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Naked bike specific helmet reviews..

B

BigD

New member
Hi all..another thread started by me :) loving this, although apologies if already spoken about previously...in all honesty I was too lazy to search :spank:

Anyway..on with the thread...

I have been looking now at a selection of helmets of which don't want to twist my head of when left/right checking and also trying to suck my head off my shoulders when upright.

The choices thus far are below: oh and I don' want to, if poss spend an arm or leg on one really (not negating safety of course)

In no particular order..
1)Arai defiance
2)Arai Rebel
3)Shark Race-R Sauer
4)Arai Quantum and
5)Shoei RF1100/RF1200
6)Shoei GT Air

A) Shark Raw would look sick but i'm aware its useless for lower face mash protection...any others like this in other brands?

ok before its mentioned..obviously the best for me will be relative to my loaf shape, howver..looking for reviews on the above on the Fz8n where possible.

Thanks in advance
 
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I have the Shoei RF1100. It is the only helmet I have had for street but I think it does well. Seeming minimal wind noise and it doesn't seem like I have too much head bobble at high speeds or too much force on it when I change lanes. I am happy with it. Swapping out face shields is really easy and the liner is washable. Again, I can't compare it to any others. I initially got it because based on reviews I could find online it seemed to get the best overall reviews and I liked the fit best at the store. Good luck finding something
 
im happy with my arai quantum. its light doesn't want to pull my head off & is pretty quiet.
 
I just picked up a Icon Variant and it completely changed the style of my bike. I know this may sound wired but I get more positive attention than with my previous helmet which was a Speed and Strength style.

Of the ones you listed I like the Shoei RF1100 the best.
 
I have the rf 1100 as well..it is a solid helmet...but the rf 1200 has made all the improvements the rf 1100 needed..the outer shell is smaller so you don't get that head bobble..and the new gt air has a flip down dark visor that is pretty cool..but they are both pretty pricey.
 
Shark race r pro £550 lid just got one from helmetcity cheap! Very light and not much wind hits it worth a look.
 
Woody146 said:
I have the rf 1100 as well..it is a solid helmet...but the rf 1200 has made all the improvements the rf 1100 needed..the outer shell is smaller so you don't get that head bobble..and the new gt air has a flip down dark visor that is pretty cool..but they are both pretty pricey.
Click to expand...

I've got the GT Air and love it. Very little bobble at high speed. Excellent airflow, as the name implies.
Also, if you combine the flip down visor + decent sunglasses, you can stare at the sun all day long with no problems! (Makes riding in the AZ sun very easy.)

Head turn is only impeded by the addition of my Sena smh10; but you can easily overcome this. Love the lid!

Future consideration: The new Skully helmet...
 
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I know it's not on your list, but I LOVE my HJC IS-17 Rubbertone. It has a built in sun visor that you can retract when it's not sunny. Matches my 2013 FZ8 Gray on Black perfectly. Very comfortable, low wind noise, good venting, doesn't make me a bobble head when I look for traffic. Even my wife loves it... bought her one in white today.

At a price point of under $200 for a built in shade, it's a dang good deal.

pol_pl_KASK-HJC-IS-17-RUBBERTONE-BLACK--41338_1.png


On a side note, The Icon Dark Alliance looks slick against the Gray on Black FZ8. It just didn't fit my head well and I didn't like the lid lock (small metal ball that locked inside the plastic lid). But, when I wore it, it looked good and was pretty cheap, too.
 
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I have a Shoei RF1100 and I am very happy with it. Light, comfortable and quiet. Just a heads up, check Motorcycle Closeouts After doing a lot of research, that was the best price I found by far.
Good luck!
 
Arai has different naming and potentially different models between the US and the UK, so I'm afraid I can't comment on individual models.

I wear a US Arai Signet-Q, which is the elongated version of the RX-Q. Wonderfully comfortable, fairly quiet, and flows air very well. Highly recommended. It looks like the closest model to mine is the Quantum-ST.

Arai US
Arai UK
 
I've been told the Arai Defiant is specifically designed for naked bikes as well. I really wanted the Defiant, but my goofy head requires I wear the Signet-Q. Both are really nice helmets. The Signet is great.
 
I tired on a GT-Air and I really liked it. The only thing that bothered me is that it is only DOT rated, not SNELL or ECE rated. So if you are planning on goign to a track the GT-Air would not be a good choice.

No one seems to offer a SNELL certified helmet with an integral visor (I really like having this feature after buying my Scorpion EX0 500). It makes me think that there is a problem with passing SNELL with an integral visor. I wold be surprised if Shoei sacrificed any safety with the design of the GT-Air especially at that price point.
 
So I tried on the shark speed-r, arai rebel and shoei gt air. The AraI and shoei fit incredibly well, the sharks cheek pads were harder and werent as comfy. arai I'm told seem to be quite behind in the safety aspect and helmets in general. The gt air felt awesome and had a superb fit..The internal visor is a cool feature too. think I have decided...now for the colour choice.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
 
BigD said:
So I tried on the shark speed-r, arai rebel and shoei gt air. The AraI and shoei fit incredibly well, the sharks cheek pads were harder and werent as comfy. arai I'm told seem to be quite behind in the safety aspect and helmets in general. The gt air felt awesome and had a superb fit..The internal visor is a cool feature too. think I have decided...now for the colour choice.

Sent from my SM-N9005 using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

I'm slowly moving to a Black/Red color scheme (bike and gear).

So the color of the GT Air Journey was ideal.

Sorry in advance if this picture is huge...
2013-Shoei-GT-AIR-Journey-Helmet-TC-1.jpg
 
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