QUIET HELMETS: •Shark Spartan 1.2 (~$320 USD), •Shoei RF1400 ($580 USD), •Shoei RF-SR (~$480 USD)
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Shark Spartan 1.2 (~$320 USD) – one owner chose this one due to quietness and light weight.
Shoei RF1400 ($580 USD) – quiet and smooth – handles wind very well (predecessor Shoei RF1400 $495 USD)
Shoei RF-SR (~$480 USD)
Schuberth C3 Pro is a great helmet- very quiet. They are expensive, but you can get them used like I did. For sizing – a lot of people go one size up – goggle “schuberth c3 sizing”.
copied from internet
Michael Bruns:. I only have the “windshield” pictured here on my bike. It takes some of the wind off my torso for sure but it’s no huge windbreaker and I’m ok with that cause I prefer the style. Now I use to ride in a Scorpion Exo R420 which is a Snell Rated Polycarbonate shell at $140… It was IMO very loud at highway speeds and my head felt like it was getting beat up a ton especially in a head wind. I just switched over to a Shoei RF1200 which is a Snell Rated Fiberglass Shell but costs $500… let me tell you… the difference in how the Shoei handles wind compared to the Scorpion is Unbelievable. It’s soooooo much quieter and smoother. My head hardly moves around from the wind anymore even at 80mph. So what I’m saying is tske a look at both things because the Helmet plays a huge roll on this too.
Tes Arroway:. I have an HJC F70, it’s moderately loud. I went and bought an RF1200 because I’ve heard they’re amazing and figured it would be a good replacement. man, I could barely make it the 45 minute ride home. that thing was insanely loud for me. almost felt like it had my eardrums in a vice or some shit. had a headache the whole rest of the night. took it back and returned it the next day.
Score Origas:. Michael Bruns I have two street helmets. An HJC RPHA 10 and a Scorpion EXO 420. The Scorpion is way, way quieter than the HJC. A big part of it is how the helmet fits. The HJC is to big and the wrong shape, my Scorpion fits really well and is very quiet. So quiet I can hear the tires, not the wind. Both are safe, Snell helmets, one just fits better. Cost isn’t the issue here, fit is.
by Nima Michael: Helmets – I posted this on a different Rebel site but was asked to post it here also.
I have been having this no with another member regarding lightest and quietest helmets and since I have been doing quite a bit of research he told me I should post my findings. Over the last year I have tried 12 different modular and full face helmets. For safety reasons they were all DOT certified. Most of them were actually ECE certified which is the European certification and apparently far more rigorous than our DOT. Among the helmers I tried: Shoei GT-Air II, AGV K6, AGV Sport Modular, Shark Spartan 1.2, Shark Race Pro-R, LS2 Valiant II, ILM 909, X-Lite X-1004 Ultra Carbon, and HJC R-PHA 90s Carbon. One thing I learned is that no one, no reviewer, no seller and certainly no manufacturer tells the true weight of a helmet. No one. One site may say a helmet is 1,340 grams and the same helmet on another site is 1,210 grams. It is all apparently subjective. I do understand different sizes have different weights but that’s not the issue here. So I did all my own weighing.
For those of you interested in modular I also learned that modular certifications are different from helmet to helmet. Modular helmets come in three classes: P-approved, J-approved, and P/J-approved. P-certified modular helmets are those tested to withstand impacts with the chin guard down. This is the most common you will find. J-certified helmets are those tested to withstand impacts with the chin guard in the up position. Helmets with both certifications are referred to as P/J-approved or dual-homologated. Once again pretty much no manufacturer, seller or reviewer tells you which certification each modular has unless you go and start searching government ratings which are hard to find.
Again, I was concentrating on weight and noise. It is also worth noting that there is a big difference in noise and even weight of a helmet once you go past 60 miles per hour. Up until 60 most are very close. I spent at least 6 hours with each helmet at various speeds, using the same path and conditions. In the end I chose two helmets to keep. The HJC R-PHA 90s Carbon modular and the Shark Spartan 1.2 full face.
I did not like the checkered look of the carbon helmets I tested. So while I went with the HJC R-PHA 90-S Carbon, I chose the Balian model, which has a deep blue cover over the carbon and gives it a very unique look. Unfortunately the HJC R-PHA 90s Carbon was almost the most expensive helmet I tested and the Balian model was an additional $70 which brought the total to almost $800. Not what I wanted to spend. Not even close. But this helmet proved to be a far better modular helmet than all the others. It is incredibly light, incredibly quiet and extremely comfortable at any speed. I will write a 6 month review once I have had it for that long. The HJC R-PHA 90s Carbon also exceeds DOT FMVSS218 approval as well as exceeding ECE 22.05 approval, so it is one of the the top safest helmets you can buy. It is also full P/J-approved.
As far as full face helmets go the Shark Spartan 1.2 is like a feather in comparison with helmets I tried five times its price. It is also incredibly quiet. The Shark Race Pro-R was actually quieter (hard to believe) but it was twice the price and definitely heavier. The experts I read thought the Shark Race Pro-R was the quietest helmet in the world. Nonetheless, I went with the Shark Spartan 1.2.
Good luck to all my rider friends. Spring is coming. Let’s go have fun.
Rebel500 