Well I didnt want to get into the stories of the other brands in India because pages after pages can be written on them but surjaonwheelz brought it up so here goes.
Quote:
Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz There are many such brands, couple of years ago, Zeus Helmets (Taiwan) was available in India. Couple of reviews are also available in this thread. Now, very few are seen in stores. Not sure if they're still officially available.
Shiro helmets (Spain) is widely available now with Rynox Gears alliance. This is their second stint here. But still visors are an issue (not available). |
I still see the odd Zeus and Shiro helmet in a few stores. Zeus has a very attractive carbon fibre helmet available in a shop in Cochin and the helmet feels very light but at a near Rs 15,000 price point and with no SHARP rating, I doubt that piece will ever get sold. I think the days are numbered for these brands in India.
Quote:
Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz The above are the import & sell method in the affordable spectrum of dual (DOT+ECE) certified helmets.
Collaboration & manufactured in India
- Studds make SMK helmets
- Vega make Axor helmets |
Im seeing an increasing number of Axor and SMK helmets these days. At a below Rs 5,000 price point, these offer good value and the advantage of being backed by national manufacturers is that these will continue to be available for a long time. Quality wise, they are a huge improvement above the traditional ISI helmets that we have seen in the years gone by. Its good to see Indian manufacturers upping their game (
and price point that their products can command).
Quote:
Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz Then came the influx of imported mid range helmets,
1. Airoh
2. Scorpion Exo
3. HJC
4. Bell
5. AGV
For the first 3 in the list the products are lagging their international counterparts (models). Meaning older models reach our shores first! |
Each of these manufacturers has treaded a different path in India. Airoh helmets were there, then not there, then again there, then again not there. Im a fan of their top of the line GP500 helmet, I saw one in Ducati Bombay and really loved the quality of it. Recently they made a big push in the Indian market and brought the very nice SHARP 5* Valor helmet for a Rs 10,000 - Rs 12,000 price range. The helmets have excellent graphics and are widely available in different cities. That said, a little birdie tells me that the people behind importing the last batch of Airoh arent going to do so anymore so lets see what happens.
Scorpion helmets werent that easy to find in Bangalore with only one big store having some pieces that were unsold for some time. Having checked their helmets, I felt they were nice but werent worth their price. Oh and Scorpion's highest SHARP rating is 4* so that's something against them.
HJC has had a very good run in the Indian market thanks to their Bombay based importers. I would say they are the most successful big brand helmet manufacturer in India in the enthusiasts circles. The advantage HJC has is that they have a wide variety of choices and their top of the line race helmet is a third of the cost of the equivalent race helmet from Arai. Of course, you will have to live with the SHARP 3* rating of the RPHA 11 so maybe it isnt a fair comparison! That said they have some great mid range options that clear the SHARP 5* test.
Bell has seen a big push in recent times. Ive seen the Bell Qualifier being a good alternative to the similarly priced HJC CL17. Bell sadly doesnt command the same brand value that some of the others do.
Speaking of brand value, AGV probably tops the list. Their prices also unfortunately surpass that of the competition. Their Bangalore based importer finally seems to be pushing for a distribution network based on volumes. The AGV K1 with an attractive price tag (
by AGV standards) and hand me down graphics from some of their top helmets is doing well sales wise but the helmet is yet to be SHARP tested. I would expect a 4* rating. Visors and pinlocks are available for Rs 5,000 and 2,500 respectively which are steep. Honestly it is tough to recommend AGVs when the HJC equivalent options are much cheaper and equally well built.
I think LS2 might be a dark horse in the Indian market. We all know how our market got flooded with their fakes a few years ago. I have warned many a rider, on this forum and in my biking circles to stay away from LS2 for a while since there was a high possibility of landing up with an imitation of unknown origin. That said, they seem to have made good strides in the recent past. I stumbled upon a very good helmet of theirs - the FF323 Arrow for a very reasonable sub Rs 10,000 price point.
https://ls2helmetsindia.com/in/p/FF3...-Black-Red/103 The spec sheet is worth taking a look at. Im quite impressed by the helmet and on further research found that the same model is available abroad as well. It does come in a carbon fibre version as well for Rs 17,500. Browsing through LS2's website (Indian and others) does show that they are making the right moves to become a big player including making themselves seen on international racing grids come MotoGP weekend.
Quote:
Originally Posted by surjaonwheelz In addition with the superbike showrooms around, you have a decent import of helmets,
Harley Davidson - Bell
Triumph - Bell
Ducati - Nolan/Xlite
BMW - Schuberth |
I would be a little wary about buying from these dealerships because there is a strong possibility that these helmets would have been lying on their shelves for a few years. Unless one can validate when the helmet was manufactured and imported, it might be better to stay away from purchasing them.