another business bites the dust

[andys675]

mate of mine works in a 5 star Arai dealers

texted me this morning to say Phoenix Distribution the uk importer/official distributor for Arai has gone bust

(they also import yoshimura, nolan and kappa)

with top of the range arai helmets now costing £600 plus and even a medium range helmet £400 is it any surprise?

don't know about you but I am a bit of a helmet snob, always had shoei's, but I have no idea when I'm going to be able to afford one, probably have to be a base model in plain colour!
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[Poseidon]

To be fair, I wear a shoei through choice. I tried just about every helmet on in HG last year with the view to spending anywhere between £100 and £500. Turns out the shoei qwest was the best fit, and at £260 is wasn't cheap, but it could've been worse.

I don't like arai helmets anyway. They don't fit my head and one of them had a sharp plastic bit where you put you head through at the front, it caught me right between the eyes when I tried to put the lid on and hurt like a bugger!

It's not as if arai have gone bust. There's plenty more planes/boats/lorrys/vans etc able to carry cargo accross our borders. I'm pretty certain supply will not cease. I am sad to hear of a british firm going under though.
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1977 Honda CG125
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[The Tot]

Local Hein Gericke isn't going to stock any more arais since who in the right mind is going to spend £740 on an RX-GP - £500 fair enough if it's in race rep colours!

With the demise of whites, I'd like to know where all that surplus stock of RX-GP's are going to because they were going for well below list price.

They're a good helmet, but I wouldn't buy another one at that price - I might get a Nolan X802 - what stoner, checa, melandri, and lorenzo wear. £420 for a very light, very comfortable race lid! I wouldn't argue
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The Tot 2019 Z1000SX - 2007 R1
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[Rogerborg]

I've never considered an Arai because of their mediocre SHARP scores, but it's sad to see any British business going under and people losing their jobs.

Someone else will pick up the business though, so silver linings and all that.
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[chris-red]

Most places I spoke too aren't selling the RX7GP anymore as the 2012 model are £789 rrp!

I paid £380 for mine about 4-5 years ago, that was £500 RRP, They have gone up in Price over 50% in 4-5 years! I love my Arai, it fits amazingly and is really comfortable although now I I will be looking elsewhere I can't afford £500+ for a lid let alone nearly £800! I'll give the shoeis ago I guess, I have a Hornet DS and that isn't a bad lid.
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[Irn-Bru]

Hope this means the spares will go cheap I broke the vent/spoiler bit on my Axces and they wanted something silly like £50 for a replacement.
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KTM 990 SMT & Suzuki DR-Z 400 SM

[Musketeer]

I bought my Arai Viper GT Banda Black size L on auction (brand new) for £190 when Midlands Superbikes gone bust. So in a way I benefited from Dealer's trouble.

RRP for it was £429 and I always wanted one. But over 400 quid was never in my price range.. I couldn't believe how lucky I got. I lived 15 miles from where the auction took place. I couldn't miss such an opportunity

Most of the people especially in current climate cannot afford Arai helmets, so low sales are not a surprise.
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Current Bike: Yamaha XSR900 Previous bikes: Honda CBR1000RR Fireblade, Kawasaki ZX-6R Ninja, Aprilia RS125 2-stroke

[Kickstart]

Hi

Not sure if they have gone bust as such. They seem to be a small part of a larger group which has decided to get out of the bike market. They seem to be talking about an orderly shut down to transfer business over to a new distributor.

That said, prices are a bit silly for an easily damaged consumable. Shoei prices don't seem to have gone up by anything like as much.

All the best

Keith
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