It is super boring tho and just simply a ‘pay more for your kit’ message. Why pay more? Alpinetsrars etc are made in Pakistan, as most brands are. You could say they have better standards, but do they? I bought M2M once, heavy as hell and would probably have failed these things too as they won’t have crash tested it! What a bunch of nonsense. Decent looking leather, well trimmed with 3 stitched at seams and Kevlar stretch panels is good with me and far better than your average Frank thomas set, double stitched at best and just stretchy material in those areas. I know, I paid £500 for a set and they split at first contact.
They simply fall apart ime. Side pods particularly. I’ve crashed in a £600 helmet and a £120. At 100mph or there abouts at fastest and 30 at slowest. An agv that lost its visor and a shot old special (acu gold rated btw - so as good as anything else) which survived with a scuff or two. I don’t advise anything: get what fits budget and head well. Just don’t expect a £600 plus lid to be a lot better (safer) than a similar EU/acu rated cheap one.
Some aspects good and some not so good. The bad things were, in the main: !) the arms were too lose were you zip up the cuffs, meaning they could ride up your arm in a crash exposing your forearm to the road. 2) the armour was either not approved at all, or approved to out-of-date standards. The back protector was not approved at all and failed their tests quite badly. 3) The lining was crap and they could rip it apart by hand. But, as stated above, they were boring and anyone would of known this (apart from me)enabling to rush straight out to buy better armour, but not sure what the advice here would be to solve the sleeves riding up in a crash, or the rubbishy lining.
Let's be fair, for a moment (and I hate to be fair!) but they did not specifically say, "buy Arai, in particular - I put on that interpretation. They did compare the Arai to a cheap, crap one that they got somewhere (eBay, Facehook, or somewhere) and the Arai came out well, while the cheap one came out badly - they cut them both in half with a disc saw. Also they did take care to say, not just Arai are good but the other main brands are as well. Also the important thing is fit. We (and they) know that some heads fit certain makes better. I think that the main thrust was buy from a good source (not Amazon) and make sure the helmet fits you well and does not distract you with headache. No make in particular got slated. The road tester made the point that it is important to be comfortable and not distracted by an uncomfortable helmet. They did very briefly mention dark visors but never said much. There is a mega-important point here, in that with my accident, that occurred either in the dark, or as it was getting dark, if I had my dark visor on - even if I had it flipped up - that would of been my claim down the toilet. What I have learnt, and bike journos not, is that illegal dark visors on the road can feck you up if you have a no fault accident, with the other side wriggling out of responsibilities. It hasn't been said outright to me yet, but I take it that if the other side had heard that I had on a dark visor (and it would of been in the Police report, if I had) then that would been an excuse (not that the other side need any excuse) to tell me to go feck myself, thereby losing me tens of thousands of pounds. This is a insurance company that have questioned if I was actually riding the bike, questioned my injuries (arguing that some would of come my way, anyway) whilst dismissing their driver's prosecution as irrelevant. Imagine that the police report had said that I was wearing an illegal visor? It would of been goodnight and goodbye.
Just to clarify on my earlier comment that good fit is so important, what is really important is having the helmet on properly fastened, not a loose chin strap, the 2 finger rule could see your helmet come off in the newly phrased unscheduled dismount . Ideally you want the step to be in contact with your chin skin. So you could be wearing the best safest most expensive helmet that will quickly fly off if the chin strap is not properly tightened.
Michel you are so right about choosing a helmet that fits properly and then making sure that the chin strap is fastened properly before every ride. As individuals we all have our favourite manufacturers.
As a trainees CBT instructor part of the course is to discuss the pros and cons of the 3 common different types of helmets purchased, where to purchase them from and that they need to be UK legal. We recently had a chap turn up with a lovely new skidoo helmet purchased off the net, looked lovely but not for motorcycle use. As I mentioned the fit and fastening is critical. I don’t mean to drone on, but it is apparent that few who attend CBT have any clue about helmets, and half the scooter boys in my area ride with the helmet half off their head with a phone stuffed in next to their ears. I appreciate that we should be in a position to know better, but I never assume now!
