Why are arai helmets expensive

These helmets are designed with the knowledge that real-world impacts can come from any direction, including the front. Arai tests every side, and the rounded shell shape is integral for successfully protecting your head. Arai is one of the most popular helmets among professional racers. Since these racers are going at speeds much faster than the typical roadway, you know that it can protect you from much less. So again, you get what you pay for when you splurge on an Arai helmet. Professional racers use Arai Arai is one of the most popular helmets among professional racers.

Related Articles. October 7, July 28, While it could be claimed that Mr. Arai seized an opportunity, most reports show he was just looking for a good helmet to keep himself safe on a motorcycle. So he decided to build his own. Arai used a fiber reinforced plastic FRP shell and switched from cork to an expanded polystyrene inner liner in This has been the basic standard for helmet manufacturing for the past 60 years.

While American manufacturer Bell Helmets introduced the world to the first full-faced helmet, the Bell Star, in , Arai was soon to follow. An Arai shell being molded by hand. Photo by Arai. He read an article about fiberglass. There was another helmet company: Bell.

Roy Richter was the owner. I used to know him very well. My father started on the other side of the world, so we don't know who was the first, but my father didn't copy anybody. Eitaro Kamata founded Kamata Polyester Company in before shifting production towards motorcycle helmets in Unlike Arai, who shifted into motorcycle helmets for personal use, Kamata immediately began designing Shoei Helmets with the focus on motorcycle racing.

Released in , the Shoei X-8 was the first helmet to feature a podless face shield design. Shoei graphic. Through the early s, fiberglass was the material of choice for helmet shell construction. That lasted until , when Shoei introduced the first carbon fiber and kevlar-infused helmet, the GR-Z. They were also the first to introduce ventilation to their helmet design as well as the first coverless face shield system, which debuted on the Shoei X The coverless face shield is a feature that has been adopted by nearly every other full-faced helmet manufacturer.

Photos added to help clarify the different approaches to mounting a face shield: Shoei helmets have the face shield mounts built into recessed areas of the shell.

Photo by Spurgeon Dunbar. To this day, that remains one of the biggest differences between these two manufacturers. Arai remains one of the few manufacturers who refuses to implement a coverless face shield system to their helmets. They argue that it would jeopardize the safety and integrity of their helmets.

This goes back to a fundamental difference in core values between how the two companies regard safety standards. Photos added to help clarify the different approaches to mounting a face shield: With Arai helmets the face shield mechanism isn't recessed into the shell and requires an external "pod" to properly attach it to the helmet. While both Arai and Shoei have safety at the center of their mission statement, they come at it from different angles. They feel that including recesses into the shell to incorporate a flush-mounted face shield would compromise the integrity of the design.

This is also the reason for the introduction of the Pro Shade system. They feel that the inclusion of an internal sun visor would compromise the safety of their helmets. Marc Marquez during wind-tunnel testing of the Shoei X-Fourteen helmet.

Photo by Shoei. Arai simply refuses to risk sacrificing the integrity of their shell design to include such niceties. Arai claims a better dispersion of kinetic energy as well as minimizing the potential for the helmet to catch on rough surfaces, thus reducing unwanted rotational forces.

While computer animation has worked its way into the factory when it comes to cutting the face opening or during certain steps in the paint process, the majority of the shell is still built by hand. Their shells are constructed using a proprietary mechanically expanded fiber mat which varies in its chemical composition depending on the helmet.

Exhaust ports can help draw the air away, and you need to be able to use the vents easily with gloves on. Any holes cut in the outer and inner shell will reduce the structural integrity, so the shell must be strong enough to at least pass ECE A well-designed lid can be extremely strong while also giving plenty of intake and exhaust ports. You might find channels cut into the inner liner, which can help improve airflow, but as explained earlier, they can also be used to alter the effective density of the polystyrene during impact testing.

Others use MIPS — an inner liner that moves to allow the head to shift slightly, which can reduce the rotational forces transmitted to the brain.

The majority of helmets are warranted for five years now, but how well they wear will depend how often you have them on your head. I use the Shoei less than I used to, but still take it out for longer journeys as the MT is too noisy; the Multitec lids done a hell of a lot of miles. Honestly, the MT is good for the price, but it is worn out after a year of very intensive use — the lining is falling apart and the visor keeps flopping closed.

There really is a difference in noise, comfort, padding and ventilation between the two; you get what you pay for. As I always say to my students; buy the best you can afford, but make sure you try it on properly, and only ever buy from a reputable dealer. Any good dealer will have someone who can help you. BikeSocial cuts open three motorcycle helmets to find out just how different they are….

Cheap vs expensive: How much should you pay for a motorcycle helmet? By John Milbank. The Box has a single piece shell of polystyrene with a slightly softer insert at the crown Are the polystyrene liners all the same in motorbike lids? These channels cut into the back of the outside of the polystyrene modify the effective density of the material Because a resin shell can be so much stronger, the inner shall can be softer, making for a more comfortable helmet, and potentially further reducing the forces transmitted to the head, above and beyond the ECE This Arai liner is very complex in its construction, which inevitably adds to the production cost What difference can you find in the liners?

How comfortable each is will depend on you Does the liner make a difference to comfort? The cheek pad on the left is clearly easier — and hence cheaper — to make Are all motorcycle helmet visors created equal? Are more vents better? A well-designed lid can be extremely strong while also giving plenty of intake and exhaust ports You might find channels cut into the inner liner, which can help improve airflow, but as explained earlier, they can also be used to alter the effective density of the polystyrene during impact testing.