Well, I'd rather spend $10... but my head is worth a lot more than that to me, so I spring for the higher end lids. The cheap ones are cheap for a reason folks. And yes, that includes Scorpion. Their discount isn't solely from "cutting out the middle man", I assure you...
I just don't get that line of reasoning..
the snell foundation was formed to make safer helmets... it's not like they have the "cheap helmet" test, and then the "higher end" helmet test..
Do you really think it costs any more to produce a Shoei than it does a KBC.. ?? Anything more than marginally?
Now here's what I'm thinking..
I figure helmets probably have atleast a 100% markup.. I just don't see them being that expensive to produce..
whatya got here.. some fiberglass, or plastic, some glue, styrofoam, and whatever kinda cloth you put on it..
not exactly high tech stuff here... most of them are made in countries with no minimum wage laws... like nike (estimated cost of a pair of nike is about $4.00)
I figure even the most expensive helmets all cost less than $100 to manufacture... the rest is profit, & advertising.
I say 100% because I know for a fact that GM marks up their parts 60%.. and they sell alot more product than ANY helmet maker.... lower demand means you gotta make more on each one to come out. .. I may be off.. but if I am I bet it's higher than 100%... With out speaking to a official helmet price control guy I'll never believe that even after you figure in design, graphics, fancy boxes, and big advertising campaigns that ANY helmet would cost more then $200 to put on a shelf for us to buy. .. and I really can see makers like AGV, HJC, or KBC having just as good a product (again maybe not as well a ventilation system) with alot less overhead.
as far as dismissing the article in motorcyclist...
having some theory, proof, or atleast thoughts on why.. other than selling magazines (if you've ever had to get anything printed you know that you aren't going to print a full color 100 page magazine with all those inserts for anything less than atleast $2 per issue.).. I dunno 'bout you.. but my subscription to motorcyclist, and cycle world cost me a combined $25 per year.... no big proffits there.. and thats not even taking into consideration paying the staff.. I'd bet my nut hairs that 90% of the real money comes from advertisers. Why else would they ad like 15 pages of nothing but small ads in the back of almost any mag you pick up? I believe most of those ads run somewhere between $1,000-$5,000 per ad.. per issue.. or I know the few I've checked with typically are in that range depending on how much circulation the mag has.
Just as an example on the printing thing.. I once had 35,000 copies of a 4 page full color flyer made.. that was on newspaper paper.. ya know.. the cheap stuff... just the printing was nearly a grand (ask me about having them inserted into a paper.. thats where they leave the vasoline at home)
that was simple piddly stuff... 300 dpi stuff..
magazines are printed in full process color at 600 dpi.. if you've ever messed with graphic design... doing those layouts they do... aren't cheap. and remember we're talking about 100 full color (mostly) 600 dpi pages on slightly heavier, and glossy finished paper... Ink isn't cheap.. paper isn't cheap.
Now.. after I sat here and wrote all that.. haha
I want a Shoei rf1000 badge helmet cuz it looks cooler than anything else I've seen lately...
or maybe a byrne xll shoei.. one or the other.. but i'll wait for the closeouts.
