Not yet tried the Chaser on the bike as my birthday isn't until this weekend, so it's being saved as a birthday present! I ride with earplugs all the time so am hoping that even if the Chaser is noisier than the Astro R it shouldn't be too much of a problem.
I have a Shark Race R Pro & an Arai RX-7..... The Shark is less draughty & noisy and changing the visor takes seconds. However, the Arai is way ahead on comfort and fit....could wear it all day, where as with the Shark my forehead starts to hurt after around an hour of use. Cleary alien shaped head has some thing to do with it......
It all comes of having eyes on stalks... Have to say that my current Shark has always been very comfortable. The Arai too, but then I suspect that I have just got a bog-standard smallish head.
I'm just a bit of a tart. Having said that, I'm not that keen on most colour schemes. I don't want something that looks like it was spray-painted by some homeboy from the hood.
I have an Arai Chaser,marketed by Ducati,in Ducati Corse colours.A nice comfortable helmet,but I think the two Astro R's I had were marginally more stable at higher rates of progress.I have never tried any other make of helmet,think perhaps I should at some time.
I don't believe Arai have particularly fallen behind but then I'm a bit of a fan-boy as I have been using Arais for many years and find them just right fit-wise etc. Where I think they've gone awry recently is in the pricing. I have had several RX7 variants and they were always expensive but since the last iteration they seem to have skyrocketed in price and whilst I'm not looking for new lid yet, I would certainly be considering a non-Arai next time.
my xlite has been delivered, and it feels way better than my rx7 gp,and i have worn arai for years. maybe a lot of that was down to the "name" rather than anything else because i think if im honest my shoei x spirit 2 is better as well
I bought a new rx7gp this year to replace my old rx Edwards Valencia rep. I'm not impressed the chin strap seem is not as well padded and the helmit seems to of "given in" too much so is now becoming a bad lose fit.
just tried a load of lids... The Arai Quantum ST pro was the best fit for me (the other Arai shapes were too long and narrow)o Arai Quantum ST Pro - Racing Red - FREE UK DELIVERY but I didn't buy it, because I'm a glasses wearer who rides all year round, and into the sun. The x-lite carbon was superlight and the carbon fibre look is amazing! But the fit was not ideal, might buy it for a second lid... X-Lite X-802R Puro Sport - Carbon / Red - FREE UK DELIVERY dI ended up buying a Schubeth C3. Schuberth C3 Pro - Gloss White - FREE UK DELIVERY
I have a X-Spirit 2, and a Arai Chaser. My X-Spirit 2 isn't as soft and 'comfy' as my Arai because it's a race lid, simple as that, but aerodynamically it's incredible, seriously the difference is huge! Also it is a massive step forward in terms of tech, it's really light, it has a superb field of view and it even has emergency release cheek linings so that you can be helped in an emergency. I may be wrong but I don't think that the Arai's have any of those features? Schuberth seem to have a good feature set, including sun visors etc but I have never liked the fit. All that being said, it's my Arai for the daily commute, it just fits like a glove, it's so comfy and has much less venting so isn't as noisy, the downside being (IMHO) A terrible visor mechanism, I used to work in a bike shop, the 'theory' of the side pods being really strong is great until you get a lid where the visor has been changed loads and the prongs are brittle. I refused to change them for customers in the end because if one broke, we were screwed. Also, worth noting that Arai used to have a superb 5 year warranty and back up when they were with Pheonix Distribution but I think all that ended. They may still have the support trucks which go around to bike shops etc.
I recently bought the new Arai RX-7X and it's a completley different helmet to the old RX-7 GP. There is a lever to open the visor now. The side pods pop off to change the visor. All of the vents have been changed and it retains it's usual Arai plushness. I admit I'm a total Arai fan boy though, so not the person to ask for an unbiased opinion.
That's completely fair, I should have said my experience is a little outdated. I love Arai as well but I would argue if side pods are necessary now, they definitely add complexity and noise to the helmet, but on something like an rx7 it's a race helmet anyway so they aren't designed only with noise in mind
I've been an arai helmet fan over 20 years but I began to see loads of lads on the track days changing to the HJC rpha 10plus, so I thought why not, got a good deal on one to use with the track bike.....now I don't even look at the rx7 even if I'm just popping down the road the HJC makes less noise, the vents seem to work better and feels so much more comfortable. I think the name was the reason for sticking to the Arai, but now having tried another helmet I feel they have a lot of catching up to do...!!
To be honest Reg, I stick my fingers in my ears and make 'wibble' noises when I hear that helmets have moved on. If I listened to people, my home office would need an expensive update. I'm happy im own deluded little Arai universe, thank you very much. :Banhappy:
They look great, you've done a few quid on lids and I'm sure you're very happy living in arai land......I would never have changed, but now I have I'm not sure I'll return to the arai fold. Each to his own and your collection does look great, just some of the other manufacturers are making good helmets...... And it's always good to make a few 'wibble' noises
I have always worn Arai, but the last couple of years has seen me own a couple of AGV's as well as Arai. The fit I find very good in both, with perhaps the Arai shading it a little. Weight wise the AGV seems half the weight of the Arai (i know it isn't) Noise wise they are about the same, but with the baffles out of my Termi's, I feel I need something quieter. Been looking at the AGV K5 and GT Veloce, if anyone has any experience of these two. Price irrelevant, fit is everything. Regards Bobby
Thought id weigh in....not for me - bought a Giga years ago and it was awful. The visor scratched dead easily, the fittings were made of a snappy thermoset plastic, the vents didn't work/useless and all of the things that you needed to operate while you were riding were too small to operate with gloves on. At the time (25 odd years ago - I switched to a bandit - which was the in thing and then crashed in it...it crashed really well) and since then ive always used simpson's. Not the stig style helmets but the indy car ones. My last one (carbon fibre) crashed very well...a very hard downward force after a couple of cartwheels over a car (the nice old lady didn't see me). My current one is an indy car lid, massive chin bar, nice black visor and a very simple visor system that's durable. It is noisy but noise has never bothered me as I value the crashing ability way above noise... As someone else has said on here I don't like all the flashy graphics, keep it simple, one colour. Most graphics only look nice when theyre standing still and with in a metre away so when it counts....ie youre moving then 9.5 times out of ten its a blur/mess of colour... If I was going for another lid, and wanted a change....id go for a Bell.
Dont suppose you would like to add to your collection by purchasing my Arai MV veltro lid? very very rare
Dont suppose you would like to add to your collection by purchasing my Arai MV veltro lid? very very rare
