New Helmet

[Kaya75]

Hi all,

Any advice on a new helmet, I've got around 400 quid. I've got a mid range Avg skyline, the one I got for CBT. Time for upgrade.

Want full face I think.. Tho.. Schuberth C3 pro tempting, tho I've read some poor reviews about the new ones.

Ride a bandit 600, so quiet upright position.

I've looked and looked but can't decide

Arai Rebel - Prospect, designed for "street fighters" (gimmick?) might have opted for this if they'd put " made for naked bike rider"...

Schuberth C3

Shoei GT Air

Wildcard: Arai Chaser V Pro

What's the deal with thinning the liners for sun visors?

Open to any other surgesstions.

Thanks for any pointers

[P.addy]

Don't feel the need to spend 400. Spend however much on whatever fits you.

My Shark was 200, it fits perfectly. An Arai Chaser V fits me fine and is 350+, my LS2 used to fit me perfectly and was £60.

[Mudshark]

£400

some folk on here pay that for their bikes

try them all on etc...
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R1250RS
XT660X

[-Matt-]

Personally i'd find a 50-100 quid one that fits and spend the other 300 odd quid in your budget on fuel/other gear/other stuff .

My current Viper RS-44 cost me £50 with a spare visor about 18 months ago and has been the best helmet i've had so far, out of a few others that cost upto £150. Can get the same helmet now for £35-40; which is what i'm planning on replacing it with again soon. I wouldn't personally buy second-hand, but otherwise i'm not really fussed what I get as long as it fits properly. More money doesn't necessarily mean a better helmet.

Theres plenty around the £50-70 mark that have internal-sun-visors/flip-fronts too, if you're looking for either of those.

[UrbanRacer]

I'm the total opposite of these penny pinchers.
buy cheap, buy twice is how I look at it.
Go try on the lids, see what you like and fits you best, then check the safety ratings on the sharp helmet safety site. Then decide if you can afford it.

[P.addy]

[-Matt-]

[chris-red]

The build quality on cheaper lids is naff, my £100 HJC lasted a year my £180 AGV lasted 2 and my £380 Arai lasted 4.
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Well, you know what they say. If you want to save the world, you have to push a few old ladies down the stairs.
Skudd:- Perhaps she just thinks you are a window licker and is being nice just in case she becomes another Jill Dando.
WANTED:- Fujinon (Fuji) M42 (Screw on) lenses, let me know if you have anything.

[goto10]

I've got the Shoei GT Air - comfy - nice & quiet, sun visor, washable liner... much like every other helmet out there I guess. But comfy.

Water tight too (I had a Neotec before that, I found the [heavy] rain always managed to find a way inside the visor which made visibility a PITA - the Multitec I had before that didn't suffer with that problem though)
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'12 NC700S & '12 CB600F Hornet [Stolen by some dickless twat] Suzuki GT500 shed

[Gazza M]

Got myself a new one a few weeks back, Scorpion EXO-2000. Can't fault it. I have a funny shaped head and they seem to be the only make that fit! Saying that probably wouldn't have got it if it was full price, got it for £200 +visor from a store at Thruxton when BSB was there.

But yeah, buy on fit first.
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Past: '07 YBR125, '00 GPZ500S, '99 ZRX1100, '98 CBR600 track bike, '97 ZX9R
Present: '05 R6 track bike, 140 pit bike

[Mattaria]

I tried the Arai Rebel, really didn't like the shape, it's super tight at the front, there was absolutely no space and my chin was pretty much touching the inside of the helmet the whole time.

I currently have a Shoei Qwest(3 years old) as my daily, an old Arai Tour X as a backup.

I also ordered an Arai quantum st pro from my local shop yesterday, should arrive tomorrow, really liked the way it fitted.

As said by other people you should definitely try as many on as possible.

I definitely think the premium brands have a better quality product that will last long, but I guess it's all just down to how much you're willing to spend.

[Old Git Racing]

Got a Scuberth C3. Quiet helmet, good vents, comes with pinlock and an integrated polarising sun visor. Nice to flick the front up when in town or traffic. Nice and stable at speed. Not cheap but quality and you can just forget about it and get on with riding.
Went to this from a Nexx carbon which was fine on a head down bum up sports bike but way too noisy upright on the beemer even with plugs in.
Like most helmets the Schuberth has 'bedded in' to my nut and is comfortable as.

OGR
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2022 Tiger Sport 660 2019 Street Twin 2003 K3 gixxer 1000 1998 Srad 600 track hack

[stevo as b4]

I had a Nolan lid once, and thought it was ok at the time. But the wind and draft was terrible and so was the fit of the visor.

I didn't keep that one for 12years!

My Arai and Dainese helmets have been much better and both felt better and quieter and more comfy.

I'm sposed to be binning my Arai now and buying a new lid, but I want a style to it if I'm going to spend proper money £300-450 on a lid. I also want a nice colour scheme and one that goes with my bike.

I'd like a crazy 46 design lid, but the colours just don't work for me, and I'm looking at the retro stuff a lot more these days.

Top of my list if the fit and quality was good are Bell and Simpson lids though. Otherwise I might just buy a plain HJC or Spada etc?

[willis1337]

I have a c3pro, New black and white design, with built in comms that I bought but rarely wear. It's a xxl, let me know if you're interested in buying.
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Current bike: KTM SD1290GT
Previous bike: BMW K1300S

[Kaya75]

Cheers for the insights all,

Sorry Willis, Not my Size... thanks for the offer tho Mate

I'm going to go try some on, not looking to max the budget, but I need to treat my head and Autumns coming... Roads were sly today, one minute dry, next minute bleeding diesel and crap with the random drizzle and storms.. I was moving out into the completely clear outside lane to overtake a few cars in the dry only to hit a full on rain storm at er I think about 70, yeah must have been just 70....ish mph a few seconds later as I started to move back to the lefthand lane.. as I felt the frontend rolling through the mountain of gravelly road grime that was carving deltas in to the river of rain water that was deluging the white lines that flashed under my headlights. I thought that I must try to get helmet and tyres sorted this month.

That was after I had a proper SMIDSY moment in town, old guy pulled out a left into a completely clear A road and took the right hand lane to move onto the fly over. Well I say clear, I'm seeing it from his point of view, my hi-vi commenter vest must need a wash.. I be doing it with my pants in the morning. I also decided the swerve manoeuvre in mod one is valuable after all... He shit himself when I went for the gap that he was rapidly closing, I was by his door at this point after managing to scrub 15mph of my 35ish, I'd seen him, I slowed down has I thought he may pull out but then naturally pull into the left lane but I wasn't trusting the situation, he starts to cut acros for the fly over, at this point I thought I'm stuck in a closing door and I'll be f**ked if I'm going backwards so I applied the "if in doubt apply more power" philosophy.. I'd have shit myself if I was him too, the first thing he knew about it was a IL4 blasting into being on his right shoulder... In retrospect I should have clocked the flyover was open and expected that, so should have slowed right down and moved to the left lane one my approach, I'll know next time

Anyway I'm going have another beer, cheers for the replies, sorted

[talkToTheHat]

I like my shark, it's a Speed R. Fits me, really light, sunvisor works well, vents are good, is very very quiet, lining is nice, pinlock max works well. But it's gone back for warranty work (likely replacemnt) because the chrome has flaked off the pins retaining the strap, and they are corroding alarmingly fast.

Am back to using my HJC FG15. The vents are are flimsy as fuck. Old style pinlock is less good, lining quickly feels soggy, doesn't wick sweat away as well as the shark bambo stuff, which can get proper soaked and still not feel horrible. Fixed on newer models, girlfriend's IS17 has great vents and a really nice visor mechanism. Max pinlock too. Great buy for the price. Can't comment on the lining, beyond getting it as soaked as mine on out last tour. Wind noise on FG15 is much much louder than speed R. I only want earplugs for motroway speeds with the shark, with the hjc anything above about 40 is too loud.
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Bandit. does. everything.

[SteveSmith]

I've got a Schoei GT Air and I love it, but then I've got a Schoei-shaped head. The most important thing is to try on as many as possible and get the one that fits you the best - everything else is a bonus.

Any good gear shop should be able to check and advise you on fit to get the best one for you.

Steve.

[Michelle L]

What about this cool helmet....
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Ride safe , if you can not ride safe , ride free....

[BravoCharlie]

the best lid I ever owned was a Duchini D619. It was the comfiest helmet I owned, maybe a little bit noisy at high speeds, but it done me well in my crash, really well as it was mostly my head that was grinding the tarmac. cost me £90.

I agree with what Paddy said further up against the 'buy cheap, buy twice' mentality on lids, as long as it fits well then i'd wear it. ergonomics first, and a budget helps with the aesthetic choice.
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Current: Kawasaki ZL600 Eliminator
Past: Suzuki GZ125, Kawasaki GT550, Kawasaki GPX600R, Honda vrx400,Kawasaki Zephyr 750, Suzuki SV650 K5
Dream as if you'll live forever, live as if you'll die today.

[Jayy]

Buy whatever helmet you think looks good / fits well.

I've bought helmets from £30 Box lids, £500 Custom Bandit lid, £1,000 custom predator lid... each to their own but they all fit my requirements of looks/comfort and all still going strong except for the £30 Box lid, figures.

[Sid_The_Sloth]

OP didn't say they necessarily wanted to spend the whole £400 budget so not really much point telling them to buy cheaper.
Basically go try EVERYTHING on. I had a budget of £500 for my last and settled on an XR1100 for £250 because it was the only 1 that felt like it fit.
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2013 Honda Shadow VT750C2B Black Spirit, 1994 CBR600 f2

[Bloggsy]

[Ariel Badger]

I wear an Arai for three reasons, I am a tart, it fits super tight and as I only ride for short periods on the track this is more important than comfort, I get a big discount from the ACU.
Is it better than other helmets? I doubt it.
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Bikers make great organ donors, get 115 on your licence today.

[Kaya75]

Thanks all for the advice and replies

So is went and tried a few on, Arai just didn't fit.. which was a shame, some nice lids. The first one was a GT Air, it felt good like it will bed in sweet. I decided against the C3 didn't try it, flip just wasn't doing it for me the trade off wasn't worth it. Still look nice lids tho, I see the appeal.

So then a few Shoei's Bells and Arai A couple of nice Sharks and looked at a led integrated lid with flashing air vents.. hmmmm interesting...

Best one was first, had a short ride out and it's snugg in a good thee tight way (ez now.. ) comfy and the alround visibility is good, noise is different, less hi feq, a little windy, I need to test it on a longer run but even tho the manual says it has "ear" pads (post production design tweek? Lol) I reckon it going to whistle it's taters off at a certain speed - but it's still a great lid, feels the bolloxs and moves with my head instead of around it.. sweet build quality but then expectted for 380 quid a bitch to clean (if too fussy about insect soup). hope im wrong about the potential whistle but we'll see. All well happy

So to the chase in the ennd with a hundred notes off this: ("cuz of over stocking on the scheme")


https://i77.photobucket.com/albums/j78/Kaya1975/Mobile%20Uploads/IMAG2140_zpsrusxlahz.jpg

Happy daze, thanks for all the help [img][/img]

[Kaya75]

Update, just got back from 3hr ish ride, all good, no complaints, feels better today, very comfortable, good round vision, it does whistle at about 73.5 mph it is just at one point, so no worries apart from that pretty quiet but I won't be leaving my ear plugs at home for long Mway journeys. Great helmet for me anyway. Thanks for all the replies and insights, helped a lot.


Cheers