Perfect condition, wore it today because my usual commuter lid was left at a garage along with the Pan for some brake work, and I honestly thought to myself…why the f*ck am I not using this lid?
It was excellent, quiet as could be, very comfy for a commute over an hour long.
The ONLY downside to the XR1100 is that you need to be some sort of human-owl hybrid or have a double jointed neck to do a decent shoulder check, which is pretty poor to be honest, but with the mirrors I have on my Dullsville and some caution, it is usable.
Might still use the commuter open face though, as you can actually smoke a ciggy on the dullsville while riding since the lid has an inbuilt sun visor and the bike has an overly large screen.
I have an Arai Viper GT and it is great but is a bit old so looked around and the next natural lid for me is the Arai Quantum but it is so similar to my Viper GT I can’t justify the outlay. Anywho, carried on looking and came across the Nexx XR1R carbon and thought it was too good to be true, Carbon, light as poop, big eye port, looks the nuts, well speced.
Went to ‘Get Geared’ in surrey to have a proper look and try it on and it is the business! Looks amazing, VERY well made, you can see the quality of the manufacturing. The view from the lid is a lot more than my Viper GT. It is a medium for me and is very comfy. Exceptionally light and noticeably more narrow than my arai backing up the aerodynamic claims of the lid. As the inners are Velcro you can micro adjust to fit your head perfectly AND you get additional pads to make it fit your head even better. You also get pinlock insert with the lid for…£300!!!
There are slightly fewer vents than my Arai. The Nexx doesn’t have visor eyebrow vents or an adjustable vent on the back of the lid like my aria. The two things putting me off were the screw visor mechanism which is now a quick release mechanism all be it a bit crude and the lid has passed UK safety tests now.
Ill be picking one up this weekend (black carbon, soft grey) with dark visor and spare insert for dark visor as well. I hope it is quiet as that is another advantage of this lid apparently. Cant go wrong really for £300 notes.
The nexx really is a very well made lid, very comfortable. Due to the light weight I give it the edge over the Viper GT. Both are very well made interior wise and feel great and snug with well made comfy materials.
Viewing port:
Compared to the Viper GT the nexx lid viewing port is mahusive!!! REALLY big, noticeably bigger than my viper GT lid. This makes doing life savers a lot easier, view of the road ahead when tucked in is great and peripheral vision is great as well.
Buffeting:
I get less buffeting with the nexx lid than my viper GT due to the more narrow and more aerodynamic shape of the lid. The Viper GT has a rounder flatter shape than the nexx so more susceptible to wind buffeting.
Wind Noise:
Noise level is pretty much the same as my viper GT. Air flow didn’t seem as good as the Viper GT BUT I had a play with the skull cap before taking the lid out and when I came back realised where I put it back in, I covered the vent holes in the inside of the helmet!!! I have moved the skull cap so will update on this after tomorrow to see how much air flow is improved and how it compares to the Viper GT. I get less wind on the lower portion of my face with the nexx lid. The Viper GT lets wind in under the lid and drys my lips but the nexx has a very good skirting that hugs the neck closely and a wind stopper (under the chin) that comes close to the neck skirting so almost no room for air to come through. I get similar amount of wind through the top of the visor from both lids BUT I have adjusted the nexx visor (moved the points it attaches to the lid further back) so that it now hugs the helmet more closely so hopefully this will now have reduced wind ingress through the top of the visor. Again, ill update on this after ride tomorrow. This is something that is not possible with the Viper GT.
Build quality:
I do think the Viper GT is a better built lid and you can see that. Don’t miss-understand me, the nexx lid is top notch but the aria is that little bit better when it comes to the way the vents are incorporated in to the helmet, the way the interior poppers in to the helmet etc. Velcro interior is good and does allow for more flexibility but you cant help but think it was done for cost as opposed to flexibility.
Overall:
The nexx lid is a fantastic bit of kit and looks the nuts, it is mega light and well made. I am very very pleased with it. For £300 I really don’t think there is a better, lighter, good looking helmet available. I will buy aria again in the future BUT if nexx keep developing lids like this that I like the look of then I won’t buy aria again. The only thing that would take me back to aria is the volume of designs on offer.
Looking at this lid and see that FOR MOTORBIKES via eBay are doing 38% discount on the NEXX lids and selling at £184.95 for 10 days only…with free delivery!
I have a nexx. Great lid and comes with extra padding to suit your head. I have a large and assume its a regular large. Can’t be certain as I’ve only ever used 3 different brands. None were shoei or arai. Their website shows the measuring if that helps.
I’ve got an XR1R Carbon in Small it is very light and offers a massive field of vision, my main complain is the quality of the plastics toggles.
The visor quick release plastic clips break VERY easily (I’ve had 3 go two of them whilst closing the visor on the go, and I know of more people that have had the same problem) the chin vent also closes by itself when riding. This model is a very round shape, I fit perfectly inside a Shoei NXR small the XR1R is a bit tighter front to back. it does come with some extra paddings so that you can adjust the fit to you.
Overall good but would recommend you do as me and keep spare visor clips under the seat so that you don’t get caught out - and if you do putting the visor in the locked closed position should get you home.
