best helmet...

[K3 Chris Onwiler]

My pleasure.  Off the top of my head, I know that Corse Superbikes has them in Milwaukee, and Superbike Italia carries them in Illinois.
Italian helmet, Italian bikes....  Go figure!

http://www.suomy-usa.com/

And as a bonus, the paint and graphics are the nicest in the business!

[r1owner]

I'll second OGK....

The Arai's just don't seem to fit my noggin.... neither do the Suomy's....  So, I tried an OGK.  

I really like the venting... best in the business if you ask me...

They are a little on the heavy side though and the shield mechanisim is needlessly complicated.

They are also BSI rated.

[Speedballer347]

Arai's fit my skull perfect.  
Soumi and Shoei don't fit and press uncomfortably into my forehead.  I think the Shoei's and Soumi's have the same 'fit'

Arai for me 8)

[r1owner]

Arai's fit my skull perfect.  
Soumi and Shoei don't fit and press uncomfortably into my forehead.  I think the Shoei's and Soumi's have the same 'fit'

Arai for me 8)

Stunters wear helmets?  ;D

[tshort]

Hey Pierre - if you are looking for excellent protection, *and* low/no fogging, then I would recommend Suomy.  Had an Arai Quantum and liked the fit, but it fogged a bit on cold days.  I heard the Suomy was very good on that front, so after I trashed the Arai, I tried the Suomy and it is excellent.  Next helmet will be another one - Spec 1R.

[Super Dave]

Suomy fit...

There are two completely differnt helmets there.

The Gunwind's have a "Shoei" fit.

The Spec1R's have an "Arai" fit.

Suomy's are available through any dealer via Parts Unlimited, so they are easy to get.

[MJFRacing]

Suomy fit...

The Spec1R's have an "Arai" fit.

Hmmm, the Spec-1R has an Arai fit? The Max Biaggi and Ruben Xaus are super hot! Although, the Arai Wraith RX-7 is awesome looking too! Damn it Pierre, I didn't need to spend money on a new helmet. . . although I could use a back up.  ;D

You'll be OK with any of the high line lids. See you this season!

[xlr8tn]

I just bought my second suomy spec-1r.  Arai comfort without the steep price.  Has my vote.  Lowest price I found thus far was $345.  Search ebay for the "7948530266".  Send them a note and see if they can give you a racer discount.

-brent

[license2ill]

Those pimping the Suomy helmets are a little off in the details surrounding BSI testing and the history of crash helmet standards. Here's some pertinent links:

http://www.smf.org/articles/mcomp2.html

http://www.smf.org/articles/helmet_development.html

http://www.suomy-usa.com/faqs.htm

http://www.sport-touring.net/cgi-bin/msgboard/ikonboard.cgi?act=ST;f=3;t=24109;hl=snell


As a brief summary, BSI impact test eneriges are not as severe as in Snell impact tests, and do not include an edge-anvil(curbstone) test. This is apparently a debatable issue, but Ed Becker of Snell says that there is no evidence of Snell approved helmets being less effective at lower impact energies or at the impact energies that BSI utilizes.

The "glancing blows" BSI performs what is termed an oblique test, which attempts to measure "tangential" forces, that may occur by adhesion of a helmet to a surface under simultaneous impact. The science behind these tests and the nature of those injuries appears to be the most hypothetical of any current protocols, with the least amount of practical data for it's implementation.

As mentioned,  BSI performs batch testing prior to release, which does test greater numbers of total helmets of around .5-1%, but still allows for retesting and approval of a batch similar to Snell procedures if a failure occurs. Snell performs quality assurance testing with random samples of off-the-shelf helmets with numbers determined by sticker sales with numbers around .05%.

A BSI standard was developed for motoryccle helmets before the Snell Foundation developed a similar protocol, but both have been heavily revised since the inception of either, and that is rather worthless info regarding current testing procedures, as both use a specific standard for motorcycling helmets.

The research surrounding crash helmets and head trauma has been minimal, and there are no current large-scale efforts looking into any of the issues surrounding performance and needs, which is a shame.

[Super Dave]

True.

But the fact remains that the Snell stuff was really designed around car racing, not for motorcycles.  Remember, Mr Snell was a car racer.

BSI tries to address those issues.  It doesn't mean that a Snell helmet is better or a BSI one is worse.

However, the batch testing does remain in BSI....

But as per the Suomy link you provided....

"In one example, only 16 helmets were tested of an approximate 400,000 helmets sold of one particular manufacturer in 2001 (Source . Ed Becker, Executive Director Snell Memorial Foundation: http://www.smf.org/)"

Compared to "5 for a production batch of 500, 13 for a batch of 501-1,200 and 20 for batches of 1,201-2000. Each production batch must be of the same model. Only after each of the helmets have passed a battery of specified tests are the BSI serialized decals then released for that specific batch and in that specific quantity"

[tzracer]

But the fact remains that the Snell stuff was really designed around car racing, not for motorcycles. ÊRemember, Mr Snell was a car racer.

Just for everyone still reading this.

Snell has different standards or different helmet usage (and different tests). They have different motorcycle and car (race) standards.

They have different standards for bicycles, horseback riding, harness racing, mopeds, motorcycles, non motorized activities (skateboard etc), recreational skiing/snowboarding, skiing, automotive sports and karting.

see http://www.smf.org/ , click on Snell standards.

Personally, I would try on many different helmets (from major manufacturers) and pick the one that I like the fit and finish the best.

[license2ill]

True.

However, the batch testing does remain in BSI....

But as per the Suomy link you provided....

"In one example, only 16 helmets were tested of an approximate 400,000 helmets sold of one particular manufacturer in 2001 (Source . Ed Becker, Executive Director Snell Memorial Foundation: http://www.smf.org/)"

Compared to "5 for a production batch of 500, 13 for a batch of 501-1,200 and 20 for batches of 1,201-2000. Each production batch must be of the same model. Only after each of the helmets have passed a battery of specified tests are the BSI serialized decals then released for that specific batch and in that specific quantity"

In the last link I posted, I specifically asked Ed Becker about that quote, which he stated as categorically WRONG.

Let's face it, no company sold 400,000 snell-stickered helmets in the US 2001 to begin with, Becker says the numbers are closer to 1 out of every 2000 helmets sold. This is still a much smaller number than BSI, however not nearly as few as Marlin likes to imply.

I would like to see stricter guidelines for quality control as a whole, because it is unfathomable that the DOT random testing is still catching any kind of performance or labeling  failures each year. As described by Becker, he says that he hasn't seen any major performance failures, and doesn't seem to view it as a large issue at this point. In a discussion with a BSI rep, I got a similar impression.

http://216.239.63.104/search?q=cache:ZA1d6Uv208AJ:www.nhtsa.dot.gov/cars/testing/comply/fmvss218/218_2004.pdf+dot+helmet+test+2004&hl=en&ie=UTF-8