CrashTestDanny
11-10-2005, 03:15 PM
Not the Astral-X, but almost identical to it as far as I can tell. The only difference I've noted is the top vents.
The Good:
The Arai Astral fits my head almost perfectly. It is very comfortable and not too heavy compared to the Bell M3 I wore 17 years ago.
The vents are large enough to allow plenty of air to move through the helmet. The brow vents on the shield are a welcome addition.
The shield change mechanism is very easy to use. After doing it once in the house, I now always change the shield with the helmet on my head and gloves on my hands.
The viewport is large and I have no vision problems in the helmet.
The Bad:
Well, it turns out it is heavy compared to other newer helmets on the market... doesn't bother me a lot though.
Headset installation was a little dicey. Taking the internals out of the helmet and putting them back in is not as intuitive as one might hope.
The top vent covers are held on with double-sided tape and fell off while I was riding down the road. Arai sent new ones with no hassles. The chin vent fell out at the same time - they sent one of those, too.
I have had wind noise since I bought my bike and had attributed it to aerodynamics of the motorcycle. Now that I have bought a new helmet, I know that it is at least partly due to the helmet. The Shoei is about half as loud as the Arai!
The face shield on the Arai uses a friction system with no detents for holding the shield in place. This allows infinite variation in how far the shield is opened, but after a while it gets lose and doesn't hold.
The Ugly:
The Arai rep for my local dealer told me 'just pull that side cover off if the visor gets jammed.' He was right that it freed the jammed visor. He was wrong about 'just pulling it off.' Pulling it off without triggering the release mechanism will break it.
Having the side cover off would normally not be a big deal for me, except that the shield won't stay on if the side cover is off. So - my Arai is out of commission until the new side cover arrives.
Now, if you want to take one of those side covers off, it really is simple. Use a popsicle stick, insert it under the side cover below the visor release hook. Press it toward the back of the helmet to engage the side cover release trigger.
The Bottom Line
I give the Arai 7/10. The comfort is great and it keeps you pretty cool, but I'm disappointed with some of the problem areas.
The Good:
The Arai Astral fits my head almost perfectly. It is very comfortable and not too heavy compared to the Bell M3 I wore 17 years ago.
The vents are large enough to allow plenty of air to move through the helmet. The brow vents on the shield are a welcome addition.
The shield change mechanism is very easy to use. After doing it once in the house, I now always change the shield with the helmet on my head and gloves on my hands.
The viewport is large and I have no vision problems in the helmet.
The Bad:
Well, it turns out it is heavy compared to other newer helmets on the market... doesn't bother me a lot though.
Headset installation was a little dicey. Taking the internals out of the helmet and putting them back in is not as intuitive as one might hope.
The top vent covers are held on with double-sided tape and fell off while I was riding down the road. Arai sent new ones with no hassles. The chin vent fell out at the same time - they sent one of those, too.
I have had wind noise since I bought my bike and had attributed it to aerodynamics of the motorcycle. Now that I have bought a new helmet, I know that it is at least partly due to the helmet. The Shoei is about half as loud as the Arai!
The face shield on the Arai uses a friction system with no detents for holding the shield in place. This allows infinite variation in how far the shield is opened, but after a while it gets lose and doesn't hold.
The Ugly:
The Arai rep for my local dealer told me 'just pull that side cover off if the visor gets jammed.' He was right that it freed the jammed visor. He was wrong about 'just pulling it off.' Pulling it off without triggering the release mechanism will break it.
Having the side cover off would normally not be a big deal for me, except that the shield won't stay on if the side cover is off. So - my Arai is out of commission until the new side cover arrives.
Now, if you want to take one of those side covers off, it really is simple. Use a popsicle stick, insert it under the side cover below the visor release hook. Press it toward the back of the helmet to engage the side cover release trigger.
The Bottom Line
I give the Arai 7/10. The comfort is great and it keeps you pretty cool, but I'm disappointed with some of the problem areas.