#shoei

As you probably know, taking pictures on motorcycles is part of the job as a moto-journalist. Being the narcissistic type we are, we moto-reviewers typically like getting photos of ourselves on motorcycles as it’s our time to ham it up for the camera – pulling wheelies, dragging a knee, smoky burnouts, whatever the situation may present. The best time for photos, however, is a small window roughly 60 minutes before sunset (or roughly 60 minutes after sunrise if you’re an early bird), often called the “Golden Hour.”

Ducatisti are nothing if not a passionate bunch. Ducati lovers worldwide are known for showing their displays of affection for their favorite Italian motorcycle in many ways, but Anton Henggono may have taken the cake with this one. What you see here is a Shoei X-Fourteen helmet Henggono designed to mimic Ducati’s 2016 Desmosedici GP MotoGP racer. And here’s the best part: there’s not a single sticker on the helmet. The entire design was hand painted by Henggono himself.

Riders who prefer wearing tinted shields on their helmets instead of sunglasses tucked inside them are painfully aware of the conundrum: How do we handle the switch to a clear shield after dark?

Come on, admit it, you’ve wondered what it would be like to be a pro racer. You know, with your custom-fit leathers replaced if they develop any unseemly abrasions or the rack of helmets – all with interiors sculpted to your exact head dimensions – so that you never have to suffer the indignity of donning a sweaty lid during practice. Well, Shoei is offering the chance for average riders to bring their current generation Shoei to select events in 2016 and experience the luxury of having a helmet custom-fit to the nooks and crannies of their noggins. And…wait for this…it will be free for now. Pretty cool, eh?

The best way to demonstrate the features and benefits of Shoei’s raciest new helmet, the X-Fourteen, is at speed on a racetrack. So, while East coast residents were trying to avoid snow-shoveling-induced heart attacks, those of us residing on the West end were enjoying perfect trackday weather at Chuckwalla Valley Raceway. There were some rumblings that the long, banked, NASCAR straight at Auto Club Speedway would have been a better venue for high-speed, aerodynamic testing of the X-Fourteen, but besides that long, banked straight, the Fontucky track sucks.

For no particular reason, my personal moto-wardrobe has been devoid of a new Shoei helmet for quite some time. Evans gave the new-last-year RF-1200 a fair, if not glowing, review, so when the RF’s 2015 color schemes were released, I put in an order for a Terminus TC-9 model. I wore it for the first time on my way to San Diego for Shoei’s presentation of its new adventure-touring lid, the Hornet X2. When it rains it pours.