AGV has launched a range of new colour schemes for their top crash helmets for 2014. The AGV Pista GP is their full carbon race helmet, as used by Valentino Rossi. The Corsa is aimed at sporty road riders and the GT Veloce helmet is aimed at sports tourers. Apart from the new colour schemes, it’s also being aware of AGVs attempts to make their helmets fit everyone as closely as possible.
Click to see 2014 AGV Corsa and Pista GP range
All these helmets come in 4 shell sizes – which is important for making a helmet fit well, perform well in an accident, and stop you looking like a lollipop when wearing it (large helmet size, small head = looking like a lollipop!) So some of the more ‘premium’ manufacturers (Shoei, Arai, Schuberth, AGV etc.) produce more shell sizes to accommodate different sized heads. So these come in four shell sizes, great. But they also come with a range of foam inserts to make micro-adjustments to the inside of the helmet and make things better fitting and more comfortable still. These adjust at the cheeks and crown, two common areas that need adjustment.
So there you go. If you’ve lusted after an AGV helmet but found the shape a bit wrong for you, it might be time to give them another go.
Interested in buying an AGV crash helmet?
If you’re interested in seeing a range of the latest AGV crash helmets for sale (or just want to check out some prices) – please click the picture below to visit the AGV page at Sportsbikeshop below. If you buy from there, we get a small sum from the sale – thanks!
Not sure if I’d ever have the need for a bag to keep my helmet in – I tend to take it with me or, at bigger events like bike shows or races, there’s usually somewhere to hand the helmet in. Nevertheless, Oxford reckon there’s enough demand to warrant the Lid locker and by all accounts, It’s a very well thought out product.
Oxford Lid locker – sorry for the poor quality but this was the only photo I could find
It’s a bag you can put your helmet in and securely tie it to your bike so you don’t have to carry it around. It’s in a bag purely to keep it protected from rain and muck – with the actual steel cable doing the securing of the helmet. But it seems to be pretty well made and the cable goes through the visor opening to lock it straight to the bike. It also has a Velcro strap that you can wrap around somewhere on the bike to suspend the helmet above the ground; useful if it’s raining (or parking on a sodden, slippy, muddy field where people are busy dropping bikes and smashing fairings take note Brands Hatch.) Rant over. It also apparently folds up pretty small when stowed away – the cable springs into a tight coil and the bag packs away to nothing.
The Oxford lid locker retails for about £20.
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11 years of riding in ‘attack’ mode on a Hayabusa made me yearn for something a bit more laid back. I toyed with getting a Speedmaster or Bonneville America – but then I’ve always loved things that are a bit more extreme; and total respect to Triumph for producing something so delectably bonkers as the Rocket!
One thing I loved about the Busa – and would giddily recommend to anyone looking for a great ROAD bike – is having gobs of liquid torque. Torque’s where it’s at in my book and the Busa’s is colossal. But leap on the Rocket and you find it’s got even more. Masses. Canyons of the stuff. It makes every ride effortless, a world full of glorious snarling noise and tractor like pull. Overtake that wagon – just wind it open and the
My Rocket basking in the sun, all Instagrammed up
torque explodes you past. Grin. Do it again.
It’s all about that engine with this bike. The noise, the power, the feeling, the performance. Mine came with the Triumph road-illegal pipes on it. It makes a noise like a Merlin at full chat, and crackles and pops like a wounded Messerschmitt when you wind it down. It might well be a carefully manufactured character (what isn’t these days?), but it works for me.
Brakes
Brakes work well too. They’re four pot Nissins as used on Triumph sports bikes and they’re full of feel and stop the Rocket like throwing out an anchor. Mind you, that’s the opinion of someone coming off a gen 1 busa (notoriously rubbish brakes) so might not count for too much. My bike’s got some stunty adjustable levers courtesy of ebay on it which are great – twiddle with the settings and they bring the levers to just the right place where minimum movement gives maximum effect. Should’ve come as standard really.
Handling
But of course, it’s a cruiser so the handling will be shit? Well kinda yes and kinda not. Read reviews from the Yanks and they often point out that you can tell the roads around Hinkley are twisty because the Rocket handles like no other cruiser. Give it to a sportsbike rider and they’ll think you’ve just lobbed them on a wheel barrow. Me? Well I was surprised at how well it handles. There’s loads of ground clearance and you can have heaps of fun hauling it over to smoothly glide through bends then give it a handful on the way out. Massive grins. And so far, I’ve not even ground down the foot pegs so there’s even more to come from it.
Which is all very surprising, considering it’s a cruiser; a cruiser with a 240 section rear tyre. It does feel a bit odd at first and takes some getting used to. Triumph obviously specced the tyre purely cos it looks cool. Which does it for me. But that’s at a cost of handling. It’s a price I’m happy to pay but you can feel the handling’s compromised when you hit the twisties. Which is probably why the Rocket III Touring has a much more sensible 180 section rear on it (how puny ;).
How does it feel? Well, you can feel you’re having to haul the bike over across the tyre before it banks. It’s sort of weird at first but I don’t notice it now so I’m more than happy with it. And when every time you walk towards the bike from the rear and something inside you grins and growls, then you’ll be happy to live with the compromise too. Why does a wide rear look so mean? I’ve no idea but it does and it’s great.
Another great thing about the Rocket III is that you can blast along happily, overtaking cars and having a hoot. But when you want – or if the queues of cars are just too long – then you can sit back and cruise and still enjoy just being aboard the bike. You don’t even have to change gear – stick it in fourth and it’ll pull from sharp bends all the way to fast sweepers nearing triple figures. Purrrrfect.
So what about other stuff – mpg, reliability, comfort. Dull but important stuff?
Well, if I’m A road blasting, tank range is 177 miles (consistently till dry) but motorway is well over 200. That equates from high 30 to high 40 mpg. Which is OK for a 2.3 litre engine I’d say. Reliability? Well mine’s been great but I’ve not had it long. Early ones suffered a few problems with clutches and drive shafts but most will have been sorted by now, and apparently the latest ones are great as Triumph has sorted the niggles themselves, as you’d expect.
left hand side with chrome intake cover
Comfort?
Well I fitted Triumph Comfort shocks myself which sorted out some of the rear end choppiness – but again, later models are apparently sorted in this respect too. I do intend to fit some pulled back bars on mine as I tend to hunker down over the tank with the ones I’ve got, but that’s probably just personal preference as I want to be more laid back still. But the seat’s pretty good and it’s all round a pretty smooth ride.
Get one?
I tend to think of the Rocket III in these terms: If you’re after an American style cruiser, this probably ain’t it. Indeed, I’m not sure the Rocket really hit the nail on the head in the US market either. My reading of things is that the Rocket didn’t really do it so they had to release the 1600/1700 Thunderbird v-twin range to have another go. No, if you want a British version of a cruiser, this is probably the one. Part cruiser, part muscle bike, totally over the top engine that handles and looks mean as a bulldog with a chain saw.
If you like to get noticed, love your torque and love crazy over-the-top engineering, give one a go – you’ll love it.
Looking to Buy Motorcycle Gear?
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I’m thinking of getting one of these myself (probably try one on at the next bike show). The Roof Desmo was designed to solve some of the ‘problems’ found with the Roof Boxer and the Boxer V8. Both these helmets are, of course, ace and iconic. But there’s always niggles and Roof reckon they’ve sorted them out with the Desmo…
The first niggle was that some folks moaned you couldn’t open the visor very easily. It needed a couple of pushes and pulls and that’s a pain when you’re riding along. The desmo takes just one hand and can be done in one movement. Niggle solved. Secondly, when the visor or chin guard was down, ventilation could be pretty poor. So Roof uprated the air channels and vents on the Desmo, so cooling’s improved and misting reduced. That’s coupled with an anti-fog visor being provided as standard. Bang on.
Chin bar rotates to make an open faced helmet. Now that’s magic.
There’s also some thought gone into improving the mechanism of the visor. It seals better than before and when the chin guard’s pushed up, cunning things happen to the hinges and the visor moves closer to the face to give more protection. Nice.
The Roof Desmo is also dual-homologated which means it’s been ECE 22.05 tested and approved as being OK and safe to use with the chin guard up as an open-faced helmet as well as with the guard down as a full-faced helmet. That being said, we can’t be sure quite how well it performs as it’s not been SHARP tested yet – however, previously tested Roof crash helmets have scored either three or four stars out of five, so we’d guess it’ll probably perform pretty well in the tests and in an accident.
sweet/cool/mean/funky etc.
That being said, it’s the look of a Roof helmet that’s going to sell it to you. If you want sensational performance from a modular, flip-up helmet, there’s a gazillion out there that perform as well or better. But there’s something about the Roof that’s stylish, funky and cool. They come in XS (54cm) to XXL (63cm) and cost about £300, if you can find a dealer as there aren’t that many about (sort it out Roof!) but well worth finding one out.
Update: I did buy one! Check out the full review here.
Please click below to visit the Roof helmets pages at our recommended stores - all highly rated for excellent service and keen prices. 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).
Click above to drop onto their Roof helmets pages or *quick view retailer T&Cs here.
I drifted past a dozen cars towards the junction. It’s a tricky junction this – a dog-leg cross road across a pretty busy A-road – where you have to look back over your left shoulder to see if anything’s coming when pulling out. It’s not usually so busy; usually I wait for a car or two in front then take my turn. But for some reason it’s a bit rammed today and I really can’t be bothered waiting so I’m filtering towards the front.
I get near the front and the first car’s pulling out. I make a split second decision. I can see straight on and right (the easy view) and it’s clear. Somewhere in my subconscious, I’m saying that if he’s pulled out, it’s probably alright for me to follow right behind as long as I’m close enough so I can get through the same hole in the traffic that they’ve judged is ok. So I go for it.
Only, they’d cut things a bit too close in the first place. Half way across the road, I realise they’ve pulled out making cars on the A road slow down to avoid them. And I’ve just pulled out straight after him. Cue high-pitched emission of intestinal gases and muffled shouting of the F-word inside my helmet.
Thankfully, the other drivers took evasive action (thanks, thanks, thanks – I love you all) and we made it across the junction without further ado.
But not 5 seconds later, I’m following that same car down the road when another car pulls out in front of him from a timber yard, slowing us both down. One nanosecond later and I’m cogging it down a gear. I’ve registered the road layout, seen the junction ahead, the hazards, the road markings, but somehow it doesn’t matter. You know what it’s like – you’re at one with the bike and these feckers are in your way. Your adrenaline’s still pumping from the last incident and you’re in flight mode and whereas you were hoping to get a move on and put some distance between you and where you made an arse of yourself, another imbecile (no other word would do at the time) has got in my way. I needed to get them out of my life and that involves them being in my rear view mirrors – pronto. So I went for it.
Only, I’m aware that as I’m gunning past, the front car has now got his right indicator on and that I’m hammering through his turn right lane. Hmm. Rule No. 1 in the idiot’s guide to not dying on a motorcycle: don’t overtake dozy slow drivers turning right. Or maybe Rule No.1 is don’t be an impatient arse overtaking in places you shouldn’t. Yes, that’s probably right. Infuriatingly.
Thankfully, he’s so slow and staying out of his turn right lane far too long, meaning I’m clear and well past by the time he manoeuvres. Phew take 2.
So I pull back in, take a bit of a deep breath, roll off the throttle and cogitate. I became very aware that I’d just been a silly boy and that’s not the way a 46 year old bloke should behave on a motorcycle. Especially not when he would really, deeply love to become a 47 year old bloke on a motorcycle. It’s become suddenly apparent that I’ve been a bit of a pillock and I immediately start to try and work out why.
Two things quickly dawn on me. Firstly, I seem to be a bit twitchier than normal. I’m a bit disassociated from what’s going on and everything seems somehow to be happening more quickly. Secondly, that’s how I get when I’ve had too much caffeine. And I’d had about 6 or 7 cups that day at work (I know, shocking isn’t it).
It’s not something I’d considered before:
Drink riding – considered/rejected
Drug riding – considered/rejected
Riding covered in jelly & ice cream covered in nude, nymphomaniac airhostesses – considered/still under consideration.
Caffeine riding – not considered.
Which is, I guess, particularly scary and insidious. I felt more or less normal. Jumped on my bike, but took risks I’d not normally take and rode like a bit of a tit. A dangerous tit on 300Kg of Rocket III at that. Only after I’d done a load of very silly manoeuvres did I realise I was a bit of a coiled spring. I was tense, making snap judgements, impatient judgements (OK, more impatient than usual) and it all conspired to make me a bit of a danger. After all, I bought the Rocket after years on sports bikes to help me take things a bit steadier. Then after all that caffeine, I find myself riding on a hair trigger.
So that’s something I’m going to be adding to my lengthening list of things I shouldn’t do. And It’ll probably be pretty close to the top because as you may, or may not, know, you’ll most likely find you have a few near misses over the course of your motorcycling career. It’s often by the smallest of margins that you stay hairy side up – and keeping a clear and caffeine-free view of the world might mean the difference between parking your bike safely at home or becoming a crimson smudge on the A631 to Holmfirth. It might for me anyhow.
Looking to Buy Motorcycle Gear?
If you’re looking to buy some gear or just want to see some prices, click the link below and it’ll take you to Sports Bike Shop. We don’t have anything to do with Sports Bike Shop except if you buy from there, we get a small percentage of the sale (you don’t pay any more, it’s just they do this to encourage people to link to their site). So if you do click and buy – a huge thanks – and we’d love to know how well they did with your order, so we can feedback to others.
Click above to see motorcycle gear and check prices.
Summary: the Shoei GT-Air is an expensive, well-built, premium priced full faced helmet that’s quiet and comfortable. It has an integral sun visor and great ventilation; but try first as they tend to be a size bigger than normal.
Great Ventilation
Pinlock anti-fog visor as standard
Lightweight full faced helmet
Designed for sports-touring
Integral sun visor
Great noise suppression
Wide, optically true standard visor
SHARP 3 star safety rating (out of 5)
Typical price range: £300-£400 depending on retailer/model
The Shoei GT-Air is Shoei’s new for 2013, top of the range crash helmet for the non-sports rider (i.e. it’s not really designed for the track). As is usual with Shoei, they tend to make a few minor revisions to their old helmet range and develop things organically with lots of little improvements that gradually make it into their whole range of helmets. For the GT-Air that means a helmet that’s got lots of useful features – including top notch shell materials, integral sun visor, focus on noise reduction as well as all the usual benefits of buying a premium quality helmet like a Shoei, such as great finishing quality and comfort. At least, that’s what we’re hoping.
So, sit back, get your slippers out and have a toot on your favourite bowl of old shag – here’s what people around the web are saying about the Shoei GT-Air crash helmet.
Safety
Well, like all helmets for sale in the EU, it’s ECE 22.05 stamped, meaning it’ll not fall apart on its first bump. However it only scored a fairly average 3 star rating in the SHARP crash helmet safety test, scoring badly on the side impact tests. This is an area some manufacturers skimp a little to save weight so it’s common for a helmet to lose stars in these tests. The shell is constructed using Shoei’s (**technical acronym alert**) AIM Advanced Integrated Matrix technology – essentially it’s an un-divulged composite material that aims to produce strength, rigidity and absorption – and the lining is multi-density EPS (expanded polystyrene) which is pretty standard fitment in most helmets and does a good job at absorbing impacts.
The GT-Air is produced in 3 shell sizes which is generally a good thing – a helmet is designed to have a certain amount of liner and if there’s only one shell size produced, then the size variants are made by increasing or decreasing the amount of EPS liner to fit smaller or bigger heads. More expensive helmets, like the GT-Air, tend to be produced in more shell sizes, meaning they don’t have to compromise by adjusting the amount of padding too much, resulting in helmets that have much more suitable amounts of padding for each helmet size; so the Shoei’s three shell sizes is a good thing for safety.
The GT-Air also has a wider visor aperture for improved visibility – again, the better the visibility, the better for safety and all round ease of use. Owners comment that the build quality seems to be good on the helmet and they like the wider visor – but so far we’ve not had word of anyone dumping themselves down the road wearing one so no reports of how it fared in an accident just yet.
Shoei wanted the GT-Air to be as quiet as possible. Of course, helmet noise does depend on some things other than the helmet – including the sort of bike you ride (it’ll be quieter sat behind a barn door fairing than bolt-upright on a naked for example). Also, the GT-Air is a sports-touring helmet so the aerodynamics are designed for a more upright riding position – not nose down near the tank. Having said that, lots of owners reckon it’s anywhere from good to great in terms of quietness. It’s always subjective and depends on what your last helmet was and if you’re wearing plugs or not – and one rider reckoned the big vent on the top made quite a bit of noise which again would be dependent on whether you’ve got vents closed or not. But if you’re wanting a quiet helmet, the GT-Air seems overall very good and broadly commended for quietness.
Ventilation
Ventilation is a particularly strong point for the GT-Air (but then, with a name like Air, you’d expect it to be I guess). Pretty well everyone seems to rate the vents as really effective, particularly for taking air over the top of the head and cooling your bonce down. Back in the UK, for the 2 days a year that we need tons of cooling, that’s not such a big deal, but the chin vents are good for clearing the visor and since it comes with a Pinlock anti-fog insert, ventilation is generally classed as great. And once you get the hang of which way’s open on the vents (ain’t that always the biggest problem?) then the controls for each of the vents are nice and big and easy to use. Bang on.
Visor
Visor’s great. Next!
Oh, OK. Well it’s a really wide visor hole for really wide peripheral vision. The visor’s optically very clear and the seal is improved on previous Shoeis and stops air/water getting in. Can’t ask for more than that. Except perhaps an integral sun visor that’s operated by a big slider to the right of the helmet. Integral sun visors on helmets are especially useful for when the sun’s low in spring/autumn when it’s pretty much an essential safety feature as well as meaning you don’t have to fiddle about, stopping and jamming shades on when the sun pops out. The sun visor also passes the same UV protection standards as sunglasses too – another tick in the box there.
Users reckon the visor’s got lots of positions, including one that opens the visor about half an inch open that’s really handy for town riding – and it’ll stay where you put it up to 80 mph if you want it to. That’s testament to a good, firm visor mechanism if ever. I’ve personally found Shoei’s ratchets to be very refined and do just what you want em to. That’s including the quick-release mechanism. They do take a little bit of getting used to as you have to match up a few lugs before they pop into place, but it doesn’t take long and the whole system is handy for popping the visor off if you want to take it into the house to wash flies/muck off it without taking the helmet in (stops my other half moaning about having helmets hanging around the house anyhow 🙂
GT-Air rear view showing spoiler, vent and chin guard
As mentioned, the GT-Air comes with a Pinlock anti-mist insert as standard. These are really very good if you’re riding at anything below 10 degrees c. so a welcome addition.
On the Inside
If you get the right size, people reckon it’s very comfortable. However, a few folks commented that the GT-Air is a bit on the small size – many people going for a size larger than they’d normally wear, so I suggest trying before buying is a must on this one.
On the inside, it’s got removable everything; cheekpads, centrepads, ear pads, chin strap pads and they’re all washable. It’s all very comfortable and plush in there so you should be a happy bunny if you’re all-day riding. The ear pads can be removed so you can fit earphones and one user said it fitted his audio & intercom system with microphone very easily.
Also included with the GT-Air is a breath guard and chin curtain – one there to reduce steaming on the visor and the other to keep drafts out and noise down (though I personally tend to bin them off as, like the bloke in the video below, find these things reduce the anti fogging).
Overall
The Shoei GT-Air is a nice crash helmet. It looks stylish, is terribly well finished, really quiet but only average for safety. If you’re in the UK or Oz, it comes with a double-d ring fastener (which means it would be suitable for the track) but in some territories, it comes with Shoei’s ratchet fastener.
If you’re in the market for a premium full faced helmet from a premium manufacturer, want a helmet that’s quiet, comfortable and with an integral sun visor, you could probably do a lot worse that take the Shoei GT-Air for a spin – but try it out first.
Video
GT-Air I video from WebBikeWorld…
For other helmet reviews check out either our Crash Helmet Reviews or SHARP 4 & 5 Star Crash Helmet reviews sections! And, as always, if you have experience of the GT-Air, please add your thoughts in the comments section below – cheers!
MT is a Spanish helmet maker known for its range of budget helmets. The MT is an off-road helmet with a thermoplastic shell and multi-density padding for shock absorption. It’s got a few nice touches like integral (but removable) peak for increased aerodynamics, and a goggle strap channel moulded into the shell with anti-slip channels to stop the goggles shifting when you’re getting physical. It’s also got good ventilation with something MT call Active Flux 360 ventilation system – not sure that’s much more than vents at the front and an exhaust at the back to bring air over the skull – but most manufacturers like to give fancy labels to these things. It’s got some essentials for the active off-roader though – removable and washable lining and aluminium screws make cleaning it inside and out a bit easier.
MT Synchrony helmet Duality black/orange
The MT Synchrony isn’t yet SHARP tested though previously tested MT helmets have performed pretty well scoring between 3 to 5 stars – so we’d expect this one to be pretty safe. It’s ACU approved (so can be used on the track) and ECE 22.05 approved.
Please click below to visit the MT helmets pages at our recommended stores or Amazon UK. 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).
HJC make some great helmets, but they’re not so good at naming them! Apart from the dodgy naming, there’s some interesting features in this new helmet.
First off, it looks cool, with a pretty distinctive hexagonal carbon design over a mix of organic and non-organic fibreglass. It’s also been wind tunnel tested to reduce buffeting, increase high speed stability and improve ventilation. Whether it works or not we can’t say, though it’s a good goal to aim for and, if it works, should help reduce noise too.
New HJC RPHA 10 Plus helmet – catchy name huh!?
If pushed, I’d guess that it’ll be middle of the range in terms of safety standard. It will of course have passed the European ECE 2205 regulation (that all motorcycle helmets have to pass) but previous R-PHA helmets that have been tested by SHARP have scored 3 stars – which is about average.
Other features HJC mention are that it’s light weight (tho they don’t say how light) has a high-end ‘silk-like’ removable and anti bacterial liner (a silky liner has never been top of my hit-parade, but each to their own ;-)) and comes with both clear and dark visors with a pinlock (their press release actually says with tear off pins which I’d be delighted to hear more about how they work!)
Anyhow, it looks sweet, comes with a 5 year warranty and should sell for about £249. If we can get our hands on one to see if it’s worth it, we’ll do a full review in the future.
Click here to see more information on HJC helmets.
If you’re interested in seeing a range of the latest HJC crash helmets for sale (or just want to check out some prices) – please click the picture below to visit the HJC page at Sportsbikeshop below. If you buy from there, we get a small sum from the sale – thanks!
Summary: A well constructed flip-up helmet with no massive foibles. Useful internal sun visor, good ventilation and great Pinlock anti-fog visor. The only moans being it’s quite noisy and the micro-lock strap can be a bit clunky and uncomfortable.
Prices typically range from £190-£250 depending on model/retailer
Looking to buy a Nolan?
We recommend SportsBikeShop (UK) for competitive prices, free delivery and outstanding service, and Motoin (Ger) for quality service and decent prices (even with the current £-€ exchange rate). Or you can click through to the Nolan helmets pages at Amazon UK if you prefer to buy from them. Please see here for more info on these stores or click the links to go straight to their Nolan helmet pages where you'll find the latest designs and deals.
The Nolan N104 is a flip up injected polycarbonate helmet that Nolan say is 100% made in Italy. But don’t hold that against them (:-) because Nolan also say it’s been designed and created by engineers who are first and foremost bikers. So it should be extremely user-friendly right? Let’s have a look…
First off, it’s got a pretty distinctive look – much more angular than most modern helmets. Reminds me a bit of the stormtrooper look – especially in white. Looks are generally subjective so we’ll leave that there – if you like it, you like it, if you don’t, have a look at our other flip-up helmet reviews to find one that floats your boat.
Comfort & Noise
It’s widely regarded as very comfortable by users. Like any helmet, it’s important to check it’s the correct fit when buying any new crash hat, and Nolan do offer replacement cheek guards to help customise the fit. If you find yours is too tight/loose, get in touch with your Nolan retailer and they should be able to find you some.
The inside of the helmet is treated with antibac and is fully removable for washing/cleaning. If you look inside, you can see the ventilation channels and you can also see cut-outs for the stems of glasses (so they’re not pressing against your head) and for Nolan’s bluetooth intercom.
One of the only downsides reported by N104 owners was that, like many flip-up modular helmets, it’s is a bit noisy. That probably won’t be too much of a problem for most of us who use ear plugs but it’s nice to have the option (Nolan!). Modular helmets do suffer a little more than full-faced helmets in this respect as they’ve more latches, buttons and sundry other fiddly little bits to pop up into the airflow and generate noise. So if you’re looking for peace and quiet above all else, you’re probably best staying away from modular helmets. There’s also the issue of a great whacking chin-guard and visor mechanism sitting sail-like on the top of your head from time to time too. However, stick in your plugs and you’ll be OK.
Ventilation
Reports are that the Nolan’s a comfortable place to be and has decent ventilation for hot weather riders. For those of us in colder places, the vents do a decent job of keeping the visor mist free too. There’s a chin vent and, unusually, separate forehead vents, both operated by the one slider. Click the slider one position and the top vent opens, scooping up air and directing it over the head to exhaust via the vents at the rear. Move it one more notch and it opens the other forehead vent just above the visor. This one does a grand job of directing air over the visor too. The slider’s OK to use with gloved hands, so no problems here.
Visors
The Nolan N104 comes with a main visor and a drop-down sun visor. A sun visor is pretty de-rigeur these days with most flip-ups but it’s a dead useful feature nevertheless. Nice one Nolan’s biker/engineer chaps. The main visor itself is wider than most, giving excellent peripheral vision. I’ve never had problems with peripheral vision in any of the helmets I’ve owned, I’ve gotta be honest. But I do know that racing helmets tend to have wider apertures than most road helmets so I guess the wider the better, as long as it doesn’t compromise safety. The visor itself comes with a Pinlock anti-fog insert as standard and it’s optically very good. Combine that with the good ventilation and there’s no reports of problems with fogging.
The sun visor is optically good too – it’s not the darkest visor but is good for general sun shading in most situations. There’s a big nose cut-out at the bottom of the sun visor which means that those of us with Romanesque honkers will be OK but the flipside is that some folks complain that it’s a bit too invasive on the line of sight, especially when you’re getting racy and ducking down a bit. Then again, there’s slight issues with all the alternatives – the fiddle of replacing a clear visors with a smoked visor (and getting caught out when the sun goes down) and the reflections/frame of sunglasses. In the scheme of things, the sun visor’s pretty good.
The sun visor has two positions – up and down. Press the button on the lower left of the helmet and the spring-loaded sun visor pops down, then slide the slider to retract it again. Dead simple.
The main visor movement is a little disappointing though. It secures closed by means of a little tab in the centre of the visor. Undo this and it ‘ratchets’ up in a few steps to the fully opened position. If you’re like me and like riding with the visor cracked, then this is tricky as the first ratchet position is about 3 cms open (1 inch or so). So it’s either closed or too far open. Having said that, when the visor’s closed, the ventilation is really good so it’s not as much of a problem as it is on some other helmets.
And finally on the visor (crikey, isn’t there a lot to talk about with visors – almost as much as talking about tyres!) the visor release mechanism on the N104 is cracking. I like Shoei’s and Arai’s for this – but Nolan’s is arguably even better. Simply press a button in the centre of the pivot and the visor releases, then just press it back into place – job done.
Nolan N104 Action N-com flip up – like a stormtrooper helmet with go-faster stripes 🙂
Flip-up
No problems reported here. There’s a couple of plastic buttons at the bottom-centre of the chin guard that you need to squeeze together to release the front of the helmet and the chin guard and visor then spring up together. The mechanism works nicely – I’m not sure whether it’s because of Nolan’s patented elliptic movement gubbins which is designed to make the opening simpler (and to reduce the ‘sail effect’ of wind catching the open flip-up when it’s on the top of your head) but it’s good, with no complaints from users. There’s also a small lever to lock the guard in the up position. It’s all dead simple and effective.
Shell & Safety
Apart from scoring a nice four out of five in the SHARP safety test, it’s also passed Nolan’s own internal testing regime and of course is ECE 22.05 tested (as all helmets for sale must be) but that doesn’t tell you much because there’s a wide range of prices, forms and performers amongst all those that are ECE-approved. So, the N104 is amongst the safest helmets on the market, so you should be fine there.
There are two shell sizes available for the N104 which is good for fit, look and safety. To check out the colour schemes available, click the link to the Nolan website on the right hand panel.
In Conclusion – Nolan N104
If you’re after a mid-priced flip-up (system/modular, call it what you will) helmet then this could be the one you’re looking for. Flip up crash helmets are a competitive market and there are several great ones available (check them out here) but the Nolan is holding it’s own. It’s a great price and is popular among those who have bought one with few problems reported. It’s comfortable, has great ventilation, is excellent for hot/cold riding and demisting and has an excellent dual visor system. It’s a tad noisy and the occasional person complains that the microlock/micrometric chin strap is fiddly/clunky or not well enough padded. But all in all for the money it’s a great easy to use helmet which is wholeheartedly recommended as well worth a look.
If you’ve ever owned a Nolan N104 helmet, we’d love to hear what you thought about it – please let us know in the Comments area below. For other motorcycle crash helmet reviews, visit our All Crash Helmets Reviews section or our Only SHARP 4 or 5 Star Helmet Reviews section.
Best place to buy this Nolan crash helmet?
It's available at our two recommended retailers below (recommended for great customer service and competitive prices) - or you can also find it at Amazon if you prefer to buy there. Please click below to drop onto their Nolan helmets pages or *quick view retailer T&Cs here.
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