please help improve it or discuss these issues on the talk page . learn how and when to remove these template messages this article s factual accuracy may be compromised due to out of date information . please update this article to reflect recent events or newly available information . may 2011 this article relies too much on references to primary sources . please improve this by adding secondary or tertiary sources . september 2014 learn how and when to remove this template message learn how and when to remove this template message bell sports headquarters rantoul illinois united states parent vista outdoor website www.bellhelmets.com helmet of f1 driver michael schumacher in 1995 bell motorcycle helmet bell sports a division of vista outdoor is an american manufacturer of bicycle auto racing and motorcycle helmets . brg sports owner of riddell football helmets sold the bell giro c preme and blackburn brands to vista in 2016 . 1 bell racing is headquartered in rantoul illinois with manufacturing facilities at an industrial park which used to be chanute air force base . bell racing usa an independent company that uses the bell mark under license is headquartered in nearby champaign illinois while bell racing europe is headquartered in saintes near brussels belgium . contents 1 history 2 public safety initiatives 3 see also 4 references 5 external links history edit the company started in 1923 as bell auto parts in bell california . 2 3 it produced its first race car helmets in 1954 . the bell helmet company was formed as a division of bell auto parts in 1956 . bell introduced the first full face motorcycle helmet on the market in 1968 the star . 4 in 1971 they produced the first full face off road motorcycle helmet . 5 it introduced a bicycle helmet in 1975 . as well as motor sports helmets bell produced helmets for skydiving and skiing hockey football baseball fire police and anti ballistic for military use . in 1980 the company was merged with riddell to form bell riddell inc. in 1991 bell riddell s motorcycle division was sold and became bell helmets inc. the remaining company was renamed bell sports inc. in 1999 the auto racing division was sold and split into two separate companies called bell racing company north america and bell racing europe europe asia and africa . bell sports reacquired bell helmets in 2002 creating bell powersports . 6 in 2005 it reacquired bell racing company 7 and was itself merged into easton bell sports inc. in 2006 . 8 vista outdoor acquired the company in 2016 . public safety initiatives edit bell sports has a long history of contributing to bicycle and wheel related safety programs sponsored by safe kids usa and in 2004 began providing safe kids ready to roll kits to safe kids usa coalitions to aid them in public safety instruction . 9 see also edit roy richter references edit vista outdoor announces agreement to purchase bell giro c preme and blackburn brands from brg sports inc. press release pr newswire february 25 2016 bell helmets bell timeline . bell . archived from the original on 2009 12 28 . retrieved 2015 08 04 . about bell racing . henning ari may 2016 old meets new motorcyclist p. 52 history & facts . bell helmets . retrieved april 16 2016 . bell sports acquires bell motorcycle helmets forms new powersports division . 2002 11 04 . bell sports acquires bell auto racing division . 2005 01 07 . easton and bell announce merger . 2006 02 07 . safe kids usa . sk ready to roll usa.safekids.org . retrieved 24 02 08 . external links edit official website v t e american bicycle manufacturers current american star bike friday bilenky cycle works bohemian brooklyn bicycle co. bontrager calfee design cannondale catrike centurion chumba racing co motion columbia cortina cruzbike cycle force group dahon diamondback dynacraft bsc electra ellsworth handcrafted fantasy toys lowrider bicycle & hobby felt fuji fyxation gendron inc. gt haro huffy ibis independent fabrication international surrey company iron horse italvega jamis k2 sports kent international kestrel litespeed magna marin masi melon milwaukee mongoose moots next nishiki novara pacific pope priority pure cycles quality quintana roo r e rans designs razorusa redline rhoades car ritchey design rivendell roadmaster richard sachs santa cruz santana schwinn seven shelby shinola soma fabrications specialized surly terracycle terrible one tommaso torker transition trek turner suspension univega valdora van dessel sports villy custom volagi waterford precision wilderness trail worksman yamaguchi yeti zigo defunct american american machine and foundry chicago clark kent e. c. stearns eagle fat city fleetwing gary fisher gormully & jeffery jmc klein kogswell lemond lotus merlin murray overman pocket rambler ross serotta sol stelber sterling wright components bell sports bicycle technologies international coker tire fox racing shox fyxation giro hayes brake burley design rockshox slidepad speedplay sram l.h. thomson zipp rolf prima retrieved from https en.wikipedia.org w index.php title bell sports & oldid 730521021 categories helmet manufacturersmotorcycle helmet manufacturersamerican brandscompanies established in 1923companies based in champaign county illinoissporting goods manufacturers of the united statescycle parts manufacturersmanufacturing companies based in illinoishidden categories articles with obsolete information from may 2011all wikipedia articles in need of updatingarticles lacking reliable references from september 2014all articles lacking reliable referencesofficial website different in wikidata and wikipedia navigation menu personal tools not logged intalkcontributionscreate accountlog in namespaces article talk variants views read edit view history more search navigation main pagecontentsfeatured contentcurrent eventsrandom articledonate to wikipediawikipedia store interaction helpabout wikipediacommunity portalrecent changescontact page tools what links hererelated changesupload filespecial pagespermanent linkpage informationwikidata itemcite this page print export create a bookdownload as pdfprintable version languages espa ollatina edit links this page was last modified on 19 july 2016 at 14 35 . text is available under the creative commons attribution sharealike license ; additional terms may apply . by using this site you agree to the terms of use and privacy policy . wikipedia is a registered trademark of the wikimedia foundation inc. a non profit organization . privacy policy about wikipedia disclaimers contact wikipedia developers cookie statement mobile view