Want to purchase a Good Helmet

Hi Friends

Need some help! I want to purchase a set of helmets for me and the wife. I want to fit a comm system to the helmets so my prerequisite is that it must really be silent. It does not have to be BMW brand helmets. (Sorry bmw mates) I just want something that is worth the wile to purchase!

Regards
Rudi

If you want quiet, the BMW helmet (Schubert) is probably as quiet as it gets.

The previously Sport Integral was the quietest helmet in the BM range. It has now been replaced by the most beautiful range of Sport helmets with demister on the inside of the visor (similar to Shoei) and my guess is this new one will be as quiet if not better than the previous range.


one of the colour schemes (graphics) of the all new BMW Sport helmet




System V is also good but not as quiet due to it’s “flip top” nature. However the System VI will probably be revealed within the next few months

Other brands?……Shoei X-Spirit is one of the more quiet ones, much more so than the Arai RX7 Corsair but two will set you back in the region of R14k

Hope this help

Thx mate

Appreciate the help

Rudi

We have the Baehr system in our K1200GT

My wife and I have System V BMW helmets (flip-up). These helemts are great because we both wear glasses and you can just pull the helmet right over your glasses without them falling off.

On the downside I have to say that the helmet is rather heavy so if you or your pillion are not used to this big helmet, you will need a couple of kays on the clock before your neck will be strong enough to look around at the scenery while traveling.

I also have the Arai RX7 which is a much lighter helmet and my glasses do not fog up in the winter or late at night due to the amount of air flowing through the helmet. It is more noisy than the System V. The visor hinges are also quite flimsy especially if you are not sure how they work.



Ina has a Shoei that works well and we can hear each other quite well even at speeds of over 180km/hr - not that we do that often. However, some help is needed in the form of a little wing attached to the K1200GT's screen to deflect the wind just a little more.

I have the BM sport integral and think it is an excellent choice. I've added my iPod earphones to the helmet underneath the inner-foam and it worked fairly well, so I imagine having a professional job with larger speakers will be excellent ...

Helmets are very much a personal thing. Certain brands are more suited for certain head shapes. You might find your head to be an “Arai head" or a "Shoei head" and it is therefore recommended to go and fit the helmets to determine which helmet shape suits you best. Very important here to choose the correct size. A new helmet should be a snug fit as in time, the inner material adapt the contours of your head and a helmet that is too big, can be a serious annoyance during a ride

Certain brands are quieter than others as some might be design with a race environment in mind. Here Schubert (BMW) and Shoei are known to be some of the quieter ones mostly due to their airflow channeling and the design of their visor fitment. Bear in mind that even within the same brand, the noise levels will differ from model to model for example the Shoei X-Spirit is quieter than the Shoei XR1000 Generally the “flip-ups” are substantially heavier than full face helmets as mentioned by someone else as well

Once a short list is compiled, one can decide on the graphics or the lack thereof.

No one can tell you which helmet will be best for you but with the advice offered, you can maybe make a more informed decision

Quiet is good but definitely not the only criteria……. so why am I able to voice my opinion that the Schubert(BMW) is the quietest, the X-Spirit is quieter than the XR 1000 and that the Shoei is quieter than the Arai?

let me level with you …..with 5 riders in the family, we found out the hard way which helmets are worth the bucks and which are a waist. Also we are able to interchange in order to compare helmets under the same conditions whilst riding. In the process, we also had to deal with the inconsistency of the youth who will sometimes just choose a different helmet to be…….well different.

fwiw, here is part of the collection:




guess we are all mostly "Shoei heads"

I know what you mean.
Ina and I have System V helmets

Then everything went crazy:
- I bought an Arai
- Ina bought a Shoei
- Emile bought an AGV

Talk about independent!

The above is very good advise. You should have a nice knowledge base before you purchase anything as important as a helmet. I just want to add that the type of bike is important when you choose a helmet and it will be a good idea to talk to someone with the same bike as you intend to use the helmet on. The person's length is also important. As Madnohb mentioned that you get different styles of helmets for different styles of bikes. For example: my arai which I used on my superbike was very quiet but when I changed to the GS with a much bigger windscreen it was a different story. I recently bought a BMW enduro which works better on the GS. I must admit that I do not think that any helmet will be quiet for the GS as my head sticks out above the screen enough to have no screen protection at all. My posture is upright and the wind buffet upwards at neck level.

Perske wrote:........but when I changed to the GS with a much bigger windscreen it was a different story. I recently bought a BMW enduro which works better on the GS. I must admit that I do not think that any helmet will be quiet for the GS as my head sticks out above the screen enough to have no screen protection at all. My posture is upright and the wind buffet upwards at neck level.

We are sidetracking a bit here but it is a good and valid point.

People always want to have bigger screens for better wind protection but bigger is not necessarily always better. For example, the K1200S has a fairly small screen which leaves you with a fair amount of wind on the chest but with no or very little effect on the helmet. During a recent ride I swapped from a K to a GS and was amazed by the amount of wind buffeting on my helmet on the GS compared to the K.

Would be interesting to hear the views of my co-conspirator.

Perske wrote: I must admit that I do not think that any helmet will be quiet for the GS as my head sticks out above the screen enough to have no screen protection at all. My posture is upright and the wind buffet upwards at neck level.

U need to get an Aerotrim!

Rejuvenated wrote:

U need to get an Aerotrim!

Is that the little fin on the top of your screen? Does it really work?

Perske wrote:

Rejuvenated wrote:

U need to get an Aerotrim!

Is that the little fin on the top of your screen? Does it really work?

I find it does and so did Dorothy on the 1100R.

Hi Mates

Where can one get this "gadget"? Can it be fitted to a RT? Price?

Regrds
Rudi

Thx mate
Rudi

Just for info, the BMW sytem 5 helmet with intergrated blue tooth should be released at the end of the year....

And with that last post i am upgraded to be a serious biker Dude !!!

To: JohanGT

When fitted do you drive with the bike windshield down or up?

Regards
Rudi

Well congrats again Bear. New title must go with the new bike

Bear wrote:Just for info, the BMW sytem 5 helmet with intergrated blue tooth should be released at the end of the year....

You mean system 6. Sytem 5 with integrated blue tooth has been around for a while. The system 5 will be replaced by the system 6 soon.

Yip,

You are correct it will be system 6, apparently the 5 with blue tooth was pulled off the market as it did not work properly ??

The same helmet is different on different bikes. I have a Shark RS2 Next which was very quite on the K1200 GT (2004) I had, while the System 5 helmet was the noisiest I ever owned on the GT. Now this same noisy system 5 helmet is very quite on the R1200 GSA with excellent wind protection, I can even ride with the visor half open as I tend to get warm in the helmet and it still does not give me the wind noise. My 2c

Thx for the help mates

It seems to me that I need to get info from a RT owner.
Is there anyone that rides a RT?
What do you use, what works for you?

Regards
Rudi

Don’t be misled here. A quiet helmet is quiet period........... irrespective the type of bike it is being used on. The constant here is the helmet and the bike is the variable. The same helmet can perceived to be different on a different bike but the only contributor here is the changed bike. Simply impossible for a helmet to change characteristics if used on a different bike.

Not a bad idea to speak to a fellow RT rider although if your head shapes are completely different, it wont' be very useful.