Re: [ST] Re:Arai Differences.

["William A. Flowers" <wflowers@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>]

Previously, you (David Earl) wrote:
> Bill-Not my experience. I live in Vegas so I know heat. With electric's
> I easily ride to the mid 30's in winter but DAMN, 118° has me parkin the
> bike. Granted I see no where near 98% humidity, but 118 is 118.

Yeah, you would know heat.  I rode through Georgia to the Rallye last
year with the thermometer over 110F.  Anytime the ambient is that warm
NOTHING can help much.  I was carrying a CamelBak and sucking down 1L of
water an hour and I still couldn't keep up with what I was sweating out!

Florida is somewhat gentler (it is all relative).  The temp almost never
gets above 95F although the humidity can spike very high.

All I can say for certain is that riding with my RX7-RR4 on a typical
July afternoon in central Florida I was as confortable as I could expect
to be, and much, much better than with my old HJC CL-12.

Oh, and my new IXS Aeroflow jacket was the cat's meow.  I had so much
air over my body it was as if I was riding in only a T-shirt! :-) Nice
thing was the jacket was real cheap too, if you ignore the airfare,
hotels, etc. necessary to get to Lucerne, Switzerland.  ;-)

> The only time I get anywhere near adequate ventilation is with the
> shield popped up to the the lock (Another nice RX7 touch) and then the
> wind is outrageous. (I too use ear plugs, just had a custom set made by
> Insta-Mold, E.A.R Inc.
> and they're GREAT.  800-525-2960.  30db attenuation vs 20-25 with most
> foam types.)

I really should get custom earplugs one of these days.  My ear canals
(left esp.) are small and I can never get a good, comfortable fit with
commercial plugs.

> Perhaps this has to do with my sizing. I've had three different sizes in
> the Arai's I've owned and originally started in the RX7 with XXL.
> Couldn't get it fit right so I went down to an XL which required the
> thinnest liner to fit 8mm or 10mm. Perhaps that is why you get better
> vents that I do?  I also tried a "Cool-Max" helmet liner which didn't
> seem to help much.

I found an Arai Large to be a good fit for me although the cheekpads are
still a bit tight.  If they don't compress enough I'll buy some thinner
ones, a nice feature this helmet offers.  When I wore HJC I was
somewhere between Medium and Large.  I guess I have a smaller head.

Because the Arai fits me well there is adequate room for airflow.  I'll
have to take another ride soon now my hair is (re)cut very short -- it
should be even better!  :-)

> To additionally address the questions of which one to buy, I think the
> best features to come out in helmets lately are removable liners and
> tool free visor swap. If the helmet your looking at has these, save some
> money, if not, IMHO it's worth $30-$40.

Oh, definately agree, 110%.  My old HJC (non-removable liner) was
smelling like a mens locker room after the big game.  Ewwwww! Nothing I
could do helped, and I tried it all.  The helmet was less than 2 years
old.

I think that the most important consideration both for comfort and for
safety is fit.  If the lid doesn't fit, don't buy it! Once you find some
that fit pick the one with the features you want.  I went to The Helmet
Shop in Daytona and tried on just about everything they had in the store
(somehow I missed the Schuberth Concept though), then picked the one
that offered a removable liner and seemed to have decent venting.

- --
Bill "Bench Dawg" Flowers
Clearwater FL
'00 Sapphire Blue ST "Jewel"


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