I'd be interested in seeing a consumer reports comparison as well. Although I have to tell you, if you've worn one you can tell a difference. Might not be worth it for some, but it is to others. You see a lot of people that go out and spend thousands on ultimately valueless parts like exhausts, power commanders, paint jobs, etc. But when it comes to buying quality protective gear a lot of people aren't willing to spend.

Let me put it this way... when was the last time you saw a pro rider wearing an HJC?

Don't get me wrong, I have two of them. They are definitely affordable. But if I guy that rides his motor gp bike at 180 mph won't wear one it's got to make you wonder.

 

Kiggy,
Good points as far as paint jobs and exhausts, if you have a 600RR and it's a racing bike why would one need to be modified? The pro riders are equiped with whatever their sponsors pay them to wear. We are talking about either heavy duty plastic or fiberglass/plastic composite. Things like road noise, ventilation and padding play a huge part in making a helmet. One of my favorite comments regarding Arai helmets came from some guy saying that "Arai helmets are great for abnormally shaped heads." Phrenoloigists interpret the shape and sizes of heads. Phrenology is considered in many circles to be a psuedo science. I can assure you that most every head is normally shaped unless an indiviudal has a birth defect. Until Arai or some other helmet manufacturer starts making cast molds of each riders head, you will have to make due with S,M,L & XL. I'm sure the pros helmets are custom fit to exactly fit the shapes of their heads, the luxury for being a pro.

One of the biggest racket business is the watch industry. Every watch that is not digital uses a quartz movement. Why spend $20,000 for a Rolex when you can buy a very nice Citizen for $250?? Citizen is the official watch of the NBA and Rolex is the official watch of the PGA golf tour. Each markets to a different audience. I can assure you NBA players do not wear Citizen watches, they all wear Rolex watches or something comparable because of the image.

Too many people assume price is a symbol of quality. You could spend $2,000 on an Armani suit and $500 on a Nordstrom suit. Nordstrom is known for quality. Armani is known for perceived quality and prestige. Both suits are made in sweat shops by underpaid workers. The only difference may just be in the label.

Helmet manufacturers suggest replacing your helmet every 2-4 years. This means $500-700 every 2-4 years. The money saved buying a less expensive helmet could pay for an upgrade to a 1000RR from a 600RR.

 

i dont see how what you do for a living affects how you ride. i work at a dealer and see guys comeing in everyday who looped wheelies on there new bikes and have to practicaly new bikes, this doesnt keep me from doing that stuff on my bike. in the case of the hemets, which is what this thread was about, money buys you a name that is know for superior quality and products. and i personaly will not risk my saftey by buying lesser products. while i agree that a consumer report would be good, until then i will put my money on the product i know will work.

 

If I remember correctly, Arai stopped all internet sales of their helmets as a result of the frauds that were happening. People were selling fakes like crazy on the internet and a lot of riders got ripped off, so Arai pulled out...

An expensive helmet isn't any better than a cheap helmet when it comes to DOT/Snell approval, as long as it's approved it's as good as the most expensive helmet on the market. What you do get for all your money from an expensive helmet is strong, but light weight materials, better ventilation, removable liners, cool graphics and smaller size.

I personally have a Shoei head , but I bought a cheap HJC for my passengers and the frigging helmet is huge and weighs a ton compared to my Shoei X-ll and the ventilation sucks compared to my X-11 which is like a wind tunnel when you have the vents open.

I bought the X-11 for two reasons...it was the best feeling helmet I've ever put on my head and I've always wanted the Daijiro Kato replica graphics.

 

On that last line fretless33 i agree with you, i bought the arai becase it is the best fitting helmet i have ever tried on and i love my ui panther graphics. I also agree that the price does buy you better matirials and size. However i am still not convinced that i would have gotten the same protection from a lowerpriced helmet. snell/dot aproval is a neccesity on helmets but just because a helmet passes the snell/dot tests doesnt mean it performs the same on the street as other helmets tthat pass the tests. As far as i know, the "Yugo" passed saftey tests just fine. in reality though, rear end collision=kaboom. Quite different than the other cars that got an "OK" sticker in safety test

 

icon is 3rd behind Arai and Shoei

Ive seen an Arai rep at my old shop, take a arai helmet and HUCK THE MOTHERF*CKER across the street, pick it up. and ride off with it... Right before then, he threw a kbc across the street, and the kbc was mashed... kbc hjc, thh, are junk, scorpion is better than them cause breathability, and style? and the way it fits? ive had more complaints with HJC than I have with any other helmet....
But the AC-11 is a good helmet... I have the Ac-x2 on sale for 149.99 here...

 

What about Suomy?

 

^Ok you got me... forgot about suomy *****

I was tryin on my friends last night in fact and didnt remember that lol...

arai, shoei, suomy are basically the same, i think suomy is 2nd actually that I think of it, they make HELLA better looking helmets, and fit better for me than my rf-1000...

 

Poncherello man, you're too smart for your own good. But I like your moxy. Interesting reference in bringing up a phrenologist, although I don't know what it has to do with finding a helmet that fits right. A phrenologist might feel your head and tell you that based on the shape of your head you have a knack for basket weaving, but they probably wouldn't know squat about helmet fitting.

But this point reminds me of another issue why I preferred the Arai over everything else I had tried on. I'm not the elephant man or anything, but I would describe my face and head as "more narrow" than most. With the Shoei and HJC helmets I can't get them to sit on my head quite right. I either have to tilt the helmet way back so that I'm looing out the bottom of the face shield or I have to lean it way forward so that the the chin piece is hitting me in the chest. I might be exagerating slightly, but you get my point.

Each Arai helmet is designed a little differently to fit certain skull shapes. Not all heads are shaped the same. The helmet I ended up going with (Astral X) was designed to fit my skull. The helmet sits squarely on my head and won't rotate from front to back or side to side. This is something I couldn't accomplish with my HJC, or any of the Shoei's I tried on. Don't get me wrong, there was no part of me that was looking forward to spending $500 for a helmet. But I knew I needed to get something better than what I had. I figured I'd get a Shoei for a couple hundred and be done with it. But the difference between the Shoei and Arai was undeniable (for me anyway). If I had passed on buying a helmet that I knew was going to fit better, be more comfortable, and offer better protection due to a couple of hundred bucks I would have felt pretty guilty. Even though I didn't want to spend it, I could afford the Arai at the time so I bought it. I'm still glad I did. If, as an Arai helmet wearer, that makes me "snobby" then I guess I'm snobby. I prefer to call it safety conscious.

 

I don't know if you're aware of this kiggy, but the Shoei X-11 has changeable cheek pads so you can custom fit the helmet to your face, so if you really like the X-11, but it doesn't fit perfectly out of the box, you can insert larger or smaller cheek pads!