Helmet Recommendations

[matrixfan0831]

Hi Everyone,
I have a jacket, gloves, boots, but I still need to buy a helmet. I have a couple of sport bike friends who have Shoeis. I like the feel of them and that they are Snell approved, but I haven't tried much else. I'm looking for a full-face helmet any recommendations?

A big plus would be bluetooth capability.

[ken99287]

I have a Suomy Extreme Spec-1R racing helmet in "Gambler" paint. I love it! Its light, and fits my big, round head great.



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[adlowe]

LOVE my Shoei Qwest. Motorcyclegear,com has them on sale right now -- but I don't know if there are better prices out there. MultiTec seemed to fit about the same when I was trying them; best price I saw was at Dennis Kirk but I didn't put a lot of effort into shopping.

The MOST important thing is how the helmet fits your head. Try some on before you spend any money.

Shoei and Arai have been my brands for years. The biggest difference (besides fit) is that Shoeis tend to fog up a LOT more. There's a Pinlock visor available for the Qwest and it does help with the fogging quite a bit -- but throws in some visual distortion around the edges, reduces the light reaching your eyes (not enough in bright conditions and too much in dim) and throws some funny colors at you with Transition lenses in your eyeglasses. (In mine, anyway.) I've ditched mine in favor of Defog It. Works GREAT on the visor but not so much on the eyeglasses. (So far.)

[ken99287]

My fiancée wants a shoei qwest in "goddess" paint... that's like $500 or something when I checked last year! And she's only riding behind me... and only once! Seems like overkill. I keep suggesting others, but she insists it fits "just right". I suggest a plain qwest helmet and she still insists the "goddess" fits better (even after I explained its the same helmet with different decals)... there is no reasoning with a female, haha!

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[adlowe]

Originally Posted by ken99287

there is no reasoning with a female, haha!

Sure there is. Sometimes it can even be effective. More often than not, fustrating. The important lesson, one I am still struggling to learn better, is that emotion and logic are incompatible.

Originally Posted by ken99287

My fiancée wants a shoei qwest in "goddess" paint... that's like $500 or something when I checked last year!

$444 at Motorcyclegear.com or Competition Accessories.

You're in a tough spot. She may have latched onto the name more than the graphics. I'd hate to try to convince my wife that she is not a worthy goddess. So I'd spend the money.

[RichardL]

Originally Posted by matrixfan0831

Hi Everyone,
I have a jacket, gloves, boots, but I still need to buy a helmet. I have a couple of sport bike friends who have Shoeis. I like the feel of them and that they are Snell approved, but I haven't tried much else. I'm looking for a full-face helmet any recommendations?

A big plus would be bluetooth capability.

Don't worry about bluetooth. Find the helmet that fits properly then by a Cardo Scala rider Bluetooth comm set. They will fit virtually any helmet on the market. Nice thing about the Scala is you can easily change it to another helmet later.

[Ed-ramsay]

find one that fits in your price range. Some come with blue tooth communications built in or buy the unit and fit to helmet like RichardL said.
I have purchased the smh 10 for the blue tooth to phone gps and chatting with my passenger

Sena Bluetooth

Personally I love it. Works wonderful full stereo sound from iphone and crystal clear chat with passenger at highway speeds.
I am also going to upgrade my helmet in the spring and will just transfer to new helmet and keep this old helm for to and from work.

[RGWise]

I have a VEGA flat black to match the Phantom. Paid about $130. This one has a drop down sun visor built into it. LOVE that feature it has come in handy a number of times. I had what I think was a rock hit what would have been my checkbone a few weeks ago, I was kinda glad I have a full face helmet.

[Slowmo]

first measure your head so you know what size you should get, then go try on helmets. When I measure my head I"m at 58.5cm which puts me right between a M and a L. However, due to the internal shape of different helmets I had to go up to like an XL for a shoei to not give me headaches just trying them on. The guy at the shop finally say that I must have an "arai head" but he didn't carry them so I had to go find a place that carried them. If you have to go up to a larger size helmet than your head measures for then the helmet won't do it's job as well.

When I bought my helmet I wanted something that I could remove the comfort pads and put them in the laundry as it's awful hot here in TX and I didn't want my helmet smelling bad. Arai and Shoei were the only options that I could find with local vendors.

Also, what other people said about adding a bluetooth device to a helmet is right on. I picked up a U-Clear HBC200 and love it!

[ken99287]

Remember to look at date of manufacture inside the helmet. They are only said to be good for 5 years before the materials start to break down.

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