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Dual sport helmet recomendations

B-mtrd

B-mtrd

drtm-B
Joined
Mar 27, 2007
Location
42°24′6″N 71°8′19″W
Moto(s)
The Mistress
My helmet (XD3) is reaching it's lifespan and I'm looking for a new one.
Looking in Revzilla there are some closeouts on Schuberth E1's, also some Arai XD4 for a good price. I also noticed Bell has some nice looking MX-9 helmets.
I'm looking for something well priced, comfortable (Arai's always fit me best), quiet and of course nice looking.

Any thoughts or suggestions?
 
I don't think there is such a thing as a quiet dual sport helmet.

I have an AFX FX-39 that was inexpensive. I've met quite a few others who use that helmet. It is obviously of lower quality than something from Shoei or Arai, but it works well enough. I've been using it a lot lately with all of the dirt road riding I've been doing.

Things that I would check in looking for a dual sport helmet:
  • Does the face shield slide up out of the way?
  • Can you easily remove the face shield for cleaning? (I don't know how to remove it from the FX-39)
  • Can you wear goggles with the helmet?
  • Does the visor adjust so that it can block the sun when headed east early in the morning?
  • General fit.
  • Does it come in the color that I want? (The Shoei Hornet doesn't have any bright colors)
 
I'm personally a fan of the Schuberth E1. Obviously it's higher end, but the quality is there. And when it comes to my head, I like investing in quality.
 
My 2c... I went through a few DS helmets: AFX, Bell, Shoei and Scorpion modular.

Bell MX9 is the one I use the most, it is well built, inexpensive, don't care if I drop it, get it dirty/muddy, etc. A bit heavy though. AFX was also OK, similar to the Bell.

Shoei was my favorite for rides with more road than off road, was quiet and lighter than my Bell, but I did care that didn't get dirty, so didn't see much off roading.

Scorpion modular was the worst for me. The idea is nice (modular, built in shade, removable top shade thingy whatever is called, etc) but the closing mechanism is not smooth anymore, takes a few attempts to close it. It has a bit of a flimsy feel to it too. Dirt/dust is killing this helmet.

If I have to get a new DS helmet, I'd ask myself these questions and decide:

- How much dirt is it going to see? For lots of dust/dirt, I go with the simplest and inexpensive.
- How much I expect to drop it or bang my head on the ground (off road)? Hurts to scratch/damage a $600 helmet
- How much road will I do with the helmet? I'd spend the money here (Shoei/Arai) for quiet and well built
- Visor/goggles: must be able to use either, sometimes both
 
My Helmets
1. Icon Variant have had them for years and love them
2. Scorpion EXO AT950
3. Bell MX9 Mips
 
johnparjr said:
Icon Variant have had them for years and love them
Click to expand...
Ditto! :thumbup

picture.php
 
I wore a Caberg Tourmax to Prudhoe Bay and Tierra del Fuego with no issues. You can't beat the price and functionality.

For me the only negatives were that it didn't vent very well and being a plastic shell was slightly heavy. 5 Star sharp rating helped influence my decision.

https://www.fc-moto.de/en/Brands/C/Caberg/Tourmax
 
BILT Explorer...Mine has held up well.
 
I just got a klim krios. I really like it. It’s super light, lighter than my rf1200 and it came with a clear and dark smoke shield. The shield is also removable if you want to run goggles, and the peak is adjustable and removable
 
Guess I should also mention I also have a Nishua. This is the helmet KLIM has used for theirs with a few subtle changes. They are not shipped to the US unless you can find someone to purchase and ship it for you (that's what I did). If you find the right person they can wait until a sale and get it for 199 Euros plus shipping. Just a tad less than the KLIM here in the states :teeth
https://www.louis.eu/artikel/nishua.../215086?list=dd32e3a7e8df0863c5f29e68fae8cee8

My newest helmet is the Touratech Aventuro Carbon 2 that I won for a crazy good price at a silent auction. I have very few miles with it so far but initially it feels very good. This is made from the Nexx either X-Wild or X.WED 2 I don't know.

Here are a few links for those as well.

https://touratech-usa.com/store/Touratech-Aventuro-Carbon-2-Dual-Sport-Adventure-Helmet

https://www.nexxnorthamerica.com/collections/adventure/products/x-wed-2-plain

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/nexx-x-wild-enduro-purist-helmet

https://www.fc-moto.de/epages/fcm.sf/en_US/?

https://advrider.com/f/threads/nexx-x-wed-2-helmet.1293127/

http://www.advpulse.com/adv-products/nexx-x-wed-2-announced/
 
I know the visors look real cool, but how much do you really need it?

Say you have a bike like a KTM 990, Day 1 is 100% street, Day 2 & 3 are mostly dirt roads, a bit of trail, a bit of payment, and Day 4 is 100% street.

Would you want a visor on for all 4 days?

(sorry for my ignorance on this. currently I either ride 100% dirt with a dirt bike helmet or 100% street with a street bike helmet)
 
usedtobefast said:
I know the visors look real cool, but how much do you really need it?

Say you have a bike like a KTM 990, Day 1 is 100% street, Day 2 & 3 are mostly dirt roads, a bit of trail, a bit of payment, and Day 4 is 100% street.

Would you want a visor on for all 4 days?

(sorry for my ignorance on this. currently I either ride 100% dirt with a dirt bike helmet or 100% street with a street bike helmet)
Click to expand...

Mine's only the 950 KTM but I've had similar routines to the one you describe above.
I leave the visor on all the time on my Just1 J14 helmet.
When riding into the sun (or oncoming headlights) it's just a head nod down to block the glare from the light.
It doesn't seem to bother me with wind tug or wind noise either.
Although these (ADV) helmets ARE noisier than the good street helmets.

I've also found that I can wear my dirt goggles w/o taking off the flip up shield. Just flip it up and don the goggles.
 
usedtobefast said:
I know the visors look real cool, but how much do you really need it?

Say you have a bike like a KTM 990, Day 1 is 100% street, Day 2 & 3 are mostly dirt roads, a bit of trail, a bit of payment, and Day 4 is 100% street.

Would you want a visor on for all 4 days?

(sorry for my ignorance on this. currently I either ride 100% dirt with a dirt bike helmet or 100% street with a street bike helmet)
Click to expand...
I want the visor on there all of the time. The AFX FX-39 helmet doesn't catch as much air under it as the visor on my motocross helmet.

If I'm riding 100% street I'll wear a regular helmet instead of the dual sport helmet. In fact, even for long rides on all "easy" dirt roads I'll just wear a regular helmet.
 
usedtobefast said:
I know the visors look real cool, but how much do you really need it?
Click to expand...

I had similar thoughts about the visor. Now when I'm wearing a helmet w/o one I wish I was wearing a different helmet. I've found it beneficial but by no means a necessity.
 
If you have a narrower head, the bell helmet is cheap and great. I've put a good 10,000 miles of off-road trips into that helmet.
 
If you have a narrow long oval head it’s harder to find a dual sport for some reason.

I have the Icon Variant and it does the trick though I can tell it’s intermediate oval and not quite perfect-fitting for me.

The LS2 MX 453 is a good helmet and surprisingly cheap. It’s on my watch list on EBay.
 
dirty birdy said:
If you have a narrow long oval head it’s harder to find a dual sport for some reason.

I have the Icon Variant and it does the trick though I can tell it’s intermediate oval and not quite perfect-fitting for me.

The LS2 MX 453 is a good helmet and surprisingly cheap. It’s on my watch list on EBay.
Click to expand...

That helmet definitely does not fit a narrow oval, I have no idea why anyone has advertised it as such. I had it on for about 2 seconds by the time I realized that it wasnt gonna work.
 
Still rockin the Carberg Tourmax, sadly you still have to import it. It's a tad bit biased to the street side but this helmet has seen A LOT of dirt. Requires small or youth sized googles and has the flip down sunshield.
0926151542a-XL.jpg
 
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