Thanks for that - actually the R-PHA 11 had gone onto my shortlist. SBS also do it with a free race visor - so it's a lot of lid for c£330. Was disappointed that it had a 3-star SHARP rating though.
Very happy with my the quality and longevity of my HJC. Around 3 years old now and seen a lot of use. Shoei no longer seems to fit ‘just right’. The only helmet that I have had issue(s) with was a Shark. Never again. The anti fog popped out and would not go back in, just before a high alpine pass with snow falling at the highest point..nasty! The ratchet type catch failed to engage one day, luckily it was not crash tested. Final straw was the whole shell moving separately to the main lining. Utter shite tbh and it went in the bin. It was not safe enough to give away.
I had the HJC RPHA 11 - great helmet, excellent value and really light compared to the Arai, Also had a central catch mechanism for the visor, which I prefer. I should have got the next size up as the reviews said the sizing was a bit small for the RPHA 11 - which it was. Changed the internals for the next size up which helped. Interesting what you say about the Shark. I had the Race R Pro ( in my avatar) and it was really noisy even at slow speeds. Tested it to destruction ! The Race R Pro Carbon was quieter but still noisy. I would not buy another one, which is a shame as they have some nice designs. After all the lids I have had I still rate the AGV K6 right up there with the best of them.
I’ve gone from a cheap but really quite good and safe HJC to a Top end Shoei X-Spirit 3 and while the new lid is light and comfortable with all the safety kit EQRS etc The HJC was tremendous for the money!
And they do have some nice designs - this is mine when I changed the lining from XL to XXL (big head ) I got pictures of all my lids !! some after being tested to destruction ! A bit of a revelation this HJC after years with Arai.
Picked it up this morning, rode the bike to London and back. I've got to say how unimpressed I am with this helmet, lightweight yes, good looking yes, fits well, yes, but that's where it ends. Riding with the visor up results in a mind blowing howl, this disappears if you drop the visor down a notch but then you are looking through the moulded edge of the visor, really poor visually, so the choice is the noise or poor vision, not good. With the visor down at motorway speeds it's much noisier than any of my other helmets, not great. The button to release the visor is too small with winter gloves on, another problem is with the visor up you have the black catch in your eyeline, this sends you boss eyed after a while. The D rings seem to be high in the helmet padding making it difficult to do up, the popper to pick up the end of the strap is worse, very difficult to find. My existing helmet has none of these issues, I can ride at motorway speeds with the visor up, it has the internal sun visor which I missed straight away with this new model. No moulded edge to the visor is a big plus. Not happy, it's going back on Monday, apart from the weight there's no improvement on the last model. That's a real shame.
Agreed it is not good for visor up riding - but put a tinted (smoke) visor on it. That stops it from becoming a greenhouse in there and then you don't need to ride with it open at motorway speeds. Not sure I want to ride with the visor up at motorway speeds - I got hit in the face with a bee once ! Anyway, personally, no deal breakers for me at all with the K6. So what are you going to try next then ?
With the internal sun visor you can ride with the main visor up, useful in the summer, also filtering in London needs a really clear view, always visor up. I too have had the bee sting, only once in fifty years is pretty good. If you get on with this helmet I'm pleased for you, I saw no real improvement over the K5 and too many annoying bits I can live without. I'm not sure I really noticed the weight difference, it certainly isn't enough to win me over. I don't think I will look much further, quite happy with my K5, maybe more so after yesterday, thanks for the input.
After a dozen or so RX7s I switched a few years ago to race r pro carbon and have to say it’s spot on ! So much so I bought 2 and 3 of my lads use them too! I don’t find them noisy on track or road but then noise has never really bothered me!
I went from an rx7 to a xlite and had no issues with it, nice n light, not any nosier than the arai but I do wear ear plugs, finish is good even after 15k or so miles.ventilation is good,Would happily get another
Apparently we are waiting for the rep to see if the helmet is good enough for them to take back and refund me. I thought I had 14 days to return a product, am I right?
At last, apparently I'm getting a refund, all on the say so of a rep, who couldn't see any defects with the hemet. Take it down the road at 42 mph and all will become apparent. I think I'll forget about a new helmet for now.
