RTM-
Method (Resin-Transfer-Moulding). Special
mats are woven out of different fabrics. Their
layers are arranged, depending on the require-
ments for spreading the energy, before they are
pressed in synthetic resin.
Due to this method, MARUSHIN can spread the
impact energy and reduce weight! This relieves
the pressure on the cervical spine.
LIGHT WEIGHT FOR
MORE SAFETY
Should the correct helmet be heavy or light?
Marushin Strategy:
Decreasing accelerating energy:
LOWER WEIGHT
= helmet 1-1,5Kg) multiplied by the force from the 3rd
GREATER SAFETY & GREATER COMFORT
The argument, that the lighter the helmet the
less effective it is, is incorrect! This can be dis-
proved by these physical formulas:
Energy = ½ x M x V 2
Energy equals ½ mass multiplicated by
velocity²
This means:
Energy / accelerating Energy equals ½ Head
(ca. 4-5kg + helmet 1-1,5kg) multiplicated by velocity²
K=MxR
Energy equals mass multiplied by force
This means:
Energy equals the mass of the head (ca. 4-5kg +
vertebra to the centre of the head, height of the ear.
The faster the movement/acceleration or the
heavier the helmet, the more strength/energy
will be needed to hold the head onto the spine.
Thus a light helmet has two big advantages:
1. The wearing comfort increases significantly,
since the neck muscles are under less stress,
due to the lower weight of the helmet, when
decelerating and accelerating on long tours.
2. The reduction of weight also minimises cervi-
cal vertebrae injuries in a collision by reducing
pressure on the neck muscles during strong
deceleration.
Does the helmet shell have to be hard or soft?
SOFT SHELLS FOR
MORE SAFETY
Science tells us:
The more energy will be destroyed in
the first nano second of the impact, the less
serious the injury will be.

The lower the G-forces are on

impact and the briefer the impact RS-MX – 850g – Carbon
to the rider‘s brain, the safer the
helmet is.
*
*

//// SOFT
SOFT SHELL SHELL CONCEPTCONCEPT
Because of this, MARUSHIN engineers have
developed the soft shell concept, which
takes its inspiration from advanced research into
crumple zones by the car industry.

Ask yourself how a soccer player can XMR PRO – 1.150g – FCH Hydroex
head a ball into the goal, if the cross
hits him with 450kp.

// ENERGY
DISTRIBUTION

If the ball was hard, the player would

be killed instantly. It is only because
the ball can absorb and distribute
the energy across a wider area – the
whole head, rather, than just one
RS-1 – 1.050g – Carbon
point – that the player doe not get
hurt.
*
*
Previously accepted standards are no
longer state of the art and MARUSHIN has
clearly moved the goalposts significantly.

There are of course many brands on the market.

Not all of them set themselves the same high
standards that MARUSHIN does.

999RS – 1.100g – X2F StoneFibre

* represents accumulated values of all test points from different helmets
Material science

FCH Fiberglass
FCH Fiberglass
E-Glass mats are laid with precision layer upon layer into a so-called
negative mould, according to a special laying-scheme.

We put a precisely calculated quantity of resin between each layer of

mats to ensure the perfect proportion between resin and material at
every single point on the outer shell.

FCH Hydroex
FCH Hydroex Fiberglass
Fiberglass
The procedure is the same as for FCH technology. Here we use a high
pressure resin that was developed especially for Marushin.

The higher pressure in the hardening phase makes it possible to produce

a thinner and therefore lighter outer shell with very good shock absor-
bancy values.

X2F StoneFibre
X2F StoneFibre MARUSHIN exceeds official safety standards
This is a completely new fibre material that was developed by Marushin
engineers for manufacturing helmets.

It has only a very slightly higher density than the usual E-Glass fibre, but
brings a considerably higher tensile strength and resistance to pressure, Rider comfort due to lower helmet weight is not yet a test criterion for any safety
as well as rigidity. This fibre material is 100% natural and non toxic, but
at the same time it is resistant to UV radiation, acids and corrosion.
standard. MARUSHIN has therefore undertaken a substantial research program
with many riders, professionals as well as amateurs.

//// BIOMETRICAL RESEARCH

BIOMETRICAL RESEARCH

3k Woven
3k Woven CarbonCarbon The biometrical results show that muscle stress caused by ac-
For the production of Marushin helmets we use a special AVIATION celeration, braking and cross acceleration on bends, is reduced
QUALITY 3K WOVEN CARBON: it is constructed for fulfilling the highest
proportionally per 100 gram helmet weight reduction.
requirements – for the aircraft industry.

It is 100% composed from carbon fibre and gets pressed and hardened
in positive moulds by the use of a prepeg-procedure.
Dirtbike riders do not have any fatigue of the cervical and neck musculature after a
long distance race of 4 hours.
 //// COST 327
COST 327

In November 1999, the European Commission with the Directorate Gene-

ral for Energy and Transport decided to use pan-European experience of
8 countries (Finland, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Netherland, Swit-
zerland and United Kingdom) to determine or modify national approa-
ches, the report is COST 327.

The main objectives are:

- to establish the distribution and severity of injuries experienced by
motorcyclists, focusing on the head and neck
- to determine the most significant injuries and injury mechanisms
- to establish the tolerance of the human head, brain and neck to these
injuries and injury mechanisms
- to use the overall findings to propose a specification for future testing
of motorcycle helmets in Europe.

RS-1 999

MARUSHIN is a leading brand in the SHARP safety scheme

d o u b le Our philosophy of manufacturing safe and light helmets ensures success. Conti-
te s te d nuous tests of motorcycle helmets of all brands, bought at random from resellers
by the Department of Transport, have led to a new safety ranking – SHARP.

SHARP tests helmets according to additional criteria of other standards. These

have been established in COST 327. The absorption of energy and lower velocity
gains special importance. ECE R22-05 specifies a value of 7,5 m/s – SHARP also
tests at 6,5 m/s and 8,5 m/s. This means a broader safety spectrum is covered.
777 888
The RS-1 with only 1050 grams of finest carbon has achieved the maximum of
five stars in the rating. The 777 has been double tested and got double five
The new SHARP stars, which shows the uniformity of the saftey quality. 999 and 888 were awarded
125 tested helmets RATING reflects the
an excellent four star rating in the SHARP safety scheme. All tested helmets
18 5-Stars performance of each
helmet model following
therefore provide optimum safety and comfort for the rider.
53 4-Stars
a series of advanced
31 3-Stars laboratory tests and As a brand MARUSHIN supports SHARP tests and uses the feedback for the deve-
15 2-Stars rates helmets from lopment of new helmets. You can see the success of that in our range.
8 1-Stars one to five stars.
date 02.08.09
MARUSHIN – the premium helmet with best head protection.