~~ flip face helmet review ~~

[runeight]

Greetings,

Well, it took me a while to post my thoughts on a flip face helmet. This is just me and your fit may be different then what goes on my head. Helmets fit differently on everyone.

I must say that I love Helmet City. We shipped back five (5) helmets without a hitch. They paid return ship on the first exchange. I picked up return ship on the rest. They paid ship to me.

I want to add that I bought the Arai Corsair first. Noise. A lot of noise.

Sent it back for the Shoei RF 1000. Nice fit but..noise. Bounced around on my head. Ordered smaller size..same thing. Pushed in towards my face.

I said "thats it"! I have a Shoei RF 900 that matches the bike and it is way quiet. Love it but don't wear it much. There if I need to.

So..I decided to get a flip face. I know. Several people are/were concerned about protection in the chin area. I can see this concern but ordered up the new helmet just released by Shoei. Multitec.

Thread continued below. RF 900 first.

runeight...

 

[runeight]

Here is the HJC. Low price. Lots of noise. A little to big on me so that might contribute to the noise.

Throw around helmet.

runeight...

 

[runeight]

Then I went with this helmet. KBC Freeze. Nice fit. By far the most quiet. Sold it but wish I would of kept it. Not going to buy another. Three helmets are enough.

Very nice helmet for the money.

runeight...

 

[runeight]

Final helmet is the newly released Shoei Multitec. Ordered a X large but way to big. Returned for large.

Comes with a chin guard which is hard to find on a flip front helmet.

Helmet works well. I need to tighten pretty snug on my head but not a problem. Fits well also. Ear plugs required but every helmet I have or had needs to have ear plugs. The one that does not is the RF 900.

The multitec is no exception.

Out of all the flip face helmets the KBC freeze was the most quiet.

The HBC is very noisey. Could be fit also.

The Shoei fits perfect and is a very nice helmet. Love the chin guard option.

If I wanted to do this all over again I would have kept the Freeze helmet. With all the return shipping and phone calls one could save money going to a dealer.  

At any rate "your head my vary". I love a flip face helmet myself but not for everyone I'm sure.

runeight...

 

[runeight]

another shot..

runeight...

 

[CAT3]

You should try the Caberg. When I fit one on, it was great fit, snug yet not overly ya know. Couldn't check wind noise, but the quality of the construction seemed to be very high, and received great reviews from several editors. Besides that, it has built in sun visor goggles that flip down...super cool.

 

[nitrousjunkie]

I'm gonna be honest here: I've tried em all and I mean ALL.The quietest I've tried was an ICON mainframe.Here is my take on the whole helmet thing: The bottom line is safety,if the safety is there and its also quiet,then thats a bonus,if not.....I personally want the safety with ventilation,theres no way to get both safety AND silence.its a motorcycle helmet.Youre riding sometimes 100mph plus,this thing (helmet) is slicing through the wind,its got to make noise.If you want absolute quiet when riding,my suggestion is either wear earplugs,which I sometimes do,or take the car.Personally,I think not being able to hear whats going on is dangerous,we need to be able to hear if someone blows their horn or screams at us or whatever.There is no perfect helmet IMHO,I choose to wear either Suomy,Shoei,or Arai simply because they are a quality built helmet with the reputation and safety standards that I'm lookin for.I know I'm gonna piss off some people saying this,but I just dont understand the whole buying a 10-11 grand bike,in fact one of the fastest,most powerful bikes made,and trusting your head to a cheap,substandard lid.Put the 2 side by side and look at them,when you compare the fit,construction and comfort of a lets say KBC to an Arai RX-7,truth is,there is no comparison other than they are both helmets.

Cheaper priced helmets are always gonna be around and they will sell simply because there are people who absolutely refuse to pay 3,4,5 or even 6 hundred dollars for a lid.I'll agree,its a hard pill to swallow,but I sat back and thought about it a concluded that if the manufactures could lower the cost in a product and the standards of quality and safety wouldnt suffer,they would.Why wouldn't they want as much of the market as they could get?

So....IMHO and dont take this wrong or think I'm trying to push a certain brand of helmets because I'm not.Forget about what the magazines say about $ vs on the cheaper.All you have to do is put them side by side and you can see why there is such a vast difference in price.I know manufacturers influence what is said by these people,they send them "samples", furnish them with bikes, cars and so on to test,we all know this.They also pay BIG money to advertise in these rags,so not to expect "something" in return would be ludacris.

Bottom line,trust your brain and your reasoning in your decision in lids,and come on....Put a quality lid beside a substandard lid and just look at them closely and you'll see what I'm talking about.Fit in my mind is the most important factor,if it wobbles around or is easily moved around on your onion,its not a good fit.If it doesnt fit well,then an impact is definitely gonna be worse because the design of the helmet will not work with a loose fitting helmet.I want every advantage I can get should I ever go down hard,and I refuse to accept anything less than the very best protection I can afford,now for me....anything else just isnt logical.Sorry for the long post. Happy New Year!

 

[nitrousjunkie]

On a side note,I have one of the Shoei flip ups,and I wear it sometimes in the summer,I would wear it more but the whole flip up idea is not to me the best idea in a helmet and is more a gimic or convenience thing.

 

[Warputer]

Nice write up Runeight ....the flip-face helmets have always caught my interest because I wear prescription glasses . And a regular lid is a pain in the azz with glasses. Gonna check some of them out around birthday time .

 

[runeight]

(nitrousjunkie @ Dec. 27 2006,11:27) On a side note,I have one of the Shoei flip ups,and I wear it sometimes in the summer,I would wear it more but the whole flip up idea is not to me the best idea in a helmet and is more a gimic or convenience thing.

Exactly. I wear glasses and yes, it is a convenience thing for me.

This is why I like them. Less protection? Maybe, depending on the crash.

I've learned one thing in my old age Paul. When it is your time you are going. No exceptions. I have lost two (2) very close friends this way. Just don't worry about a lot of things anymore like I use to.

Thanks for the comments. It is definatly a personal issue.

runeight...

 

[nitrousjunkie]

(runeight @ Dec. 28 2006,00:47)

(nitrousjunkie @ Dec. 27 2006,11:27) On a side note,I have one of the Shoei flip ups,and I wear it sometimes in the summer,I would wear it more but the whole flip up idea is not to me the best idea in a helmet and is more a gimic or convenience thing.

Exactly. I wear glasses and yes, it is a convenience thing for me.

This is why I like them. Less protection? Maybe, depending on the crash.

I've learned one thing in my old age Paul. When it is your time you are going. No exceptions. I have lost two (2) very close friends this way. Just don't worry about a lot of things anymore like I use to.

Thanks for the comments. It is definatly a personal issue.

runeight...

 

[heavybusa]

Nice write up Run.

I want a Flip up for me and the wifey some kinda bad.

 

[runeight]

(heavybusa @ Dec. 27 2006,12:51) Nice write up Run.

I want a Flip up for me and the wifey some kinda bad.

The Shoei is a lot more money and a lot better helmet than the others listed in this post. FFR is a nice helmet also.

Can't speak for the Caberg helmets.

I wear ear plugs in all of my helmets anyway so the Shoei works for me.

runeight...

 

[heavybusa]

I dont consider my RF1000 loud so I think I may give the HJC Flip a try and save a little coin.

 

[runeight]

(heavybusa @ Dec. 27 2006,13:08) I dont consider my RF1000 loud so I think I may give the HJC Flip a try and save a little coin.

Like I said. Your head may vary.

My RX 7 then RF 1000 both fit awful on me. The RF 900 is perfect which reminds me that I should of bought the one jinkster had for sale. I think it was him.

If you are going for a middle price helmet get the KBC FFR freeze helmet.

Like I said..I sold mine. Should have kept it. Not buying anymore for a while. If I see a blowout sale sometime then ya..maybe.

runeight...

 

[heavybusa]

Keep an eye out for me too, that is a good looking lid.

 

[dadofthree]

 

[ghosthawk]

I've been riding this last year with a Nolan N102 flip-face and its the nicest all-around helmet I've owned. The flip face has a one-hand operated double safety release. Features I like: flip-down sun visor that still allows you to look down at your gages untinted, fog protect face shield liner, chin wind guard (can be removed) and quick ratchet chin strap you can operate with gloves on. The helmet is also neutral in the wind--it does not try to rotate on your head when you look sideways. Noise level is average--wish it was better but it's not too bad. I like being able to grab a drink or talk to the car next to me at the light without needing to remove the helmet. Having the main face shield clear really helps with night-time visibility--just flip up the sun visor and you're good to go.

Overall, I highly recommend it.