#Arai

–We’re constantly on the look for great deals on motorcycle gear. We’ll be updating this post each week with the latest sales on gear and accessories, so keep checking here for new deals.

HEY! Did you know you could help support us MOrons by buying stuff at Revzilla? It’s true. Whenever you click on over there after seeing a thing here, we get a piece of the pie. It’s a win/win situation – especially when the thing is on sale. You get a deal on what you needed anyway. We get to keep eating. Here are a few of this week’s retail therapy opportunities.

Adventure motorcycle helmets meld the features of on-road and off-road lids to provide adventure riders with a level of versatility that mirrors that of the machines they ride all over the great outdoors. Manufacturers of all sorts have jumped into the ADV helmet market to give us riders a smorgasbord of options to choose from. We’ve put together the list below to give adv-curious riders a one-stop article to check out the full range. From budget-minded to expensive feature-packed lids, these are the best adventure motorcycle helmets on the market in 2022, and there’s something here for everyone.

Touring connotes long days in the saddle, and that means long days with your head inside your helmet. Fit, then, is going to be of utmost importance when it comes to selecting a touring helmet. A helmet that gives you a hot spot might not be a huge deal when you’re only wearing it for 45 minutes. Over the course of days, though, like an annoying travel companion, an ill-fitting helmet will grow to be a thing you loathe.

Traveling to a brick and mortar store to try helmets on is the best thing you can do, and if that’s not possible then finding an online retailer with a generous return policy is the next best way to go. When you try a helmet on, keep it on for a while too. Minor annoyances that grow large over time can take a while to show themselves.

Anyway, there are hundreds of possibilities, but here we scratch the surface with eight of the best motorcycle touring helmets we’ve either sampled, or that come highly recommended from trusted sources.

Some of our favorite best touring helmets are modulars, or flip-front helmets, so see also Best Modular Helmets.

First available in October 2014, the Arai VX-Pro4 has been around for quite a while, but that doesn’t mean that the premium helmet, hand made by trained technicians, is any less effective than it was when it was introduced. After all, the basis for all of Arai’s helmets, the R75 Shape, has been around for much longer.

Congratulations. You’ve made the decision to go to a trackday (or even a race). We think that’s one of the best decisions you can make with your motorcycle. Not only is track riding fun and addictive, but it’s also a great environment to improve your skills. But there’s a lot to do to get ready, like getting all your gear in order. Most important, of course, is your helmet.

Do you have a proper track helmet? Generally speaking, a good helmet for the track is full-face, with a double D-ring closure, that meets or exceeds all federal safety guidelines. You’ll have to consult with your local track or track/race organization for the specific helmet regulations they require, but the following selections are helmets we know will easily pass any tech inspection held anywhere in the US of A, and probably the rest of the world, too. A really good track helmet will have all of that, along with a bigger eye port that lets you see ahead when you’re prone on the gas tank, as aerodynamic and light a shell as possible, and great venting so you can keep a cool head.

There are many reputable helmet manufacturers out there, going about the task of head protection in their own unique ways, and there’s no way for us to sample all of them. But the helmets presented here all come from manufacturers we’d trust with our heads. Hours upon hours of time, money, and resources go into the science of making helmets as effective as possible – not just from an impact perspective, but lately, some manufacturers have poured resources into minimizing the effects of brain rotation during a crash as well. Those resources don’t come for free, however, so if you’ve wondered why top-shelf helmets cost so much, it’s because innovation has a price.

Updated May 2021

The chin bar. Quite literally, it’s what defines a full-face helmet. However, in the case of the Arai Defiant-X that we have here, it’s a bit of a departure from the rest of Arai’s full-face lineup. We’ll get into the specifics in a minute, but let’s take a step back and look at where the Defiant falls into line. 

Long known as a racer’s helmet company, Arai is well established among the go-fast crowd. But as any financial expert will tell you, it’s best to diversify your assets. It’s that same mentality Arai used as the approach for the Defiant-X. It’s marketed towards, shall we say, non-sportbike riders. It’s own introduction video was targeted specifically at cruiser riders (even though Freddie Spencer features prominently in a non-speaking role…), but riders on naked bikes and touring bikes also apply. And yes, sportbike peeps aren’t excluded, either. 

Just like anything else, motorcycles are continually evolving and getting lighter, faster and more powerful with each passing year. Despite improvements to how well bikes handle and perform, having an accident and crashing is always a looming threat that can never be eliminated, only mitigated – especially off-road. Fortunately for us riders, there are engineers working hard to keep our heads and bodies as safe as possible so we can continue to enjoy riding motorcycles – both on- and off-road – with confidence in knowing that we have the best chance in decreasing the amount of damage a potential crash can cause.

We here at MO are proponents of ATGATT (All The Gear All The Time), however, if you’re only going to buy one piece of equipment, you better make it a helmet. Below is a list of the best dirtbike helmets money can buy.

Nothing beats the convenience of an open-face helmet for cruising, light touring, or just commuting through your town. If you happen to be riding a scooter while wearing an open-face helmet, you’re just living in the lap of convenience and pragmatism. Like any other helmet, open-face helmets come in all shapes and sizes (though not a whole lot of colors), so here we’ve gathered a few to tell you about. They are listed below in alphabetical order.

Big manufacturers rarely open up their factory doors to the inquisitive eyes of journalists, and when they do, it is typically to show off the state-of-the-art nature of their manufacturing process. Recently, Arai opened its factories for a host of international journalists to show how their premium helmets, which are seen around the world on the grids of the pinnacle classes of each respective motorsport category, are as much the product of hands-on craftsmanship as they are technological advancements. The reasoning behind this openness was the desire to show why Arai believes they make the best motorcycle helmets in the world. The tour was enlightening for all who attended because Arai had the opportunity to show how its long-held core philosophy about head protection affects almost every step of the helmet construction process. 

MO Tested: Arai Regent-X Review

MO Tested: Arai Ram-X Review

MO Tested: Arai Corsair-X Review

But really, we need to go back to Arai’s entry into the motorcycle helmet business to understand the brand. Hirotake Arai, the founder of Arai, was a motorcycle enthusiast and is the rider in the iconic Arai photo of him standing atop the Harley-Davidson with his hands casually stuck in his pocket – his tie jauntily flapping over his shoulder – as the bike travels across what appears to be a dirt field. Although he was by profession a hat maker, he was also a lifelong motorcycle enthusiast. Perhaps manufacturing things like construction helmets made him aware of the protection he lacked when riding. At the time, there were no motorcycle helmet manufacturers in Japan, and since the country was a closed market, helmets weren’t available from elsewhere. Because of his affinity for motorcycles and racing, Hirotake knew that riders and racers needed helmets. So, he set out to create them. With this act, he started the motorcycle helmet industry in Japan. 

Arai was in a bit of a pickle. The company felt it was making the best helmets possible, but couldn’t get some riders to try them on. You see, the round shape of the Arai helmet made for a somewhat tight opening at the bottom of the helmet. Apparently, when trying on Arais, some folks were getting the helmet down to their ears and not liking how snug the opening was. Then they either decided not to try on the helmet or (worse) selected a larger size that slipped on easier but offered a less secure fit. Had they persisted and gotten the lid over their ears, they would have learned that the interior of Arais are as comfortable as you would expect from a helmet from a premium brand. This realization was the genesis for the Arai Regent-X. 

Arai’s latest lid to be brought into its North American line-up is the three-quarter Ram-X. The new helmet takes the freedom and convenience of a three-quarter helmet and incorporates some of the technology and ventilation from its top of the line Corsair-X race helmet. Freedom and convenience. If there’s one thing we ‘Mericans love more than convenience it’s Freedom with a capital F *cue bald eagles screeching*. 

If you’ve been hankering for one of Arai’s premium helmets but just didn’t have the scratch, now is your time. Revzilla has a great sale going on that is reducing prices of closeout helmets by an astonishing amount. Prices range from $300 to almost $800 with discounts as much as 60%! Selection is limited, and with deals like this Arai helmet sale, they won’t last long. Go take a look.

Shop the Arai Helmet Sale here

It’s not Thanksgiving yet but Revzilla’s Black Friday deal is already live, with savings from 20-50% on a variety of products. We’ve highlighted some of the deals that caught our eyes below, including a selection of Dainese gear, but you can see the  full list of Black Friday sales on Revzilla.

There are many motorcycle gear brands out there on the market these days. Some big, some small. Something to remember though, every brand has a story and an origin. Stories that might surprise you if you took the time to learn them. All too often we forget that behind each company, no matter the size, there were real people who worked hard to found them. More often than not, there are interesting bits of information to learn about the process and ideas that unfolded from these entrepreneur’s creative minds.

Being the self-proclaimed gear nerd that I am, I have taken mental notes on tidbits of information that have left people surprised to learn. It could be how to pronounce their favorite brand’s name or perhaps where a particular brand comes from. Take a few minutes out of your busy day and give this quiz a shot. Who knows, you might just learn something.