I'm in the market for a new lid and can't decide what to choose. I currently have a Shoei rf-1100 that's past it's prime(it's my second Shoei). Works pretty good but even after adjusting the base to get the faceshield to seal better, I still get dust in my eyes. What helmet do you love? Wind noise and helmet shape is not much of a concern for me... I wear ear plugs and have a pretty universal shaped head. I've talked to a lot of people that like the built in tinted visor/screen. And something under $500 would be good.
I wish I had more advice but my scorpion exo1000 had the internal dropdown sun visor and it gets dirty really quickly. If you ride with the main visor up and the small tinted one down then it creates a vortex of wind right in your eyes. It is an older helmet though so they may have addressed this issue with newer models
Arai helmets fit me best. I bought a Vector 2 on closeout from sportbiketrackgear.com last year for about $300. Fits perfectly...and I wear both glasses AND earplugs! :shock: I think the retail is closer to $500 for it, though. A friend has a Shoei RF1200 and that's pretty nice, too.
I really love my Shark Race R Pro Carbon. Very light Great ventilation Huge view area and a very thick super high quality face shield Works very well with glasses (or without) Comes with a rubber breath guard Gets a five star highest rating in the British SHARP system I've crash tested it as has a Visordown journalist Steve
I have a Shoei GT-Air and I love it. The internal visor is awesome, and aside from building up some sort of film when it was brand new (wiped right off with a microfiber cloth), it hasn't gotten dirty. I never ride with the main visor up and the sun visor down though. Airflow is decent, can feel a nice cool swath along the top of my head with the vents open. It doesn't fog up if you put the pinlock in either. Great helmet.
Your best bet is probably to find what brands / helmets fit your head and narrow it down from there... That being said, I've had 3 helmets in my short time riding. Nolan N-103, Scorpion exo-900, and Nolan N-104. Both brands are a decent fit for my dome, but the Scorpion had a cheaper feel to it. I've still got it, but never wear it. It's kind of an intangible thing... like if you're used to a Ford, and you get into a Merc... it's just got a more solid "feel". Anyway, here's my vote for the N-104. If you're looking for a modular helmet, (and don't want to spend $750 on a Shuberth), it's a damn good lid.
It's out of the norm for anything other than an adv or dualsport bike, but an Arai XD became my favorite due to the comfort, huge field of view and the bill has me spoiled. Yes it can catch the wind in a head-check, but you get used that. The fact I can simply tilt my head and block the sun has proven priceless. Like I said, it is out of the norm for a sport-bike, but I was so impressed with it after a multi-state trip on a dualsport, I started using it with the rest of my bikes too. The rest of my helmets collect dust nowadays. So if you ever see a dark grey sv650n or vf500f with a rider sporting a white XD, that would be 243Win out for a ride. Only downside to the helmet in general is noise. Ear plugs required, don't even bother with trying to listen to music with ear-buds.
I've had a few different brands of helmets, (shoei, Arai, HJC) ad have found that AGV works best for me. It's all preference though, try a bunch on and whatever feels is the winner.
Have owned the following: Shoei X11 (two of them) Shoei RF-1100 HJC CL-16 Scorpion EXO1000 Arai Vector 2 Caberg Ego Icon Alliance Icon Airmada I've had one or two others that I purchased but immediately returned due to poor fit. All the helmets listed have their good/bad points (I too found the RF1100 would allow bugs/dust to get in under the chin bar if I didn't install the chin curtain). I prefer the Icons because they're the best fitting helmets for me. The liners are comfortable and the visors for the most part stay fog free. I wear glasses and have found removing the breath guard helps keep my glasses from fogging up regardless of the brand/model helmet.
The one that fits great and no one can figure that out but yourself. For me it's been Shoe RF-1000. I've had 5-6 of 'em. Can wear one for days without ever thinking about it. I've crashed in all but the latest one and some of those have been rough ones, without ever suffering even the smallest an injury to my head, or getting a headache after breaking my own landing with my head from 60+ MPH. Then again I've worn helmets twice the price with nothing but stellar reputation that have given me a headache after an hour of riding.
I have to go with what fits my head so Shoei it is, I'd really like to go with others but they just don't fit well.
Have owned the following Vega (something) - Utter crap, but it was my first helmet. Scorpion Exo-1000 - Other than being a little heavy, it was a solid feeling helmet, but kinda sucked in terms of ventilation. Liner smelled like chocolate I was going to buy an Arai..then i found HJC actually started to make something really good. HJC RPS-10 (Loved the helmet, fairly quiet, came with pinlock and chin skirt, very light but solid feeling, great inner liner) Newest helmet: HJC FG-17: Everything good about the RPS-10 (plus a little more weight, quieter, better faceshield with indent for pinlock, and most importantly $180 new)
Just got a Shoei RF 1200. Very happy with it. The shield has a new feature where you can adjust how close/tight the shield will seal against the helmet. Chin curtain that comes with it is great. Had an arai before, this helmet has a lot less wind noise.
I've had a Scorpion EXO1000 it was ok, Arai Vector which I like a lot, Icon something or other which was meh, my two favorite helmets and best bang for your buck IMO are my HJC Ben Spies Replica RPHA 10 and my Bell Star Carbon, which is one of the best helmets I've ever put on my head.
I'm going to give this a try right now. Getting tired of flipping up and down or holding my breath at stops :roll:
As for comfort I really like my Arai. But as far as build quality my shoei qwest actually feels a bit sturdier. As far as little things like vents and visor mechanisms go