OK, so, new year, new license (crossed fingers), new bike. I think that means I deserve some new gear too, don’t you think?
I’ve had my heart set on an Arai for some time. I know you shouldn’t follow the heard, but they are the best of the best and I have a thing for the side visor pods, they just look so… right! So I’ve been shopping around, and it seems that the two cheapest models that are relatively readily available are the Arai Chaser and Arai Condor.
At the moment, prices are looking like:
Condor: £220 (Designed helmet)
Chaser: £250 (Designed helmet)
So basically… which is better to go for? Is the Chaser worth the £30 hike in price (from the looks of the vents and spoilers I’d say yes, but I want to know what the community says) or should I go and stay billy bargian with a £220 Condor?
Which one am I better off with?
PS: I must say… the Chaser Blue Camouflage design is VERY tasty… Clicky for the pretty
Arai are not necessarily the best - the best helmet is the one that fits you the best, snug and firm, not sloppy but comfortable. My Arai RX7 wasn’t all it’s cracked up to be, try a Shoei X-Spirit
Best thing is to get to a shop which stocks at least 3 or 4 brands and get a fitting.
Definately try a couple of brands other than Arai first - there are defo variations in suitability for head shapes! Go to Infinity etc and try them all on and then have a look on the net for end of season/styles as you can save a fair wack. I found that prices can be massively different.
Personal experience is that my Arai Viper GT is a noisey bugger compared to the Shoei x1000 it replaced, but fits more snuggly and is seems to be more areodynamic - is it worth the difference in price…not sure! One thing though the bloody visor system on the Shoei is far far easier to use, whilst the Arai sounds/feels like it’s about to break every single time I change the visor.
Ok, my bad, one thing I forgot to include in the OP was that I am actually looking at other helmets, I’m just asking which of the Arai’s I should look at
At the moment I’m taking a gander at a Shoei X1000, X-lite X-701 and HJC HQ-1. Haven’t tried any of them on yet but of course all will be attempted for perfect fitting. Although it would seem that so far my head isn’t shoei-shaped if my dad’s Multitec is anything to go by.
I bought the Arai Condor as my first lid 6 years ago, the fact that it is still available and hasn’t changed design is a bad sign.
Arai provide different size shells instead of using padding to make up different sizes in the range - so thats a positive. They also make very comfortable lids - another plus point. Thats about it to be honest.
On the negative side… Their technology hasn’t moved in a decade, at least. They charge a premium and I find Arai poor value for money. The air vents (front and back) on my Condor were stuck on with double sided sticky tape and I used to ride daily so after 6 months they fell off. On the safety side the Condor didn’t receive a high rating on the SHARP test. There is a lot of controversy about this test and premium manufacturers poo-poo’d it (because they didn’t do well) so many riders are divided on the results - depending which salesman they listen to really.
Long story short, I bought Arai on reputation and they were great for their day but bikes have moved on. I now have a Caberg V2R and I am really happy I moved away from Arai. It fits me really well, It has more technology, it is a safer lid, it has more features, it is lighter than the Condor and it saved me a few quid. Main thing was safety for me and Arai’s lack of development worries me.
Next lid for me might be a Shoei or AGV because they have some new technology in the pipeline but that won’t be for a couple of years yet… plenty of life in the V2R yet.
my first arai was a chaser and it was brilliant, very comfy and fitted very well. and had removable cheek padding i believe. nice looking lid and i got it for a good price. A month after i got it it done its job properly!!! My next lid will deffo be an Arai
Tried on a whole bunch of helmets, including a couple of Shoei models and they didn’t feel right. As soon as I tried the Chaser on the choice was simple.
Paid £265 for mine and that was with a 10% "discount’ so sounds like you’re getting quoted a reasonable price…
In my experience and from seeing the same common problems occurring with Arais, I use and recommend Shoei for helmets that are more durable (no broken air vents) and helmets that are more user friendly (no stupid visor removal system).
…but if you want a helmet crash tested at over 280 MPH, then choose an Arai.
Anyone looked at these scorpion lids? They have these pump-up technology (like the puma trainers of old) that inflates the lining to give you a snug fit.
Have you seen my review for the shoei XR1100? The condors are meant to be going head to head with shoei’s Raid series in terms for features, but for the price of condors, you can DEFINITELY get the old XR1000’s and possibly the new XR1100 (if you know where to ask! :P).
I LOVE my XR1100 and I could say that it’s better than my Arai RX7 in terms of what it does. It’s got good peripheral vision and the side pods wont snap! I’ve embarrassingly had to purchase 3x sets of side pods (£75!) over the 3 years I had the RX7 because they go pop! If you’re not religious at cleaning the mechanism, they will inevitably become dry/cruddy and will cause the side pops to go pop because of lack of lubricant! It happened to me at 85mph down the A40 in gloucestershire taking my clear visor with it!.
The shoeis look mean and if you can get them in plain white, you can do ANYTHING you want to them - bung on decals, get it resprayed to make yourself look bling etc.
One thing I can say is that if you are getting shoei, the XR1000 DOES not have fully removable lining so you need to wash it in the shower (you can remove the cheekpads though). Saying that, neither of the arais you’re looking at have removables too.
Oh, if you DO decide to get the arai, have a look at the visor change videos on the internet… There’s a few of me swapping visors in 5 seconds with the lid still on my head - that’s the arai’s party trick!
ive had 2 chasers, and i can say that they are a brilliant lid, always been very very comfy, good visability, and exellent quality. I used my camo green one for nearly 4 years and it had done a zillion miles in all weathers, no broken airvents, or side pods, and the finish was really robust.
