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The Helmet Thread

Blind_Io

Blind_Io

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I know we have a gear thread already, but I helmets have a whole different set of factors compared to other gear.

So, kicking things off, I'm due for a new brain-bucket this year; my RF-1000 is hitting it's 5-year mark and I love this lid. Right now there are RF-1100s on the market, but I want to hear about other helmets. Shoei also makes the X-Twelve, which I gather is more of a race helmet, but I've never worn one on the bike.
 
The X-11 was very nice, but also extremely noisy. I don't know if they have improved this on the 12.
 
Good thing this thread isnt in the NSFW forum...
 
While I've always owned full faced snell lids, I've never paid more then $200 for one. I never understood the hype about Arai's.

Then I tried one on.

OMFG, it fit like a glove, but still felt plush, and was light as a feather. It was the Signet Q, which has a very long oval shape, much like my head. Head shape is one of those things that some people (myself included) don't always take into account when buying a helmet. They might have a long oval head, but instead buy a more rounder helmet, and they then think they need to buy a helmet that's one or two sizes too big in order not to have pressure points.

I now know what I'm gonna be buying for my next lid.
 
I have an HJC CL-16 for autocross :unsure:

HJC+CL-16.jpg
 
LeVeL said:
I have an HJC CL-16 for autocross :unsure:
Click to expand...

I had the predecessor to that, the CL-15. Not a bad lid for beginner riders or if ya need a cheap snell for auto-X.
 
My last helmet was an HJC FS15, best quality/price ratio of all the helmets I've bought over the years.
 
My current helmet is AGV GP-tech. The helmet is perfect in all respects - it's super light, the materials are very comfortable; except noise. It's quite loud, at least for my 3/4 position riding. I have to wear earplugs otherwise I get headaches from the windnoise after riding for more than 30 minutes.

helmetagvgptechstripesb.jpg
 
pepitko said:
My current helmet is AGV GP-tech.
Click to expand...

I tried one on and it felt very nice. However, due to price, I went with the AGV Grid. Helmet fits me like a glove and is extremely comfortable, wind noise is ok. My only complaint with it is the wind guard/shield (whatever you call it) on the chin, one of the clips always seems to come loose every time I put on or take off the helmet.

Other than that I love it, I wish it came in a matte black though.
 
I thought AGV Grid was supposed to be the replacement for the GP-tech, or isn't it? I was lucky, I got mine with a 50% discount in a winter sale, so it cost me only about USD 350 :D.
 
My primary helmet is this Arai XD-3.



It is far from the cheapest helmet. It cost about 6 times what my old CL-SP did, but IMO it is 6 times better. It is well vented, but still can be sealed up enough to pretty much totally keep the cold wind off. It fits my head great, and I can and have wear it all day. The peak makes riding late in the day much better and it is designed so the wind doesn't unduly catch it. I've put about 5000 miles on various bikes (Tenere, old Tiger, GL1000) with it and the only time I wish I had a different helmet is when fully tucked in lying on the GL tank. So, for all of your sportbikers, this is not the helmet for you, but if you do more adventure style riding, it is phenomenal.

Artsy shot:
 
After riding a few years with an AGV K-4, I decided to buy a new helmet for this season. The AGV was size XL but still it felt small: it hurt my forehead, especially when doing 60mph or above. I bought a Shoei XR-1100 in the Hadron2 TC5 color and absolutely love it! It's unbeliveable how comfortable a helmet can be after the AGV and it even looks cool!
 
I had a HJC cl-max2
I liked it. Not too heavy or noisy for a modular.
0845-0235-03_detail.jpg
 
Any thoughts on what you will get to replace it? Also, I'm curious how the face guard held up in the crash; I avoid modular helmets because I want more substantial protection from a face guard.
 
The chin guard broke. It stayed closed which was sweet.
I was thinking of going with a nolan n-102.
Maybe i will just pick up a better hjc. It seemed pretty nice for the money.
I like the modular for slow speed riding. I will say, Wind noise on that El cheapo HJC wasn't that bad.. The clamp system is pretty nice too. When i went down and bashed the chin guard it cracked inside and its what busted my lip.
If i still had my vstrom or a larger more street oriented bike still, i would go with a full face.
 
Chroma with the yellow stripes.
 
Rollin'
 
The RF-1000 was due to be retired, after many years of service and many, many miles it became like a second skin. It will probably be mounted to the garage wall as a trophy, along side Kiki's Shoei.

The King is Dead, Long live the King!











This is the Bell Star Carbon. This particular scheme was done in limited quantities for the 2013 WSBK race at Laguna. The helmet normally comes with a clear shield sporting the track diagram over the hinges and a similar one in "dark smoke". You will notice this visor doesn't have the track outline - that's because the shop took the tinted visor off me and gave me a photochromatic model ($120 retail) as a free upgrade. Normally I wouldn't go for a lid this flashy or with a full carbon shell, but the deal they gave us on these came in well under the cost of an Arai or a Shoei RF-1200 with a conventional shell. What you can't see in the photos is that the yellow and red on the helmet are actually a very bright metal-fleck that absolutely pops in the sun light. When I was on the fence about such a flashy color scheme the owner of the store said, "Go take this out into the sun light, then bring me your credit card." He wasn't wrong.

These are alleged to be more noisy than the RF-series, but I'm more interested in airflow and they are supposed to be some of the best on the market for venting. They come highly recommended by some of the club racers around here who race in temperatures over 100 degrees F during some summer races. It also came with a sleeve for the spare visor and a very nice travel bag - much better than the glorified Crown Royal bags most helmets arrive with.
 
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