- Joined
- Sep 25, 2009
- Messages
- 935
- Age
- 70
- Location
- West Des Moines, IA
- Bike
- 2024 Kaw Vulcan S
- 2026 Miles
- 002060
Received the HJC IS-17 Intake Hi-Viz full face helmet for Christmas and finally had a chance to try it out last Monday (coldest day of the year at -14*F) 
and so far have ridden about 70 miles with it.
This is a new HJC model only out in October I think. It comes in 2 styles: the Solid in a few colors, and the Intake with a few graphic design colors. Fit is very good. This helmet is what I would call a neutral shape. Not really oval, but also not really round. HJC has been very consistent with sizing so I had asked for the same size as my older HJC Sy-Max II modular helmet. The cheek pads on the IS-17 come forward along my jaw much more than my modular, but that may just be part of the difference between those two styles. The joint where the upper foam and cheek pads come together forms a groove in just the right spot to make it easy to slip on/off glasses for those who need them (like me). There are no pressure points as far as I can tell. The venting is very good IMO with 2 exhaust vents on top in the back and mesh covered exhaust vents on each side. There is a good sized vent center top front and a very good sized chin bar vent. These intake vents operate easily and work very well. There are vent channels in the foam in the top inside and the lining there has a number of holes that actually line up with these so I can feel the airflow when the top vent is open. I did test this on that first ride though, at -14*F, I didn't keep the top vent open very long. I also have tested this at warmer temps (anything over 32). While on the subject of venting, or at least a related topic, this helmet does have a Pinlock visor. I ordered the insert for this visor on New Years Day (Wednesday) from www.MotorcycleGear.com and it arrived by the 3rd (Friday)! The visor mechanism to remove and install the visor works very well and easily. I like the Pinlock setup. It does really work, even down to well below zero*F. The only problem is that the Pinlock visor doesn't help my glasses, nor does it help the slide down sun shield, at those very very cold temps. So I will keep using my snorkel for rides in really cold temps. This helmet comes with a breath deflector that does help. At warmer than about 25*F I found that breathing normally through my nose the warm air is deflected down and out and my glasses and sun visor stay clear... as long as I am moving and have air coming through the chin vent. I believe this would be a problem on ANY helmet with Pinlock for those who wear glasses. The eye port is "said" to be a bit narrower than some helmets. The Sy-Max II has a larger eye port but the difference is really not so noticeable to me since my Sy-Max eye port extended beyond my normal vision unless I was really looking sideways. The IS-17 eye port is visible at the very extremes of my peripheral vision but also only when I look for the edges. The visor mechanism is really nice. One of the things I like about full face helmets is that the seal is continuous all the way around with no breaks. There is a front center latch on the IS-17 visor that has a solid snap to hold the visor tight against the seal. The latch is easy and intuitive to use being front and center. Simply pull down to snap in place, push up to open. The detents are right. The lowest detent is extended for when the visor is latched closed or cracked open. Because of the latch, it will stay open just a crack when you want it to without blowing open more or closing. The other detents could stand to be somewhat more positive and seem to me to be a bit soft (i.e.: when open more than a crack or less than full up the wind can and will cause the visor to go up or down). The detent at full up is very solid so if you like your visor to stay full up it will. The sun visor is one item I have decided (with my Sy-Max) that I must have. One of the problems with the sun shield in the Sy-Max is that it is noisy. I usually wear ear plugs when riding on a highway. But without the ear plugs at any speed I can hear the slider and lever rattling in the wind. Another problem on the Sy-Max is that the release has no damping so when the button is pushed to raise the sun shield it snaps up violently and is very loud when it hits the stop. HJC fixed both problems with the IS-17. The sun shield has much smaller levers to stick out in the wind so there is almost no noise from the mechanism and they also added damping so when the button is pushed to retract the shield is slows to a stop when retracted. Very nice. As to overall noise... I have noticed that this helmet is much less noisy than the Sy-Max. Part of that is due to this being a full face helmet and has a smoother shell without the overlaps or gaps for the modular chin bar. But I think the difference is more than that can account for. The vents are much lower profile to cut some of that noise. With ANY helmet you will hear road noise and wind noise, especially at speed on the highways. That is why I use ear plugs. I know there are quieter helmets available but I can buy a LOT of earplugs to even the difference for the price you pay for those. One of the first things I noticed with this helmet is that there is a lot of room in front of my chin. I can slip two fingers with room to spare between my chin and the front of the chin bar inside. This should leave plenty of room for a microphone in there, even a boom mic. The bottom profile of the chin bar is somewhat pointed to make this extra room. This is not a problem for me as far as cold air blowing in since I wear a Turtle Fur neck gator in colder weather that mostly fills this space. I haven't used the helmet in rain yet to test just how well it seals that out. We did have some rain Friday, but we also had below freezing temps (freezing rain) and that combo is usually when I need more than 2 wheels to get to work. So will have to test that out later in the spring. Oh, almost forgot to mention. The graphics of the Hi-Viz helmet has the very visible neon lime/yellow mixed with black areas with white lines and also REFLECTIVE two tone grey lines (some of the lighter reflective grey shows up as off-white in the photo below). The logos (there are two versions) are also reflective grey. Earlier HJC models had a *sticker* with their oval logo top center front over the eye port and I would pull that off first thing. This helmet has a slightly smaller oval HJC logo painted on in reflective grey and is much better IMO. The other logo is, as you can see in the pic below, the HJC shield in reflective grey.
Over all I really like this helmet. Only improvement I can see right away is if they could make a full face helmet like this one that I can put on WHILE wearing my glasses. :grin:
and so far have ridden about 70 miles with it.This is a new HJC model only out in October I think. It comes in 2 styles: the Solid in a few colors, and the Intake with a few graphic design colors. Fit is very good. This helmet is what I would call a neutral shape. Not really oval, but also not really round. HJC has been very consistent with sizing so I had asked for the same size as my older HJC Sy-Max II modular helmet. The cheek pads on the IS-17 come forward along my jaw much more than my modular, but that may just be part of the difference between those two styles. The joint where the upper foam and cheek pads come together forms a groove in just the right spot to make it easy to slip on/off glasses for those who need them (like me). There are no pressure points as far as I can tell. The venting is very good IMO with 2 exhaust vents on top in the back and mesh covered exhaust vents on each side. There is a good sized vent center top front and a very good sized chin bar vent. These intake vents operate easily and work very well. There are vent channels in the foam in the top inside and the lining there has a number of holes that actually line up with these so I can feel the airflow when the top vent is open. I did test this on that first ride though, at -14*F, I didn't keep the top vent open very long. I also have tested this at warmer temps (anything over 32). While on the subject of venting, or at least a related topic, this helmet does have a Pinlock visor. I ordered the insert for this visor on New Years Day (Wednesday) from www.MotorcycleGear.com and it arrived by the 3rd (Friday)! The visor mechanism to remove and install the visor works very well and easily. I like the Pinlock setup. It does really work, even down to well below zero*F. The only problem is that the Pinlock visor doesn't help my glasses, nor does it help the slide down sun shield, at those very very cold temps. So I will keep using my snorkel for rides in really cold temps. This helmet comes with a breath deflector that does help. At warmer than about 25*F I found that breathing normally through my nose the warm air is deflected down and out and my glasses and sun visor stay clear... as long as I am moving and have air coming through the chin vent. I believe this would be a problem on ANY helmet with Pinlock for those who wear glasses. The eye port is "said" to be a bit narrower than some helmets. The Sy-Max II has a larger eye port but the difference is really not so noticeable to me since my Sy-Max eye port extended beyond my normal vision unless I was really looking sideways. The IS-17 eye port is visible at the very extremes of my peripheral vision but also only when I look for the edges. The visor mechanism is really nice. One of the things I like about full face helmets is that the seal is continuous all the way around with no breaks. There is a front center latch on the IS-17 visor that has a solid snap to hold the visor tight against the seal. The latch is easy and intuitive to use being front and center. Simply pull down to snap in place, push up to open. The detents are right. The lowest detent is extended for when the visor is latched closed or cracked open. Because of the latch, it will stay open just a crack when you want it to without blowing open more or closing. The other detents could stand to be somewhat more positive and seem to me to be a bit soft (i.e.: when open more than a crack or less than full up the wind can and will cause the visor to go up or down). The detent at full up is very solid so if you like your visor to stay full up it will. The sun visor is one item I have decided (with my Sy-Max) that I must have. One of the problems with the sun shield in the Sy-Max is that it is noisy. I usually wear ear plugs when riding on a highway. But without the ear plugs at any speed I can hear the slider and lever rattling in the wind. Another problem on the Sy-Max is that the release has no damping so when the button is pushed to raise the sun shield it snaps up violently and is very loud when it hits the stop. HJC fixed both problems with the IS-17. The sun shield has much smaller levers to stick out in the wind so there is almost no noise from the mechanism and they also added damping so when the button is pushed to retract the shield is slows to a stop when retracted. Very nice. As to overall noise... I have noticed that this helmet is much less noisy than the Sy-Max. Part of that is due to this being a full face helmet and has a smoother shell without the overlaps or gaps for the modular chin bar. But I think the difference is more than that can account for. The vents are much lower profile to cut some of that noise. With ANY helmet you will hear road noise and wind noise, especially at speed on the highways. That is why I use ear plugs. I know there are quieter helmets available but I can buy a LOT of earplugs to even the difference for the price you pay for those. One of the first things I noticed with this helmet is that there is a lot of room in front of my chin. I can slip two fingers with room to spare between my chin and the front of the chin bar inside. This should leave plenty of room for a microphone in there, even a boom mic. The bottom profile of the chin bar is somewhat pointed to make this extra room. This is not a problem for me as far as cold air blowing in since I wear a Turtle Fur neck gator in colder weather that mostly fills this space. I haven't used the helmet in rain yet to test just how well it seals that out. We did have some rain Friday, but we also had below freezing temps (freezing rain) and that combo is usually when I need more than 2 wheels to get to work. So will have to test that out later in the spring. Oh, almost forgot to mention. The graphics of the Hi-Viz helmet has the very visible neon lime/yellow mixed with black areas with white lines and also REFLECTIVE two tone grey lines (some of the lighter reflective grey shows up as off-white in the photo below). The logos (there are two versions) are also reflective grey. Earlier HJC models had a *sticker* with their oval logo top center front over the eye port and I would pull that off first thing. This helmet has a slightly smaller oval HJC logo painted on in reflective grey and is much better IMO. The other logo is, as you can see in the pic below, the HJC shield in reflective grey.
Over all I really like this helmet. Only improvement I can see right away is if they could make a full face helmet like this one that I can put on WHILE wearing my glasses. :grin:
