You do not want to cheap out on the lid. A DOT rating is a must. A Snell rating is preferred. These will mean the helmet meets a minimum protective rating. You can get inexpensive rated helmets easily.

But when you spend more, you tend to get more than the rating. An example is with the rkt, the short d-ring for the helmet strap kept getting caught on the piece that supposed to keep it in place. Minor annoyance. My Shoei has removeable pads, meaning they can be replaced. The Shoei came with a breath guard and neck wind guard. It has better ventilation, both for compacity and noise. All these little things add to the price and to the comfort.

If spending more nets more features for comfort, it's worth it IMO. I spent $250 on my RKT on clearance since the RKT 201 was being released. I spent $500 on my Shoei. $500 is about my limit. Honestly, there's no gear you want to cheap out on though. Grand total, I wear about $2000 worth of gear when I ride.

 

yes that stuff is important to me also, i think the CL's are all SNELL or SNELL2 or what ever it is they rate them as.
both the HJC-RPS and the JR-RKT come with chin and breath gaurds and thats part of the reason why i picked them. although i find that the breath gaurd is only usefull for cooler days, and gets in the way during hot days.

i ditched my CL-15's the 2nd day, kept rubbing on my nose, felt like there was a fly in my helmet landing on my nose. dont really touching but that anoying 'fly' feeling. so ya its gone.

so its looking more and more like the RKT-201 to me