Helmet Choice

[OB1]

OB1, the helmet for you is the one that fits best and comes out tops on comfort. Full face, adventure style or flip is secondary when compared to fit and comfort.

I agree with you 100% Alun - the thing is comfort trying it on in a shop is totally different from comfort out on the road after 300 miles! :huh: Getting other people's opinions is the only way to at least get a bearing on which helmets are better at what: until I began this thread, I had no idea that the peak on a dual sport helmet may cause problems if the wind catches it.

As I have said before, I'll keep the Arai Chaser for normal riding and get something like the AGV AX-8 DS for the big tour.

[desertraider]

tryed loads of helmets on for shape and size and found the shoei helmets the best fit for my head , and last year i got a shoei hornet ds and used it for a 2 week tour of europe and it worked great in all weathers , i like the pin lock insert for the visor as you can get a tinted one for it .

[scouse]

I agree with Alun.

I have tried for years now to find one that is a better fit and more comfortable than a TourX... spent an entire day at the NEC in 2009 trying on all sorts of lids... and came home with another TourX.

All the flip fronts that didn't feel too loose or squash my forehead, rubbed against my nose; no comfort, no sale!

[GIDEON]

Saved and got myself the Airoh S4 Its awesome,
Yes there is windnoise but opening the lip just a bit take it away.

[davsato]

I will NEVER wear a flip front helmet hmy: - may sound OTT but, as far as I'm concerned, they are more dangerous than an open faced lid!

cant see how? but each to their own.....

i wear a shark evoline, can be ridden at speed with the chinbar up which is fantastic when its hot, cant do that with most other flip ups. i cant wear moto-x or so called 'adventure' helmets anyway, they are all way too narrow for my cannonball head and bull neck.
dont fall into the trap of some twat telling you if you have an adventure bike you must also dress the part, sports bike/buzz lightyear, tourer/textile suit+flip up etc, wear what is good for you not what someone else thinks you should have. magazines are all good at telling us what we should be buying.......

[OB1]

I will NEVER wear a flip front helmet hmy: - may sound OTT but, as far as I'm concerned, they are more dangerous than an open faced lid!

cant see how? but each to their own...

When you ride with an open face lid, you ride accordingly and generally on lower powered machines (classics, customs, etc.) In the case of flip-front helmets, you will ride as if you are wearing a full-faced helmet, therefore the impact speed would be greater.

This is just how I feel and how I know I ride wearing my open face: I don't have a flip-front, but I know that if I did, it would feel like a full-face and I would ride accordingly.

It is known as risk compensation.

[Lee]

At risk of reopening the debate, I've just come back from our local Honda dealer where I tried on everything in a medium that had a flip-front:

Caberg – felt a bit flimsy when I picked it up. The dark drop-down visor was a bit loose and didn't feel as secure as I'd like and it generally felt like a budget bit of kit. That said it was only £99 in the sale so I guess it is a budget bit of kit.

Vemar – liked the fit but it had a bluetooth comms kit installed which is no use to me as I'd have to rip it out to put in my radio kit. That said it did highlight the lack of space in front of my mouth as it felt like I was chewing the boom mic when I shut the flip-front.

Nolan N103 – fit was very good and of the lids I tried on it felt the best made. Flip-front seemed well thought out and very secure (if a little fiddly to shut, but that could have been down to me fumbling). Wasn't keen on the drop-down tinted visor as it all felt a bit mechanical and I wonder how long it'll work smoothly for.

Shoei Multitec – this was the bit surprise, given I arrived at the shop wearing a shoei hornet. Fit was terrible with a pressure point on the forehead and a loose feeling around the ear pockets even though the cheek pads were putting the right amount of pressure on my face. Just goes to show that even same-brand lids have a different fit (got to try them on really)

needless to say at the moment the Nolan has top scores, but I'm still not sure about getting one. I need to try the Schuberth as that was the one that got my attention when I started looking. I think Hein Gericke stock them so I guess a road trip is on the cards to their local store.

The biggest overriding issue for me though was the claustrophobic feel that came from the chin and visor being (or at least feeling) so close to my face, I guess not helped by a visor opening that seemed much smaller than I'm used to.

As an exercise, it's served to remind me just how good (for me that is) the Hornet really is. As a way of getting a free coffee on the pretense of buying a lid it was a complete failure :whistle:

[the enthusiast]

Hi there

Hein Gericke do stock the schuberths but not all the stores carry them so worth a phone call first.

In relation to safety. whether you go onto the tarmac at 30 or 60mph wont make any difference if you or your head gets stopped suddenly by impact at either speed you will not survive. neck will snap and or your organs will rupture against your ribcage, torn aorta etc. slide to a stop and you are wearing the right gear and( providing nothing then hits you) you can suffer surprisingly little injury , just look at racers. Helmets tend to get scuffed as they bounce and rattle along the tarmac and most will do their job well if they are maintained and secure . I have attended the scene , unfortunately, of many road traffic collisions , including many motorcycle collisions. I only recall a couple where helmets were queried in fatal collisions. Two where the helmets had come off during collision. It was established they both were in poor condition and probably poorly fitting/ secured. The collisions were on urban roads and the riders died from multiple injuries. Another was a pedestrian knocked over by a motorcyclist with such a scratched visor you could hardly see through it at all. In all other collisions, in my experience alone, others may know different, helmets did their job even if other injuries proved fatal . On a more positive note most recover from their injuries and when I have gone to see them afterwards praise their helmets showing the scuffs and chips and swearing its saved them . I have never seen one that has lost its integrity and failed, flip front or otherwise. I have heard horror stories of people having gone down face first in open face helmets but have no actual knowledge of this happening.

Says much for the good standard of protection most helmets give today. The newer the better really.



Cheers

[nevsey]

GIVI-XPlus-White_390_1AZNC.jpg (26.86 KiB) Viewed 2421 times

Has anyone got or tried one of these, the Givi X-plus, any experiences ?

[OB1]

GIVI-XPlus-White_390_1AZNC.jpg

Looks more like GIMPI than GIVI :blink: :woohoo: