All about the Arai Quantic motorcycle helmet

Page Contents

Arai Quantic: composite fibre touring full face helmet with Pinlock.

The Arai Quantic shares quite a few features with the slightly cheaper Arai Profile V. Not only does the Quantic share the R75 headshape of the Profile V (though that’s pretty much shared across the entire Arai range), but it also shares the 5mm wider bottom of the Profile that’s designed to help riders get the helmet on and off more easily.

arai quantic diamond white motorcycle helmet side view — Diamond white Aria Quantic

The construction’s more or less the same too, sharing a fibreglass-based composite construction that Arai calls PB e-cLc (they love a good technical sounding abbreviation at Arai!) that means there’s a reinforced belt around the helmet and it’s made from a complex laminate.

But whereas the Profile V is designed as more of an all-rounder helmet, the Quantic is designed more for the sports touring market. which means they’ve also tried to make it quiet, mega comfortable, and with vents around the mouth, brows, forehead and crown – to have exceptional ventilation too.

It looks a little racier too, with two F1-inspired teardrop vents on the front and a rear spoiler for added stability and aerodynamic control.

So, if you’re thinking of buying an Arai Quantic, here’s what you’ll get for your money.

Composite fibreglass full face helmet
Sports touring focused
ECE 22.06 certified
EQRS
Pinlock Max Vision antifog included
Double-D ring fastener
Sizes XS-XL
Expect to pay £499-£599

Best places to buy an Arai Quantic?

Please click below to visit the Arai Quantic helmets pages at two of our recommended retailers. And if you buy from either, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).

Safety

(more about helmet safety)

Does Arai make helmets that offer great protection? Mostly, yes.

Since 2015, all 14 helmets tested by SHARP have scored 3 stars or higher (out of a max of 5 stars) with a smattering of four and five star rated helmets in there – including the QV Pro and their top-flight racing helmet the RX-7V.

We’ve been comparing the Quantic to the Profile V and that helmet scored 4/5 stars overall so maybe that’s the sort of score we’d expect were SHARP to test the Quantic.

arai quantic face helmet in red rear view — Face graphic Arai Quantic

The Quantic is actually one of the new breed of helmets that have to achieve the new ECE 22.06 test standard before it can be sold in Europe (and around 50 other countries that have adopted ECE standards).

Our personal jury’s out on the claims Arai makes about their R75 ‘glancing off’ headshape and whether it actually makes much difference in the real world – for two reasons. First up, SHARP testing has been conducting oblique tests to measure this sort of effect for years and helmets including the R75 Arai Renegade V only scored 3 stars in SHARP tests.

And secondly, Arai hasn’t actually published any data to support these claims that we’ve found… read your own conclusions into that.

Having said that, the Quantic does come with EQRS cheek pads, a Pinlock Max Vision antifog insert to keep everything fog free, and its internal anti-shock lining is multidensity expanded polystyrene (EPS) to offer more progressive shock absorption. It’s also made in three different shell sizes to help optimise fit, looks and protection.

All those features are great for increased protection and helping keeping you out of trouble before, during and after an accident.

Ventilation

(more about helmet ventilation)

Ventilation is one area that Arai has tried to maximise with the Quantic.

There’s vent holes all over the front of the helmet: a chin bar vent, two visor vents, a large vent hidden behind the Arai logo on the forehead, and two teardrop crown vents.

arai quantic frost black motorbike helmet rear view — Large rear spoiler is there for aero and stability as well as hiding exhaust vents.

They’re all open/closable by a variety of sliders or switches and should pull a large volume of air through into the helmet. As usual, air circulates around the helmet via channels moulded into the EPS liner before exiting through one of four locations: a large (closable) exhaust under the spoiler, a pair of tiny exhausts lower down each side of the helmet and a hidden exhaust located in the rear of the neck roll.

Actually, they’re all closeable apart from that chin vent, because while it looks like you can close it fully, the bottom part of the vent is always open to let a small amount of air through towards your mouth. That might get a bit annoying in the depths of winter – but then again you’ll have cold air getting in all kinds of nooks and crannies during the winter so it might not be too bad.

Arai reckons these vents increase ventilation levels over previous helmets and all switches are easy to use in gloves.

Visor

(more about visors)

The Quantic uses Arai’s regular VAS or variable axis system visor which is ready to accept an (included) Pinlock 120 Max Vision antifog insert: that’s the largest Pinlock that’s designed to cover more area of the visor so your vision isn’t obscured by the Pinlock’s silicon beading. And the 120’s their most absorbant Pinlock so you really shouldn’t fog up at all.

A couple of useful links…

– All our Arai helmet reviews –
– Helmets with optically correct visors –

Other than that, the visor’s typical Arai fair. There’s a visor lock on the left which can also be used to crack open the visor for a bit of ventilation. It’s located on the left, so it can be a nuisance trying to unlock the visor with your right hand when you’re stopped and holding the clutch in.

arai quantic face helmet in fluo yellow side view — Another Quantic Face graphic

There’s also Arai’s trademark pair of brow vents integrated into the top of the visor that pull air through the helmet and around your forehead and temples.

Swapping out Arai visors has become a bit easier more recently, though they’re still a bit more fiddly than most. With the Quantic, you open the visor, push a lever either side to pop off the side pods, close the visor – which moves it to a release setting – where it can be easily pulled off.

All in all, the visor system’s a little unusual but generally works well.

Comfort and Sizing

(more about comfort and sizing)

The Arai Quantic is available in sizes XS-XL and is made in 3 shell sizes so you should get a well optimised fit, meaning it shouldn’t look too big or small on you.

It’s got a fully removable/washable comfort liner with a soft touch brushed nylon interior – the same interior used in the Profile V and RX-7V and which is known for being really comfortable.

arai quantic snake touring helmet in red side view — This one’s the Snake graphic Quantic

The EQRS cheek pads have laser cut foam contouring and can be swapped out for a size larger/smaller to tailor the fit if required, though replacements are extra.

There’s also an unusual/useful neck roll feature where it incorporates a pocket that’s designed to take the cable from your bluetooth headset without the need for pulling the neck roll out for installation. And of course, there’s a pair of speaker pockets built into the helmet too.

If you find the helmet a bit snug around the temples, there’s the usual Arai peel-away foam padding in the comfort liner where you can remove a 5mm area to give a little more space inside.

Down below, there’s that slightly wider base to the helmet to help with getting the helmet on/off without pulling off your ears, and there’s a fixed chin curtain to try and reduce the amount of wind/noise getting into the helmet from underneath.

All in all it’s a very well thought out interior that should give years of comfortable use.

Looks & Graphics

At the time of writing there’s only a range of plain solid coloured helmets along with two graphic options – the Face and Snake graphics.

arai quantic fluor yellow motorbike helmet side view — Hi viz Fluor Yellow quantic

As you can see from the photos up and down the page, the plains include gloss/matt black (or diamond and frost in Arai-speak) along with a solid gloss diamond white, gloss modern grey and a fluor yellow hi viz yellow.

I expect we’ll see more graphics available over the next year or two so to check out those latest designs and find any offers, please use the links below to drop onto the Arai Quantic helmets pages at our recommended stores.

Best places to buy an Arai Quantic helmet?

Arai Quantic Video

Here’s an 8m look around the Quantic with Sportsbikeshop.

Other stuff – fasteners, bluetooth, weight, build quality, warranty

All Quantics come with double-d ring fasteners – a bit fiddly to use until you’ve got the hang of them but safe and old school.

If you’re looking for a helmet that’ll take your bluetooth headset, you should be fine with a Quantic. As mentioned, there’s a pair of decent speaker pockets and that cable-friendly neck roll, and Arai says the exterior has been designed to accept 3rd party bluetooth controllers so you shouldn’t have a problem finding a nice smooth place to stick or clamp your bluetooth controller.

arai quantic diamond black touring motorcycle helmet side view — Gloss or Diamond black Arai Quantic

Arai helmets have never been the lightest helmets and the Quantic weighs in around 1.55Kg (or 3.4lbs). Weight shouldn’t be a problem once it’s on though as it’s only around 100g above the average weight of your typical full face.

Arai helmets can be a bit quirky, but they do use good quality materials and are quality checked several times throughout the build process. So, if you appreciate great build quality above price, then you’ll probably be happy you went for a Quantic.

The Quantic is backed with a long 5 year warranty or 7 years from date of manufacture (you’ll usually find the date of manufacture on a sticker somewhere inside your helmet).

Overall/Summary

If you’re looking for a well built and comfortable touring helmet, then the Quantic should be a solid buy. Arai say they’ve improved aero and focused on improving ventilation with the Quantic, and you can see that from its zillion air holes and exhausts and that prominent spoiler on the back.

arai quantic face blue motorcycle helmet rear view — Face graphic in blue and grey

And they’ve also done good work to more closely integrate 3rd party bluetooth kits that no self-respecting tourer can do without. OK, it’s lacking a sun visor (though you can fit Arai’s external pro-shade if you need one) and that visor lock can be a bit on the fiddly side. But if you buy into the quality and the design ethos of Arai, then you probably can’t go far wrong with the Quantic

The main flies in the ointment? The Arai Profile V and Debut (links below) offer most of what the Quantic offers but for less money.

Crash Helmet Buying Guides & Top 10s

For (hopefully!) other useful information to help you when buying your next helmet, check our various Motorcycle Helmet Buying Guides - or have a look at our Top 10 best helmet lists where we've got the top 10 best rated helmets overall along with Top 10 Best Budget/Top 10 Safest/Top 10 Best Full Face/Top 10 Best Modular/Flip-up/ Top 10 Best Sportsbike/Track helmets.

Best places to buy an Arai Quantic?

Good Alternatives to the Arai Quantic?

Arai Profile V

The best place to look for a great alternative is check out our Sports Touring helmets section or our Top 10 Full Face Helmets pages. Failing that, here’s a few other helmets similar to the Quantic that we reckon you should check out.

arai debut motorcycle helmet in diamond white side view — Arai Debut

First up, there’s Arai’s own Profile V or Debut helmets. Both are cheaper than the Quantic, look and feel pretty similar, come with Pinlocks – and the Profile V’s even SHARP 4 star safety rated.

simpson venom gloss white motorcycle crash helmet front view — Simpson Venom

If you’re interested in something more left-field, the Simpson Venom is a SHARP 4 star safety rated composite fibre helmet that’s all day comfortable, comes with a Pinlock and has an internal sun visor.

Shark Spartan Kraken motorcycle helmet side view — Shark Spartan

The Shark Spartan is a great value street helmet that comes in either fibreglass or carbon versions, has as sun visor and Pinlock and is SHARP 4 star too.

hjc-fg-st-crono-orange-motorcycle-crash-helmet-side-view — HJC FG-ST

Finally, and for a bit less money, you could try the HJC FG-ST. That’s a fibreglass helmet that’s SHARP 5 star rated for safety. It’s a smidge heavier than the Arai but it comes with the full complement of sun visor and Pinlock and it’s a Ride magazine recommended helmet too.

More Sports Touring Helmets?

We've looked at heaps of helmets that are more suitable for touring and naked bikes. You'll find them on our Sports Touring helmets pages. Or, if you're looking for the safest tested helmets on the market, you might want to take a look at our safest motorcycle helmets pages where you'll only find helmets that are SHARP four or five star rated - so you'll know you're wearing the best protection around.