A Bit of Background

I’ve been wearing motorcycle helmets for about 14 years. When I started out on two wheels, I was riding a 50ccm roller (Piaggio Vespa), with a top speed of 50kmh/35mph. I needed to wear a helmet (there are mandatory helmet laws in most of Europe), and bought the cheapest lid I could find. Usually a low-end full-face.

Just before I moved up to a 125ccm motorcycle, I bought a new Bell full-face helmet, so I continued to wear that lid with the 125. The Bell was okay, but when riding through a tunnel, the noise was deafening. The Bell helmet just didn’t offer any noise reduction at all.

When I moved up to a big bike, suddenly I was moving a lot faster, and spending a lot more time on the motorway. Definitely time for a new helmet. I’ve heard lots of people talking about Shoei and Arai, so I decide to look at a Shoei. I try a couple of them on, and the saleswoman talks me into an expensive Shoei model (originally priced over $1,000, now marked down to about $600). I finally gave in and took the Shoei home.

Now, after 12 years of riding and thousands of miles, I’ve worn a good number of lids. And I still don’t know how to pick the right one. The Shoei was comfortable, but at higher speeds, the “chin” of the helmet would press against my chin. And at very high speeds (around 110mph), the Shoei started oscillating violently – I couldn’t take the bike any faster because my head was shaking so violently that I couldn’t even see clearly anymore.

I simply accepted this as “normal”, and it didn’t really affect me much since I don’t normally ride that fast (an occasional run up the German Autobahn is fun, but I still prefer a nice, curvy country road). Although I only bought the Shoei in 2004, the manufacture date was noted as 1999, so the lid was actually 7 years old this year.

I recently noticed that the Shoei had a slight crack in the shell – apparently I had dropped my helmet (or it fell off my bike) and was damaged.

Time for a new lid

Thanks to forums like www.Motorcycle-Journal.com, I have learned a thing or two about how to select a helmet. It should fit snug, but not too snug. It should be “one” with my skull – when I turn my head, the helmet has to turn with it. It shouldn’t limit my field of vision. It should have good ventilation, and the visor shouldn’t fog under normal circumstances. It should have a removable (and washable) lining. It should be as light as possible. And most important, it should be comfortable.

I was considering getting a flip-up helmet, and a local shop was having a close-out sale on Schuberth C2 flip-ups. I tried one on, but it wasn’t right for me. When opening and closing the face, the wind skirt would scrape my chin. The other flip-ups they had were no-name brands, that were obviously not well designed (the flip-up release was in the middle of the chin section, so that an accident where you land face first would release the lock). I decided I should stay with a full-face helmet.

I looked then at the Shoei XR-1000. A nice lid, but it was too short. My jaw was barely covered by this new model. I also tried some no-name full-face helmets, but I wasn’t happy with their construction. The visor mounts looked very flimsy, or the overall construction didn’t give me a good feeling. So, I finally wandered over to the Schuberth S1’s …

If you’ve never tried on a Schuberth, the first thing you’ll think is “there is no way in the world my head is going to fit in there!”. (It’s probably the same thing I thought just before my mother went into labor, but that’s another story). The S1 has a wind skirt around the entire helmet base. You need some strength to pull the helmet over your head. Once you’re inside, it’s another story. The helmet fits nicely, and there is plenty of room. I had no problems at all putting on my glasses under the helmet – something that isn’t necessarily the case with other helmets. I also noticed the generous space between my chin and the front of the helmet – a good 2.5 cm/1 inch more than with the Shoei.

Another very nice feature – the integrated sun shade. With my Shoei, I ended up spending several hundred dollars over the years buying additional visors – clear, lightly tinted and dark tinted. When I’m riding, I’m always carrying 2 visors with me – one on the lid, and another one in my tank bag, in case I am out after sundown. With the Schuberth, this is totally unnecessary. A quick grip to the left side of the helmet and a sun shade drops down in front of my glasses. Another quick grip, and the shade is up out of the way. This comes in very handy when riding in the late afternoon – when coming around a bend where the sun is right in front of me, a quick touch to the side of the helmet is all it takes.

As soon as I left the shop with my new Schuberth S1, I noticed how remarkably quiet this helmet is. There is almost no wind noise, even at 75mph. You can hear the traffic around you, but it is not uncomfortably loud. I was very pleasantly surprised by this.

Then there was the ultimate test. I took the bike up over 190 kmh (115 mph). The helmet was perfectly stable. No vibrations at all. This was all it took – I’m a believer.

I was out for a long ride a couple of days later – my head was in the Schuberth for more than 6 hours (and more than 375 km / 233 miles), and I am still very happy with it. I did notice a slight reduction of circulation when the sunshade is down, but you only notice this when the sunshade is lifted again, and you feel the cool breeze around your eyes.

To summarize

Positive on the Schuberth S1 is it’s huge field of vision (considerably larger than the Shoei), the integrated sun shade, the wind skirt and low noise level, excellent ventilation, stability at high speeds, and relatively light weight (about 1,500g / 3.3lbs). The only “negative” I have found so far is the snap-buckle strap – I would have preferred a double-D buckle.
__________________