Helmet Thoughts

[martinm]

Hello all,

I'm new here, i also just bought a 2001 katana 600 and from reading alot of the post here. I know this Helmet issue has been ridd'n into the ground.

But i was searching for that right helmet and came accross a company called Jafrum and was wanting to know your thoughts on their helmets. And also what shield colors everyone is using.

Thanks in advance,
Martin

[Sixpoint]

Hiya martinm, welcome to KR!

As far as the helmet choice, all I can offer is that the choice of a helmet is so subjective as to make recommendations practically useless. There are several places that have helmet reviews; I'd say you should read over some and 1) pick a good quality helmet - and note that quality doesn't necessarily have anything to do with price. 2) try several different helmets on in a shop, and wear them as long as they'll let you. Walk around a while with it on, anything seriously uncomfortable will more than likely start to rear its ugly head in a few minutes 3) if a all possible, borrow different helmets from friends, as there are many diffferent shapes of helmet that fit many different shapes of heads - if you can try one on and actually see how it feels in the wind, that's an added bonus.

Lastly, you may want to do what I've decided to do only recently. Find a helmet that you can live with, and ride with it for a while. That will give you the time to shop around for the perfect helmet for you personal needs.


As far as the lens color, I only have the clear. I would like a dark smoke, but I'd need a tank bag before I got one, so that I could change as necessary. I've never tried an amber helmet lens, but I have tried several different makers of amber sunglasses, and it's amazing how much more clearly they can make things, especially (to me) on cloudy days and at dawn/dusk.

Hope that helps some -

6P

[Black_peter]

Good advice sixpoint!

I too stick with clear. I have suffered with tinted visors at night (or in bad weather) too many times. A good pair of sunglasses and you good to go.

[The CyberPoet]

I HAVE NEVER HEARD OF JAFRUM BEFORE. That's scary to me...

It means they must be a vendor who has them produced under license by someone else (rather than being a manufacturer themselves) or they have virtually zero market share... They are definitely NOT "the most trusted name in helmets", irrelevant of what their marketing slogan is.

Meanwhile, Sixpoint has great points. The most critical thing in helmets is proper fit -- a super helmet that fits poorly won't do as well as a mediocre helmet that fits perfectly, come accident-time. Since you haven't filled out your profile, I don't know where to tell you to look locally for a good selection of helmets to figure out which brands/makes fit your particular head well (different helmet brands & types fit different shapes of heads -- aside from just size differences in small/medium/large/etc, there is also oval vs. round heads, etc).

Cheers,
=-= The CyberPoet

[Benjc]

I've dealt with Jafrum before and they're legit. Bought a helmet that was too small and they replaced it with the right size for the cost of shipping.

[VifferJim]

I considered purchasing a helmet online. Spent a lot of time reading up on different manufacturers and tried on a few here and there.

Personally, I think it's a bad idea to buy a helmet via mail order. The only way to make sure that you have a helmet that fits 100% is to physically handle one, put it on and leave it on for a little bit... then buy it.

[gr8hntr]

jgmann67 is right
the only way to get that perfect fit is to put the lid on your head
i went to cyclegear and tried on lids found a KBC that fit perfect , then came home and ordered it online and saved 80 bucks

[tallguy63]

helmet

i was in the same boat as u a few months ago, in fact i bought the same bike, 01 kat 600, i settled for a scorpoin EXO 400 warhawk and am quite pleased with it thus far. i would recomend you compare prices and reviews on the net then try on as many hemets as you can and pick one with the right fit, then find the best deal on that same helmet either in a shop or on the net.

FYI the scorpion exo 400 has quick release lenses, removable insides, adjustable and effective vents and some nice paint options. comparable to the hjc cl14 or 15. good luck

[Jax]

Right now is a really good time to purchase gear...stores are trying to get rid of inventory because the new stuff it coming in...Xmas is a great time for sales and the riding season is over so they are more likely to make deals so they don't have to sit on inventory...Check out your local bike shops...There are many different brands you can find that have a reputation and you can get them fairly inexpensive...HJC, KBC, Scorpion, Nolan, ICON, AGV...also if you are looking for a deal online check out Dennis Kirk Outlet... www.denniskirk.com click on outlet..

Also, and how could I forget, Newenough.com check out their close outs..I bought an ICON Alliance helmet there for cheap and they even lowered the price since I bought mine...they also have a few HJC's last time I looked...also if you purchase something from them don't forget to do the donation thing to Katriders.com...They'll donate $1 to Katriders.com for your purchase..

Remember it's your noggin your trying to protect so do your research...