berniebee Posted December 18, 2011 Share Posted December 18, 2011 Recommendations on which helmet to get? I'm looking to spend $200-$300 on a full face style. Since I am on old fart , hold the comic book/superhero/deathwish graphics. A plain ole red or black or grey bucket, thanks very much. With a sprinkling of snow on the ground and it being -9C, the bike season is well and truly done around here. so i'm hoping to score a winter deal on a helmet. When I last biked, the big manufacturers (that I recall) were Bell, Shoei, and Arai.. AGC and Nolan were around too. My local dealer stocks stuff like Zox, HJC, as well the above brands and other brands that I don't recall just now. They are a fairly large dealer. (About 300 bikes in stock.) So any brands that are good quality, but perhaps are new to the marketplace and trying to undercut the competion? Are the Chinese finally making good quality helmets too? Any feedback at all appreciated... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted December 18, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 18, 2011 Fit is the number one priority followed by the safety standard (ACU Gold in the UK), then what it is manufactured from, lastly chin strap fitting for me. I like AGV because they fit my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted December 18, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 18, 2011 you need to try them on like dirty says and especially whilst riding the bike as they can be noisy and fatigue/noise ruins a bike ride. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
berniebee Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 Thanks for the replies. I mistyped AGC, i meant AGV of course. I"m certainly going to try the helmet on for fit, though I don't know if the dealer would let me ride off on a "test ride" with a helmet! I remember one of my old helmets being a little loose- it would go into a wobble at about 110Kmh unless i positioned my head at a certain tilt forwards. With my '82 GS1100E, it wobbled a lot.. There just seem to be so many brands of helmets these days, I'm at a loss as to where to start! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Noise Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 Hey berniebee, if you are worried about the name thats on the lid then i would stick with the names you know (thats what i would do) but i would go with what DirtyDT said, go and do what women do with shoes.......drag your missus out and go to 4 different helmet shops and try on LOADS of different helmets......once you been to all four DIFFERENT shops go back to the first one and buy one from there! Pay back AND you get a nice day out and you get to perv at some bikes on the way! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
up.yours Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 arai are shit, they failed our goverment test. so on that bombshell, buy a shark , any shark they all faired well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator Airhead Posted December 19, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 19, 2011 mines a shark, but its noisy at speed; so i just ride slowly to compensate seriously though you can always wear earplugs Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizmo666 Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 i've used a whole lotta helmets over the years i got an open face now(davida) excellent caberg v2r is a very good helmet with little noise and excellent stability at speed agv helmets crap i had 3 types and never liked any fm helmets were not too bad but if i go for a full face helmet again i dont think i'll look further than caberg again best helmet for £100 i've ever had best quality too Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
up.yours Posted December 20, 2011 Share Posted December 20, 2011 mines a shark, but its noisy at speed; so i just ride slowly to compensate seriously though you can always wear earplugs mines the shark rsr2 , and it's the quietest helmet iv,e worn.and the visor don't mist up,even on a winters morning. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator drewpy Posted December 20, 2011 Moderator Share Posted December 20, 2011 I had a 1980's NOS Bell , it was the best helmet I ever had. I also once had an Alien helmet I bought off M&P that wasn't too bad either Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dogwafter Posted December 31, 2011 Share Posted December 31, 2011 I recently got a shark (for Christmas) and it seems to be good quality its an s700 and has a 4/5 rating on SHARP testing LINKY and is comfy too but in reality you will go to the shop and find some brands may not fit right or be comfy and you will come away with something totally different to what you visioned. The best thing to do is go in the shop and test them out, see if stays comfortable during movement and fits nicely but make sure it has a good SHARP rating. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nightwind15 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I would wear nothing but an Arai. The shape of my head is simply made for the Arai fit. I raced for 14 years with no issues in protection when it was called upon to protect my head. The fit, finish and quality are wonderful. Their graphics have fallen off the past few years and I refuse to wear someone else's name on my gear. I am no hero worshiper and do not like to pay to advertise someone else. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spezza Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 Yea - same here - got back in the saddle in October after many years! Had to get the full kit; helmet, jacket, trousers, boots, gloves - but helmet was no1 priority and tried on loads before choosing. I got an HJC for £80 in the end as it was end of line and normally went for twice that. I would say spend as much as you can on a skid-lid! I dont like some of the new fiddly chin strap catches and happy with the good old strap that double backs through the two metal loops. It means I only have to loosen to take off lid and comes with a handy tag to tug on to make loosening easy. Tighening is just a quick tug - ooeer. The model I got cam with a handy built in titnted visor that slides down usng a slidy clippy thing on the top back of helmet. My only reservation is this might comprimise rigidity of the helmet. cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
up.yours Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 your hjc sounds very much like joshua2's he paid something like £210, then saw the same helmet at the rocket centre, at an end of line bargain price of £95 , now then , back to arai , let me spell it out for you , t,h,e,y, a,r,e s,h,i,t,e. that said , some people can only wear arai because of there wierd shaped heads, this is just unfortunate, i would recomend to those with funny odd shaped heads to also wear a woolly hat under there helmet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan09 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 How can you say arai are shite? Im pretty sure all these racers from moto gp, wsb, bsb wouldnt wear them if they were crap... Bit of a weird thing to say imo, im guessing you've had a bad experience with one? lol I found arai's quite comfy but prefer a nice shoei mainly down to the prices. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted January 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted January 9, 2012 ....................................some people can only wear arai because of there wierd shaped heads, this is just unfortunate, i would recomend to those with funny odd shaped heads to also wear a woolly hat under there helmet. I had an Arai once Kev. It fitted me perfectly!! How can you say arai are shite? Im pretty sure all these racers from moto gp, wsb, bsb wouldnt wear them if they were crap... They get paid to wear them. Give me £500,000 a year and I would ride around with a kids potty on my head. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan09 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I know they get paid by sponsers etc but at the end of the day im pretty sure they value their lives and if it wasnt safe or there was a safer brand they would use them. Also if they were no good why would they be so popular and such a big brand world wide? At the end of the day if it has the gold acu sticker on then it has passed all the compulsary tests they have to go through, iv read about a £100 helmet out doing a £300 helmet on the tests so price isnt always the reason to think one helmet is better than another. Just saying. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
up.yours Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 what are you doing with a photo of my wife in your wallet ,newman. like dirty say's ryan, they get paid to wear them . the reason that i slate them ,is because i read an artical where they failed drastically in the new sharp tests. they are also over priced and over rated. if i pitted my shark rsr2 against most ( not all) of arai , it would come out on top. infact it has. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ryan09 Posted January 9, 2012 Share Posted January 9, 2012 I think we posted at the same time there.lol I dont have an arai but used one on a track day and thought it was a decent helmet. Comfortable, light and pretty much silent, had no wind noise at all. At the moment i have a Uvex as it fitted nice, i liked the buckle system on it and was a decent price. Each for their own i guess but i wouldnt not buy an Arai. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moderator DirtyDT Posted January 9, 2012 Moderator Share Posted January 9, 2012 Arai are a good brand and ACU gold which is what I always look for. I just do prefer AGV's for my bulbous elongated browed head.. There are lots of brands I haven't tried, Nolan and Shark to mention a couple. As we all say, Each to their own. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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