Tag: helmet (Page 1 of 2)

Shark Ridill 1.2 Full Face Helmet Review | WebBikeWorld

August 1, 2023 / Brandon Jackson

For those of you who are long-time readers of WebBikeWorld, you may have noticed I have been absent for a while. Over the past year I have retired, sold our home in Tennessee, and moved to Valencia, Spain. For most of 2022 I didn’t even have a motorcycle to ride, so that precluded reviewing things motorcycle related.

Now that I’ve gotten settled here, I have started taking the steps to getting back to riding and since I sold almost all of my gear, I of course needed to make some purchases which included a helmet. I wanted to purchase a new lid from a “known quantity” and not spend too much money at this point, so when I arrived at the nearby moto shop, I naturally gravitated to one of my favorite helmet brands, Shark.

I want to point out that Shark helmets are now distributed in the United States by Troy Lee Designs, and you can find info on Shark helmets for the USA market at Troy Lee Designs. For Europe and other markets, you can head to Shark Helmets.

Read the full review over at webbikeworld.

Scorpion EXO-R1 Air Review for webBikeWorld

November 29, 2020 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

Introduction

I still think of Scorpion helmets as a “new” manufacturer but as I did my research for this review I realized they have been around for quite a while now. In fact, it has been about 16 years since we reviewed their EXO 700 helmet (Dec, 2016) and we came away impressed.

Back before I’d started looking at webbikeworld.com reviews (or even heard of them) I had purchased an EXO 400 in 2007. This was after handing the helmet in person and weighing the comfort, feel, and price. I wasn’t sure how long Scorpion would be around but it seemed worth it at the time.

I’ve owned and reviewed a lot of helmets since then and there have been other Scorpion helmets along the way. My current daily rider is an EXO ST1400 which I reviewed about 18 months ago so in a way I’ve come full circle over the past dozen years.

The EXO R1 Air Helmet

The R1 Air is Scorpion’s top-of-the-line Sport / Track helmet. While sitting at the same price point as its sport-touring sibling, the ST1400, there are several features that separate these two helmets. However, there is enough overlap that either could serve a wide variety of riders.

The EXO-R1 Air is available in four different graphics plus solid “colors”. I put quotes around colors as the solids are only available in black gloss, black matte, and pearl white so we’re playing it a bit fast & loose with the term “colors”.

The Corpus graphic is available in three colors with black, blue\white, and neon red rounding out the choices while the Blackletter graphic (reviewed here) is a white/black/gold affair. There are also two “replica” styled helmets which resemble riders Alvaro Bautista (WSBK) and Fabio Quartararo (MotoGP) helmets which are provided by Scorpion. The former in white/yellow livery while the latter being a black/gray/red graphic.

Pricing moves up from the solid colors at $399.95 to the Corpus and Blackletter models adding a thirty dollar premium at $429.95. The replica helmets command $459.95 for closely resembling the look of their namesake’s actual racing helmets.

Note: Prices are in USD.

Feature Set

Before we dig into the details, here’s a listing of the notable features of the EXO-R1 Air:

Composite Multi-layer shell
Includes two Pinlock Max-Vision ready face shields (Clear and Smoke)
Includes one clear Pinlock Max-Vision insert
AirFit cheekpad inflation system
Emergency cheekpad release pulls
Integrated cheek pads and neck roll for easy removal and installation
5 Year warranty

Check out the full review and more photos over at www.webbikeworld.com

Arai Defiant-X Helmet Review

June 2, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

I have the new Defiant-X helmet from Arai in the house for evaluation and this one is quite the roller coaster ride. There are ups and downs across the board here which isn’t what I expected from a premium helmet maker like Arai.

Make no mistake the paint, graphics, and finish are superb and this Snell rated helmet is certainly tough and protective but close inspection reveals some minor issues. These would be more easily overlooked on a helmet at half the price, but at over $800.00 (USD) in this particular graphic version, I find these disappointing.

Hit the link here for the full review with all the details and photos.

The Scorpion EXO ST1400 Review

April 30, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

Scorpion’s latest entry in the full face sport touring helmet space is a carbon fiber, feature-filled orb of protective goodness. This lightweight lid has every option I can think of that would be useful for sport touring riders and does this in a stylish and sporty looking fashion. All of the features do of course add a cost in weight so while the ST1400 is relatively light, it is not quite the lightest in class.

This helmet has a lot to offer with only some minor areas that I feel could be improved / changed. One being the optical quality of the visors. Both visors are OK with the main visor being a bit better than the drop down sun visor but I would like to see less distortion here. Also I would like see some other color/graphic options other than the mostly black options available now.

Check out the full review over at WebBikeWorld.com for all the details and photos of the Scorpion EXO ST1400.

AGV K5S Helmet Review

February 17, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

I have handled a good variety of motorcycle helmets since I started riding in the early ’90s. I’m therefore a bit surprised to realize I’d never owned or tested a helmet from AGV. As part of my review process, I always read up on the manufacturer, even if I’m pretty familiar with them, in case there is some interesting fact I can bring to light.

Checking out the story behind AGV had me realizing how little I actually knew about this company. For instance, AGV founded in 1947 and the company made some very notable contributions to the motorcycle helmet world. They were the first put into production the fiberglass shell crash helmet in 1954 and they were the manufacturer of the first full face helmet worn at the Italian Grand Prix in 1969.

The K5 S represents the top end of AGV’s sport/sport-touring helmets with a moderately aggressive shape. The curves downward providing extra coverage up front. This particular example is mostly black with slim, angular graphics that make up the “Magnitude” colorway.

Being designed for sport touring, the K5 S has an internal drop down sun visor and the main visor is “pinned” for pinlock inserts. A clear Pinlock 70 insert is included so one can jump right into the fog-free goodness right out of the box.

Head over to webBikeworld.com for the complete review.

The Shark Spartan Helmet – wBW Review

January 14, 2019 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

I really like Shark helmets.
There, I said it. I want to make it clear that I might have some bias towards these lids and I feel that bias is well earned. Shark may not be the most well recognized helmet manufacturer (in the USA, anyway) but they have been around a long time and their products compete well against their peers.

Recently I had the chance to review the Shark “Spartan” helmet for webBikeWorld.com and I leaped at the opportunity to handle a new bucket from Shark. The Spartan is their top helmet for sport touring, touring, and commuting use with a design geared towards upright and mild forward leaning riding positions.

Using a fiberglass shell, the Spartan offers lightweight while including comfort features like a drop down sun visor and a very comfy interior. This is all contained within a shell that shows the excellent paint and clearcoat finish that one should expect at the price point.

Head over to webBikeWorld.com to read the full review.

Dealing with Helmet Hot Spots

September 11, 2018 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

ADVRider.com member S21FOLGORE recently posted up a very informative thread on the popular adventure riding discussion board site detailing ways to deal with helmet “Hot Spots”. His post includes very detailed instructions on how to measure one’s head to determine the shape in a more specific way than simply round, oval, intermediate oval, etc.

He also details the issues with hot spots and demonstrates ways to address them. I am fortunate that my head shape fits in the general mold for most motorcycle helmet brands so I personally have not been affected by these issues. For those of you that do find most helmets uncomfortable to wear for more than 45 minutes or so I highly recommend reviewing the thread.

Even if you don’t have issues it is still an interesting read and the illustrations by the author are quite good. Who knows, perhaps you’ll find that your heads shape is different than you thought and you could end up making your current lid that much more comfy.

Scorpion EXO R420 Helmet | wBW

July 28, 2018 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

Scorpion continues to improve their class-leading 400 series helmets with EXO R420 and webBikeWorld recently sent me one for review. The R420 is more than just some new graphics and colors but instead is a rethinking of the 400 series from the inside and out. The internal shape has been changed as well as the lines of the exterior shell.

Solid construction combined with a Snell rating means one is getting good protection for around $150.00 (USD) and it looks good doing it. The EXO-R420 has a lot to live up to with the EXO-400 series helmets offering very good value as well as fit and finish that bests many helmets costing significantly more. My initial impression when handling and examining the helmet out of the box is that the EXO-R420 might very well be a worthy successor.

Click here for the complete review over at webBikeWorld.com.

HJC RPHA70 ST Review | WBW

January 14, 2018 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

If there were an official “household” name in motorcycle helmets, HJC would/could likely be that name, especially here in the in the United States. According to HJC, they have been the number one selling motorcycle helmet brand in the States since 1992 and has achieved this by offering a balance of good quality and reasonable price. As such, HJC has not been the most expensive or inexpensive choice around and has excelled at dominating the mid-range market.

My first motorcycle helmet was an HJC full-face model in 1993. I don’t recall much about it except it was black, full-face, and it did the job. I believe it was right around the $100.00 mark which fit well in my meager budget at the time. Since that first helmet I’ve had some other helmets from HJC but haven’t owned one in the past few years. When HJC provided a RPHA 70 ST for review, I jumped at the chance to check it out and see their latest and greatest.

Click here to see the complete review over at webBikeWorld.com.

EZGO Helmet Carry Strap Review

December 19, 2017 / Brandon Jackson / 0 Comments

I have to admit when I first received the EZGO helmet carrying strap for review I thought, “Who is asking the question that this device is answering?”. A carrying strap that connects to your micrometric buckle (if so equipped) on your helmet? Seemed like it would be awkward in theory, but what about in practice?

After procuring a helmet with one of these Euro style buckles I spent some time testing out the EZGO. The results were much better than I had expected. Is it perfect? I wouldn’t go that far, but it is more useful than I thought it would be. Of course there are some caveats as well.

Check out the full review and more photos over at webBikeWorld.com for all the details.