SHOEI GT AIR HELMET

[Derek-Dex-French]

I used to have a Shoei XR1100 which fitted me well, but bought a few months ago the Shoei GT Air which has the built-in drop-down dark visor which I do like.
Negatives of the GT Air v XR1100:
- Opening the visor by a notch leaves a bigger air gap than the previous XR1100.
- The air vent on the top of the helmet is slightly larger and in the summer months scoops-up the occasional small flying insect!
Positives of the GT Air:
- Drop-down visor is good and in summer months I tend to ride with main visor open but drop-down dark visor down. Eye-protection but cooling breeze at the one time.
- The pinlock system really works, and the top bead of the pinlock insert is now above the visible area so riding at night avoids the double-image of the previous helmet pinlock.
I find the Shoei helmets have the right design for my shape of head and the even earlier XR1000 was my first Shoei. I can wear (and have worn) these helmets for many hours at a time with absolutely no discomfort whatsoever.

[Pieter Huizinga]

[PeterPan]

A full and concise reply Pieter. I am impressed?

[Derek-Dex-French]

It's a helmet for goodness sake. We all know what one looks like surely? However, for the sake of completeness of the post, picture herewith as I happen to have ridden into work this morning as the weather was dry and it was a balmy 4c this morning:

Shoei GT Air with visor down 800 x 450.jpg (116.46 KiB) Viewed 16963 times

[mbrST1100]

Don't you nigglers know how to crank up a search engine?
http://www.shoei-europe.com/uk/products/XR-1100/ more then you ever wanted to know about this lid...

I however do wonder about their 'high definition visor' though...
In glamorous pink, how intriguing...

So BT is 'out', HDMI is 'in' now, eliminating the need to actually go places?


But all pun aside I'm as well sold to Shoei, materials and to the touch quality speak for themselves, GF got a Raid-II wich is just flawless, me a Multitec at first (there is also a Neotec in the house), and never had a helmet where the visor alone holds up for >5 years now... I actually swapped the 'old' visor onto my new Multitec to keep the virgin part stored...

[Pieter Huizinga]

I tend to do 3-5 years with one system helmet. How long with you Derek?

(I still keep my open face BMW Cruiser helmet Martin, but it's 10 years now and lining stuff starts falling out of it. Unfortunately the model has been discontinued so I keep gluing things back in... Well, for as long as the protective styrofoam remains in good condition.)

[mbrST1100]

...so I keep gluing things back in...

Yeah, but how do you deal with the STENCH?! By now that lid must have an animal fragrant like a bear...
(...alone the morning-willpower required to put that thing on, take a deep breath, hold it and then dive into it... HMMP!... YUCH!.. )

One of the mains benefit of that Shoei series is the removable lining; put it in a small laundering net, use function fibre shampoo only (like for the microfibre undergarment or the thermal lining of your stitches) gentle cycle at 30°C, gentle spin only... eliminates all the hustle with those special helmet liner cleaner sprays, which you'll then need to carefully soak out again with wet sponges to prevent rashes, pimples and other skin irritations you will suffer from all those chemicals...

4~5 is about the max you should expect from a helmet shell anyway, by then UV-radiation, gases and benzene compounds will have pretty much rotten it...

[Forest 1100]

Just an observation and maybe a poll could be done, but, I would never buy a black helmet. Less visibility factor for cagers and too bloody hot when the sun is beating down. I always choose white or silver.

[mbrST1100]

Like with cars bear white and silver the issue of taking long to cool off again too...
Black might absorb a tad quicker, bit also radiates it off again sooner...
I've a white Neotec and black Multitec... not much difference to sense, where the Neotec shows better ventilation, its tight fit gives a little disadvantage...

[Forest 1100]

Like with cars bear white and silver the issue of taking long to cool off again too...
Black might absorb a tad quicker, bit also radiates it off again sooner...

Interesting comment Martin, which led me to Google the topic and I find there is merit on the idea that black will radiate heat out faster than white, but whether the two heat sources can be compared equally seems to have some significance too. Here's a cut and paste from a science board:

Chris - Alright; slight twist to the story – if you're a cricketer and your at Lords, assuming it is sunny on the occasion you're over there - not that we’ve been having much sun lately – they wear white, ostensibly to reflect the heat back off. So would they be better off wearing black then, assuming they're going to get hot anyway, so they can radiate the light and the heat better with the black surface?

Dave - They're very, very unlikely to be hot enough to be radiating more heat than the sun is putting down on them because the sun has got a kilowatt per square metre and you're going to have to be very, very warm before you're emitting that much heat. So, I think you’re still better off being in white.

Considering that exchange, it would seem a white helmet would be better while riding in the sun, since one would normally take it off, once off the bike anyway and most modern helmets do have a ventilation system, which would help dissipate head heat on days that are not sun drenched.

Apologies to Derek for the