Seeking helmet opinions

Weird. Arai does not make a helmet that fits my head. They fit completely different from Shoei and AGV. Arai and Shark fit the same to me.

 

It's even better with family and friends pricing!

Scooped up a Basalt Grey RF1400 and dark shield today

Thought the color was a matte based off the online pics but upon seeing it in person inspection it's definitely a gloss

 

Reviving this not-so-old thread, shoei says 5 years of use but no more than 7 years from manufacturing date. So in theory you could get all of the 5 year lifespan from a 2 year old new helmet .

Having said that, I just ordered the brand new , fim homologated, ece 22-06 Nolan X804 RS. All it could be is a couple of months old

 

Also for anyone curious; Shoei will inspect your helmet free of charge. Just pay shipping there and they'll have a look then ship it back to you on their dime.
Included in my last report was just a letter with a basic explanation of the components and the functions of the materials in the helmet. I was hoping maybe some specialized equipment was used, but I don't think there was. I guess for the price of free, that's what you get.

 

My 804RS has a build date of October 2023, so yeah, minty fresh !!

 

Damn the age. If I could find another liner I'd keep wearing my Kiyonari I don't care how old it is.

 

I'm shopping.

Narrowed it down to the

Bell race

RPHA 12 (no Snell wtf?)

LS2 (is it Chinese junk?)

Arai Signet (I'm told this might actually fit my head)

AGV K6

Who has what? I like the Bell, never owned one.

 

I really like the new Arai Contour-X, though the color choices leave a lot to be desired. It fit my head well. The Corsair and other older models didn't. I neglected to try on a Regent-X

 

For the US market, HJC and others, are only paying for necessary minimum certification stuff for cost savings. And doing similar in each of their target markets.
One of my RPHA-12 was from Europe and it shows ECE 22.06 but not DOT.

 

Arai Signet is for long oval-shaped heads. That's me. I've been very pleased with the HJC RPHA 11 Pro, even though it is more for an intermediate oval head. The HJC IN (FIM approved) is slightly rounder than the RPHA. I can't wear a Shoei or an AGV; too round. Revzilla lists helmets by head shape.

 

From what all I have read, the ECE 22-06 and FIM are good certifications. They take into account more recent research on brain injuries. From a likelihood standpoint, a helmet needs to balance lower speed impacts and rotational elements with the higher energy impacts better than past designs.

 

On the Bell fit chart Im between a med & large... I always pick medium. Then I tried on a new large in the same model and the fit was notably looser.

 

Same shape as my head. You'll like the Contour-X fit then also, likely.

 

I wear Arai because the long oval and +2-5mm cheek pads (depending on the model) fit me perfect. Bruce P made sure I was fitted properly and told me exactly what to look for even if I wasn’t wearing an arai. Dude was such a wealth of knowledge.

 

Yep. Good thing is their too price tier helmets don’t fit me so it saves me from myself and over spending

 

Quantum-F was still best fit for me out of the box. Have 6 of them on the wall retired.

 

And still is a wealth of information but now he's probably fishing with #34 somewhere and having a shit load of fun. Miss the guy!

 

Dudes hands are calibrated to measure your head.

 

Have you tried all the arai shapes? Their top models never seem to come in long oval so never fit me.

 

I concur with you. I raced with Arai helmets for years, but when I upgraded after taking some time off of riding, and bought an early Corsair and XD, I was like what the heck has Arai done to my helmets?