Keith, I'm hijacking your review format...
Over a week later, I finally got to try it out tonight.
Compared to my Shoei RF-1100:
- Fits very well and comfortable. The interior of the Shoei feels foam-ish, like most other helmets out there. The Arai feels like a pillow wrapped around my head. It is extremely light.
- Significantly larger field of peripheral vision than the Shoei. This makes it much easier to look over your shoulder.
- No buffeting at all. I only took her up to about 130, but it was very smooth with no shakes or vibrations. I had all the vents open. I tried closing the shield vents, but was still unable to reproduce the vibration that skydivr described. Possibly due to different windscreens on our bikes...? I have a Zero Gravity Sport Touring screen.
- Much quieter than my Shoei. The noise level at 100 MPH was about as loud as the Shoei at 60 MPH. Possibly because the Shoei leaves a lot of room around the ears and uses a hard material to form that area. The Arai comes much closer to the ears and uses a soft material which would absorb more wind and noise.
- Significantly better airflow across the top of the head. At least as good as the Shoei everywhere else.
- Both have great graphics, but the IOM TT theme is just so cool!
Thanks again for putting us onto this one, Loomis.
Over a week later, I finally got to try it out tonight.
Compared to my Shoei RF-1100:
- Fits very well and comfortable. The interior of the Shoei feels foam-ish, like most other helmets out there. The Arai feels like a pillow wrapped around my head. It is extremely light.
- Significantly larger field of peripheral vision than the Shoei. This makes it much easier to look over your shoulder.
- No buffeting at all. I only took her up to about 130, but it was very smooth with no shakes or vibrations. I had all the vents open. I tried closing the shield vents, but was still unable to reproduce the vibration that skydivr described. Possibly due to different windscreens on our bikes...? I have a Zero Gravity Sport Touring screen.
- Much quieter than my Shoei. The noise level at 100 MPH was about as loud as the Shoei at 60 MPH. Possibly because the Shoei leaves a lot of room around the ears and uses a hard material to form that area. The Arai comes much closer to the ears and uses a soft material which would absorb more wind and noise.
- Significantly better airflow across the top of the head. At least as good as the Shoei everywhere else.
- Both have great graphics, but the IOM TT theme is just so cool!
Thanks again for putting us onto this one, Loomis.