[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by hgps

Options considered:
1. SMK series of helmet: VFM, internal sun visor, anti fog insert. But can't get over the fact that its a desi brand after all
2. Axxis series: Seem like rebranded Kranos that i already used.

Any other option?

You can check out the newly launched Hummer from MT helmets at around 5K mark.

Happy shopping,
surjaonwheelz

[narula123]

Adding my experience here with a new helmet since it may help fellow riders.

Recently, decided to retire my 7 year old Shoei X12 from track duties considering its age and relegate it to ‘softer’ use than trust my head on it barrelling down the main straight at the track at over 200 kmph.

Arais, HJC, Scorpion have unfortunately never fit me well so they were out of consideration. The most logical choice was to upgrade to an X-14 but the choice was so logical that it seemed boring. After a lot of research and trying fit with a friend’s lid, pulled the plug on the AGV Pista GP-R

Ordered from motoin.de and handcarried down by a friend it took some time to come thanks to Covid but once it finally did I couldnt believe how awesome it was.

I have extensively worn Shoeis over the last couple of years with an X-12 for track duties and a GT Air for touring. So i will summarise my pros and cons of the Pista below from my perspective and leave you with few pics

1. Ventilation - Hands down the best I have experienced. No jokes. You have to experience it to believe what I am saying. The lid flows a ton of air and then some. BUT it works best in a full tuck/race-crouch.

2. Fit - proper race fit with comfort being secondary to performance on priority. I am a “Shoei head” and this fits me very well. If my X12 was 10/10 on fit then this is a 9. I wear a size L in Shoei and ML in the Pista. Again, not comfy enough for long durations/touring.

3. Aerodynamics - There is a reason AGV demands you sell your kidneys and organs to pay for this helmet. The aeros are unbelievable and their marketing/PR stuff about the helmet cancelling its weight beyond 160 kmph is true. It actually works and I could instantly feel the difference. Even at standstill the helmet is super light thanks to its full carbon fibre shell

4. Visibility - Its an out and out race helmet and it ensures you have the maximum possible Field of View when in a tuck specially from above the brow area. The wide aperture helps further with absolutely no blind spots that I encountered. One BIG con - the visor mechanism has zero indents. Which means its always closed and doesnt have any mid positions that you can partially keep it open at. Ride with the visor fully open and beyond 15/20kmph it’ll auto shut itself. Again, its a track helmet and its not made for any urban use.

5. Build quality/Comfort - Pretty good with a very comfortable liner but minimal cushioning and padding. To my mind, Shoei winds hands down here on both counts. The AGV came with its pinlock insert and tear-offs along with a very nice helmet soft bag. The vents are made of metal and the whole helmet feels nicely put together.

Overall, if you want the best possible equipment for a race/trackday use then look no further. This helmet is so so good at what it was engineered for that it makes you question why you dint buy it sooner. It costs a bomb though and I honestly feel its overpriced by about 15-20%. Ideally, pick it up on a discount/closeout deal if you want to.

But, like I mentioned throughout, its a purpose made helmet and if you intend to use your lid on city/highway/touring runs you would be better off picking up a Shoei/Arai/Schuberth/Scorpion/HJC to name a few and for lesser monies.

I needed a helmet purely for track-use and I would whole heartedly recommend this lid if your budget and purpose support the purchase.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by philipmathen

..., there is no real option but ear plugs. I got the 3M ones Neil recommended...

Can you pass the link please?

Originally Posted by ManasN95

After much deliberation, finally went ahead and bought the MT THUNDER 3SV.

The fit is good, and I am very comfortable inside, quite liking it...

How the noise levels on this?

[ManasN95]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

How the noise levels on this?

Felt controlled. I, most of the times play faint music, so I'm not in a position to comment on the noise without any buds.

But overall, I'm quite liking the helmet.

[Vasuki]

Originally Posted by man_of_steel

Been a long time since I have posted something here!

Thanks a lot to neil.jericho for helping me choose the right helmet! If not for him I would have bought a Scorpion Exo 1400 Carbon. He insisted that I should wait and have a look at the Airoh GP550S. I am thankful that he insisted that I should hold my purchase and go for the top of the line from Airoh!

For my recent trip to Uttarakhand, was in a dilemma as unable to source the visor in time for my HJC, waited for 3 months but NIL result so had to go for a new helmet eventually.

I bought the above helmet, Airoh GP550S although in a different colour combination, from Auto Queen, Kochi. The helmet is quite good and light. It is a bit noisy though may be due to too many forward-facing vents. I thought racing helmets have fewer vents, but here it is quite opposite. Overall it is a nice helmet with an adequate safety rating.

Originally Posted by man_of_steel

Visor changing mechanism is designed by Mr. Satan himself!

My god, the above statement is quite liberal. I would say it is designed by collaborating with all the devils in this universe.

During the trip, to clean the visor and pinlock properly, I had to open the visor, if you thought opening is cumbersome, try reinstalling it.

I lost one of the visor locks due to not properly screwing it back . So much for the convenience. Now waiting for the replacement.

[RajeshKanna]

I am looking to buy a helmet in 10k price range. I would prefer an ECE certified helmet. I went through this thread and found some starting models from HJC, SCORPION,BELL etc. HJC CL-17 is nowhere to be found and scorpion exo410 is the same. Only Bell Qualifier is available which is not ECE certified. Got to know about NHK & Bilmola but couldn't find much about it on internet. Kindly suggest some models. I ride an INTERCEPTOR 650. Thanks in advance.

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by RajeshKanna

I am looking to buy a helmet in 10k price range. I would prefer an ECE certified helmet. I went through this thread and found some starting models from HJC, SCORPION,BELL etc. HJC CL-17 is nowhere to be found and scorpion exo410 is the same. Only Bell Qualifier is available which is not ECE certified. Got to know about NHK & Bilmola but couldn't find much about it on internet. Kindly suggest some models. I ride an INTERCEPTOR 650. Thanks in advance.

If you leave out MT helmets options are scarce in this segment (below 10k).

Around the 14k mark you've just 2 options:
1. Airoh Valor - 5 star SHARP rating
2. AGV K1 - Entry level of a big brand!

HJC are not being imported in recent times. Scorpion another US of A brand is well regarded. 410 was the most affordable Snell rated lid (a certification need for track days & racing) Now the EXO-420 replaces it which is an updated true high performance helmet at an unbeatable price. It costs just 150 USD! It's DOT/SNELL Certified.

NHK & Bimola are South East Asian imports and seems quite popular with the R15 crowd of KL. They're young and flashy.

Experts advise to go by SHARP ratings for any helmet. But even after having a healthy budget, options are low!

The newer MT Blade2 is DOT/ECE SHARP 4-Star rated helmet. If it fits you well then is an option.

Ride safe,
surjaonwheelz

[RajeshKanna]

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

Now the EXO-420 replaces it which is an updated true high performance helmet at an unbeatable price. It costs just 150 USD! It's DOT/SNELL Certified.

A dealer here is quoting 25k for exo420 and I have no source to buy it abroad. So that's out of option for me. Recent reviews about MT are mixed hence my hesitation towards them. AGV K1 Solid colour retails for about 14k INR but it's track specification helmet right? For my riding requirement it would not serve is what I understood from whatever knowledge I could gather online. Please correct me if wrong.

I had my eyes set on those SNELL certified ones but then I found out unless I can import, it's way out of my budget.

AIROH Valor , I will have a look at it.

Thank you for the suggestions.

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by RajeshKanna

A dealer here is quoting 25k for exo420 and I have no source to buy it abroad. So that's out of option for me. Recent reviews about MT are mixed hence my hesitation towards them. AGV K1 Solid colour retails for about 14k INR but it's track specification helmet right? For my riding requirement it would not serve is what I understood from whatever knowledge I could gather online. Please correct me if wrong.

I had my eyes set on those SNELL certified ones but then I found out unless I can import, it's way out of my budget.

AIROH Valor , I will have a look at it.

The AGV K1 will serve well for day to day riding but if you want a AGV and can stretch your budget, get the K3 instead. Its a much better helmet and worth the price difference.

Between the K1 and the Airoh Valor, go for the Valor. Its a proven helmet, gives you the full 5* SHARP rating and you get some very nice paint schemes as well. If you know your size, you can check with online retailers (High Note Performance, they are the importers) for more colours that are not available in Coimbatore. You can also order from offline retailers in Bangalore (Orion Motors), Cochin (Autoqueen) etc like what TBHPian adwaith has done on page 172 of the 650 twins thread.

[surjaonwheelz]

Originally Posted by RajeshKanna

I had my eyes set on those SNELL certified ones but then I found out unless I can import, it's way out of my budget.

AIROH Valor , I will have a look at it.

Check out this post (Ridden: Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 & Continental GT 650 Twin) Confirm with the Bell dealer.

[Cyborg]

Originally Posted by RajeshKanna

I am looking to buy a helmet in 10k price range. I would prefer an ECE certified helmet. I went through this thread and found some starting models from HJC, SCORPION,BELL etc. HJC CL-17 is nowhere to be found and scorpion exo410 is the same.

Check out Lazy Ass Bikers they have Scorpion Helmets. I bought the Scorpion EXO 490 a little while ago for 10k. Check a few pages back for details.

https://www.lazyassbikers.com/collec...aint=full-face

Speak to Dhaval, he is very knowledgeable and helpful. Their shipping/exchange policy is quite friendly too.

Let us know what you finally end up buying.

Cheers

[RajeshKanna]

Originally Posted by Cyborg

Check out Lazy Ass Bikers they have Scorpion Helmets. I bought the Scorpion EXO 490 a little while ago for 10k. Check a few pages back for details.

I did went through your post when you posted as i have been following/reading this thread for a while now. I did not consider it since i was having some parameters.
1. No inner wiser( I somehow seem to believe the lock/release mechanism will go soft over time.)
2. Double D Ring closure.

Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz

Check out this post (Ridden: Royal Enfield Interceptor 650 & Continental GT 650 Twin) Confirm with the Bell dealer.

From BELL i had my eyes on the Qualifier DLX Matte Black model for which he quoted around 13k INR.

Originally Posted by neil.jericho

The AGV K1 will serve well for day to day riding but if you want a AGV and can stretch your budget, get the K3 instead. Its a much better helmet and worth the price difference.

Between the K1 and the Airoh Valor, go for the Valor. Its a proven helmet, gives you the full 5* SHARP rating and you get some very nice paint schemes as well.

AGV K3 i was interested in but then i could not stretch the budget hence did not purse further.

I am following Int650 thread also and yeah i read the mentioned post from adwaith.

BELL Qualifier costs 9.5k INR and Qualifier DLX costs 13k INR. What would your thoughts be on these two.

Thank you all for suggestions.

[TheDarkKnight]

Originally Posted by RajeshKanna

I am looking to buy a helmet in 10k price range. I would prefer an ECE certified helmet.

I have owned the Bell Qualifier Flare for more than a year now, so here’s a quick review of the helmet. It is DOT and ECE 22.05 certified.

Fit of the helmet solely depends on the shape of your head. I would suggest you to try all helmets you have in contention before you make a purchase. Built quality of the helmet is not as great as other Bell helmets, but is on par with other helmets in the price range.

The helmet is pretty well ventilated with 3 intake and 4 exhaust vents. Noise is a bit on the higher side post 80kmph, as it does not have a chin curtain or nose guard. Both of these are available to be bought separately although I always wear earplugs so haven’t really felt a need to get these.

Spares availability for the helmet is pretty scarce nowadays though, as I have been searching for a tinted visor for the helmet for the past 3-4 months but haven’t yet been able to procure one. The Qualifier DLX does come with an additional tinted visor so it’s better to spend the extra money and get the DLX version.

My suggestion to you would be to pick one between the Qualifier DLX and the Airoh Valor.

Do let us know what you end up buying.

TheDarkKnight.

[mithun]

One of my friends is looking for a helmet in the range of 5-6K.

He has shortlisted:

- MT Targo

- Axor Apex/Street

He had used MT helmets in the past and was satisfied with it. He is worried about the recent quality issues with MT helmets sold in India.

Lots of friends are pitching Axor over MT.

How is the overall quality of Axor vs MT?

[neil.jericho]

Originally Posted by RajeshKanna

BELL Qualifier costs 9.5k INR and Qualifier DLX costs 13k INR. What would your thoughts be on these two.

I have heard of good feedback on the Bell Qualifier range of helmets. The Qualifier series also comes with a DLX version that gets you the Multi-directional Impact Protection System (MIPS). The MIPS can help improve safety a lot but the price of the helmet on High Note Performance is close to Rs 20K, which might be above your budget.

Between the Airoh Valor and the Bell Qualifier (base / DLX), I would suggest the Airoh only for it's 5* SHARP rating as compared to the Bell's 3* SHARP rating. Surpisingly, the Qualifier DLX MIPS also only gets a 3* SHARP rating. Not everyone goes by the SHARP rating, but its a test that I find to be useful in my decision making when purchasing a helmet.