Looking for new helmut

johninfrance · 12-06-2004, 02:02 AM

I'm looking for a new helmut where fit and lack of sound would be top priorities.

Does anbody have the BMW Sportintegral helmut? How is it?

Any comments or suggestions about other helmuts would be welcome.

Skippy · 12-06-2004, 04:25 AM

Shuberth new S1 should be great and I know a guy who has the sport intergral(the carbon fiber one) and he's realy pleased with it.The sport intergral and s1 are both one of the quietest helmets on the market and came of realy well in a recent test of the german adac.

Steve Carlton · 12-06-2004, 06:20 AM

I was curious about the S1 after I saw it at SJBMW. I thought it was big, and it had a big flexible lip at the bottom that you'd pop your head through to form a seal under your jaw. But it also listed for about $700.

Then I did a google search and found this bad review:

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/motorcycle-helmet/schuberth-helmet/

I don't know if they're biased or not, but it seems credible...

johninfrance- Shoeis are known for being quiet. I'm not up to speed on their models, maybe the X11?

You could contact Kyle at www.helmetcity.com and ask him. They also sell at good discounts, maybe even a good deal for someone in France...

bradzdotcom · bradzdotcom's Garage

different shaped heads fit different brand helmets. You can have a "shoei head" or an "arai head" and so forth. best way to figure it out is to try on different brands and see which one works best for your head.
and don't believe the sizes. they lie.
as far as noise, i've found the shoei helmets to be pretty quiet.
there are a lot of ways to quiet down an existing helmet: closing the exhaust vents will stop those annoying whistling noises and installing a Windjammer also makes a big difference.
I've talked to people who have worn the S1. it's most definitely NOT quiet, absolutely not light and certainly not priced low enough to justify buying.
...brad
ps: you ARE wearing earplugs, right?

johninfrance · 12-06-2004, 07:37 AM

I'm pretty much obliged to wear ear plugs, as anytime I get over about 120km/hour (less than the speed limit), the air movement inside the helmut actually makes me lose my balance ! Earplugs help alot with that.

My concern is that something that feels great in the shop - as the BMW SportIntegral (or others) could turn nasty on me when riding...

Steve Carlton · 12-06-2004, 08:25 AM

johninfrance - maybe this will help...

http://www.exackley.com/movies/misc/arai.wmv

bradzdotcom · bradzdotcom's Garage

john~
that bouncing left to right pressure inside the helmet can sometimes be stopped.
first thing to try: tip your head way forward to way back at speed and see if you can make it go away. verify that there is "hope".
(it usually goes away when you tuck your chin in, head down).

try one of those small chin bras (or duct tape) under the bottom front of the helmet. if that doesn't work, you could try one of those windjammer thingies, which puts a collar around the entire bottom of the helmet.
the idea is to break up that pressure that builds under the helmet, and scoot it along towards the rear. sometimes that pressure gets out of balance...left to right....and that's when spooky things happen.

i've had that same problem from time to time. my ear/nose/throat doc says it's an inner ear thing. he says it's probably caused by the quickly changing, different pressures hitting both ears at the same time. my ear on each side is reporting different things, but my brain is going "WTF?" and it makes me momentarily dizzy because my brain can't figure out what "level" should be.

definitely not fun when it happens, which is usually at speed. just another part of the damaging results of being around non-muffled motorcycles for so long. my ears are toast.

...brad

bingo · 12-06-2004, 11:49 AM

I have the Shoei X-11 and to date is the best helmet I've ever owned and it comes with accessories like the chin bra. Excellent ventilation and pretty quiet...but I wear ear plugs also. Like Brad said though, you have to have the right head for it. I thing everyone would agree that you get what you pay for. Spend the money and they are all probably very good. I hate buying helmets...good luck!

wolff · 12-06-2004, 12:42 PM

Well if France is anything like Germany then you should be able to take a demo ride with the sport intergral at any BMW dealer. As for the S1, it's too heavy and too $$$. Have you tried a Shark S800?

johninfrance · 12-06-2004, 12:56 PM

... and I was thinking that listening to too much rock music for oh so many years was the cause of it all...

I'm getting my 1100S out of the 1000km check-up tomorrow, I'll ask to take a ride with the SportIntegral, and do the same with the X-11.

Thanks for the suggestions, my wallet is quivering with anticipation !

P.S. I'm listening to more and more Brazilian jazz, maybe that will help !

Skippy · 12-07-2004, 05:56 AM

Real weird tat the S1 gets those bad reviews.I've read loads of tests in magazines and they all said it was the most quit of the lot(some magazines even measure this with a db measuring device).I think it depends a lot on wich bike they are tested and with what screen for the noise factor.At 700$ they are to expensive they cost way less over here in europe.The X-11 is a great helmet though and personally I prefer Arai's.

acidburn · 12-07-2004, 06:01 AM

Arai.
Buy the best and know you have.
End of subject.

wolff · 12-08-2004, 11:59 AM

Acid, I think these guys may disagree. A non biased report

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/motorcycle-helmet/shark-helmet/index.htm

I do agree that Arai makes a fine lid albeit somewhat more expensive than Schuberth/BMW, Shoei, and Shark.

JonyRR · 12-08-2004, 12:08 PM

I know it's incidental/anecodotal evidence, but the 2 times I really NEEDED a helmet to do it's job, they were both Arai's; both took a mega-hit to the chinbar, both saved my life and face, both were destroyed, I gladly bought another $400.00USD arai 'just because'.
There are lots of good helmets out there, but I owe Mr. Arai my business for not having to have reconstructive surgery on my (already) ugly mug.