I finally made it back down to the dealer near me who stocks ScorpionEXO lids and took some time to really check them out. I thought I'd share my thoughts on them for those who might be interested. I was ready to buy one and try it if I was impressed, but I'm kinda torn.
First of all, no matter what the reps say, the price difference isn't simply from cuttin' out the middle man distributors. That may be a part of it but there are compromises in quality and finish. I figured as much, but had hoped I was wrong and the rep was right. You know what they say though... "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is..."
The first thing I noticed was that the clearcoat wasn't quite as luxurious and glossy as the finish on an Arai or Shoei lid. It wasn't poor, and could be polished into a rather nice finish, but out of the box it was not very impressive. There was also what looked like a smear of glue on the paint by a vent on one that I looked at. That might come off without harming the paint and it might not. It also might be a one in a thousand thing. Problem is, that was the only red/black EXO700 Raider they had in stock in my size. Even if I had decided I was gonna buy one I wouldn't take that one unless I could remove the glue in the store and make sure it hadn't damaged the paint underneath.
I also noticed that all the vents were molded black plastic instead of painted. They also had fine scratches on ALL of them on ALL the ScorpionEXO lids I looked at. It looked kinda like the scratches you get from washin' a black vehicle with the wrong rags and such. Again, this is somethin' I could prolly fix myself with a bit of detailing. At the ScorpionEXO's price point I can see doin' a little fine tuning of the finish. Not a big deal. Aside from the scratches all the vents looked well made and solidly attached. The moving parts of the vents functioned well and should be fairly easy to manipulate while wearing all but the thickest riding gloves.
The next thing I checked out was the shield and it's mechanism. Changing the shield on a ScorpionEXO is pretty quick and easy. It's just a matter of turnin' the knobs at either end of the shield and poppin' the shield right off. To put it back on simply line it up on the knobs and push. One thing I did notice on the one I popped off and on was that when I snapped it back on it didn't seem like the knobs went all the way back to the locked position without me actually turnin' them until they stopped. It kinda made me wonder just how secure the shield would be if I didn't manually turn the knobs all the way. I guess the only way to know would be to simply snap it in and ride a while without manually turnin' the knobs. I didn't have that option today. One big plus for the ScorpionEXO shield system is that it ratchets like the Shoei RF900 I have now. I love bein' able to crack the shield open to the first ratchet notch and not have it open further or close due to the airflow while ridin'. That's one reason I can't get excited about ownin' an Arai lid.
After checkin' the outside I took a peak inside at the removable liner and cheek pads. The full interior of the ScorpionEXO is removable for cleaning or replacement. While the interior padding and materials didn't look or feel "cheap", they definitely didn't look and feel like what you find inside Shoei and Arai lids. Removing and reinstalling the guts was simple, using plastic snaps to hold everything in. One thing that stood out to me was that the chin strap felt thinner and a bit softer than the strap on my RF900 and the other Shoei and Arai lids I checked out today. Also, the metal rings that the chin strap buckle into were simple stamped pieces with little smoothing. They weren't sharp enough to cut ya but they were definitely rougher stampings than what I've seen on the chin straps of higher dollar lids. Another thing I really liked about the ScorpionEXO was the built-in breath guard in the nose area. I don't know how far that would go toward reducing shield fogging but if it works I think it was a great feature for Scorpion to include.
After lookin' at all there was to look at it was time to slip it on and see how it fit/felt. I must say that it fit me as well as my RF900 and with a little break-in I think it would be every bit as comfortable. It was at least as comfortable as the RF900 was when it was brand new and the padding was still a little "stiff". The ScorpionEXO lid felt fairly light and well balanced. I moved my head around a lot and shook it pretty hard a few times and never noticed any weight or balance problems at all. Unless airflow around it makes it do funky things it should be a pretty smooth wearing lid. It actually felt lighter and less bobble head-ish than the RF900 does. I was impressed with that part of it considering it's price point.
Overall, just based on all of the above I think the ScorpionEXO is not that bad of a lid. Of course I haven't rode with one so I can't speak on wind noise or airflow/ventilation though. If it performs well in those two areas I'd say that it's probably a decent value for what it costs. It's definitely no Shoei or Arai, but for what it costs I think it may end up bein' a pretty nice budget lid for those who simply don't have to have top of the line, or can't afford it.
I'm still undecided on what to do for my next lid though. Still haven't found an RX7 Corsair in my size to try on. I tried on a Shoei RF1000 and X11 today (and a couple other times before) and can't get past the fact that they feel like they need to slide down maybe another inch or so on my cheeks. When I put on the newer Shoei lids it feels like the bottoms of my cheeks and jaw bones are hangin' out in the open compared to how my RF900 feels. They didn't have a mirror so I couldn't look and see if the RF1000 truly exposes more of my cheeks and neck, or maybe it just hits differently in those areas and makes it feel that way. Either way, I prefer the feel of my RF900, which feels like it wraps down past my cheeks/jaw bones and covers them up.
I dunno... I wish these shops would stock more Arai lids in my size so I can try them on. I keep swayin' back and forth, rulin' Arai out one day and then reconsiderin' them the next. I think I'd be much more tempted to try one if they had a ratcheting mechanism for the shield, and a better shield retention mechanism all together in fact. That is a HUGE minus for Arai lids with me. If the RF1000 didn't feel like PeeWee Herman's pants legs look I'd snatch one up in a heart beat. Maybe my problem with this feel is just a mental block, I dunno. I may end up livin' with it though... God I hate this. If I could order an Arai shell and interior, send it to Shoei for a shield retention system, and run it through Scorpion's magical distribution system and knock off $400 I think I'd be tickled to death.
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Reason for Edit: None given...|1102141318 -->
First of all, no matter what the reps say, the price difference isn't simply from cuttin' out the middle man distributors. That may be a part of it but there are compromises in quality and finish. I figured as much, but had hoped I was wrong and the rep was right. You know what they say though... "If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is..."
The first thing I noticed was that the clearcoat wasn't quite as luxurious and glossy as the finish on an Arai or Shoei lid. It wasn't poor, and could be polished into a rather nice finish, but out of the box it was not very impressive. There was also what looked like a smear of glue on the paint by a vent on one that I looked at. That might come off without harming the paint and it might not. It also might be a one in a thousand thing. Problem is, that was the only red/black EXO700 Raider they had in stock in my size. Even if I had decided I was gonna buy one I wouldn't take that one unless I could remove the glue in the store and make sure it hadn't damaged the paint underneath.
I also noticed that all the vents were molded black plastic instead of painted. They also had fine scratches on ALL of them on ALL the ScorpionEXO lids I looked at. It looked kinda like the scratches you get from washin' a black vehicle with the wrong rags and such. Again, this is somethin' I could prolly fix myself with a bit of detailing. At the ScorpionEXO's price point I can see doin' a little fine tuning of the finish. Not a big deal. Aside from the scratches all the vents looked well made and solidly attached. The moving parts of the vents functioned well and should be fairly easy to manipulate while wearing all but the thickest riding gloves.
The next thing I checked out was the shield and it's mechanism. Changing the shield on a ScorpionEXO is pretty quick and easy. It's just a matter of turnin' the knobs at either end of the shield and poppin' the shield right off. To put it back on simply line it up on the knobs and push. One thing I did notice on the one I popped off and on was that when I snapped it back on it didn't seem like the knobs went all the way back to the locked position without me actually turnin' them until they stopped. It kinda made me wonder just how secure the shield would be if I didn't manually turn the knobs all the way. I guess the only way to know would be to simply snap it in and ride a while without manually turnin' the knobs. I didn't have that option today. One big plus for the ScorpionEXO shield system is that it ratchets like the Shoei RF900 I have now. I love bein' able to crack the shield open to the first ratchet notch and not have it open further or close due to the airflow while ridin'. That's one reason I can't get excited about ownin' an Arai lid.
After checkin' the outside I took a peak inside at the removable liner and cheek pads. The full interior of the ScorpionEXO is removable for cleaning or replacement. While the interior padding and materials didn't look or feel "cheap", they definitely didn't look and feel like what you find inside Shoei and Arai lids. Removing and reinstalling the guts was simple, using plastic snaps to hold everything in. One thing that stood out to me was that the chin strap felt thinner and a bit softer than the strap on my RF900 and the other Shoei and Arai lids I checked out today. Also, the metal rings that the chin strap buckle into were simple stamped pieces with little smoothing. They weren't sharp enough to cut ya but they were definitely rougher stampings than what I've seen on the chin straps of higher dollar lids. Another thing I really liked about the ScorpionEXO was the built-in breath guard in the nose area. I don't know how far that would go toward reducing shield fogging but if it works I think it was a great feature for Scorpion to include.
After lookin' at all there was to look at it was time to slip it on and see how it fit/felt. I must say that it fit me as well as my RF900 and with a little break-in I think it would be every bit as comfortable. It was at least as comfortable as the RF900 was when it was brand new and the padding was still a little "stiff". The ScorpionEXO lid felt fairly light and well balanced. I moved my head around a lot and shook it pretty hard a few times and never noticed any weight or balance problems at all. Unless airflow around it makes it do funky things it should be a pretty smooth wearing lid. It actually felt lighter and less bobble head-ish than the RF900 does. I was impressed with that part of it considering it's price point.
Overall, just based on all of the above I think the ScorpionEXO is not that bad of a lid. Of course I haven't rode with one so I can't speak on wind noise or airflow/ventilation though. If it performs well in those two areas I'd say that it's probably a decent value for what it costs. It's definitely no Shoei or Arai, but for what it costs I think it may end up bein' a pretty nice budget lid for those who simply don't have to have top of the line, or can't afford it.
I'm still undecided on what to do for my next lid though. Still haven't found an RX7 Corsair in my size to try on. I tried on a Shoei RF1000 and X11 today (and a couple other times before) and can't get past the fact that they feel like they need to slide down maybe another inch or so on my cheeks. When I put on the newer Shoei lids it feels like the bottoms of my cheeks and jaw bones are hangin' out in the open compared to how my RF900 feels. They didn't have a mirror so I couldn't look and see if the RF1000 truly exposes more of my cheeks and neck, or maybe it just hits differently in those areas and makes it feel that way. Either way, I prefer the feel of my RF900, which feels like it wraps down past my cheeks/jaw bones and covers them up.
I dunno... I wish these shops would stock more Arai lids in my size so I can try them on. I keep swayin' back and forth, rulin' Arai out one day and then reconsiderin' them the next. I think I'd be much more tempted to try one if they had a ratcheting mechanism for the shield, and a better shield retention mechanism all together in fact. That is a HUGE minus for Arai lids with me. If the RF1000 didn't feel like PeeWee Herman's pants legs look I'd snatch one up in a heart beat. Maybe my problem with this feel is just a mental block, I dunno. I may end up livin' with it though... God I hate this. If I could order an Arai shell and interior, send it to Shoei for a shield retention system, and run it through Scorpion's magical distribution system and knock off $400 I think I'd be tickled to death.
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Reason for Edit: None given...|1102141318 -->
