Fake Arai from Japan?

[CTrickle]

Help needed please.

I recently purchased an Arai GP-6S helmet from Japan on eBay! I knew the risk of potentially buying a fake but with the guarantees that PayPal offer I thought I'd give it a go. Saving nearly £300 seemed like a good idea. Too good to be true - usually is!

I'm certain its a fake but now I have to prove it. Couple of things that convince me it's fake. 1. It doesn't fit like an Arai I tried on at the Autosport show 2. The Arai badge is a solid sticker and is not laminated over, I seem to remember the badge just being the black Arai logo then lacquered over none of the White should be a sticker. 3. There is no date stamp on the chin strap, this is from my motorcycle days but as I remember all Arai helmets had a built date on the strap. 4. The internal lining is not removable, it's glued in place, not even the cheek pads.

I'm sure I could find more things but that's a good start.

If you have one of these which is genuine could you please add photos so I can use them to demonstrate the authenticity.

Lastly I'd like to add that although trying to buy something like this may seem a touch crazy from Japan I was fully aware of the risk, I have bought many things like this before and had no problem, this time I got it wrong!

Thank you for any help or thoughts.

Ed.

There are photos of it here - http://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/t...0With%20Photos

[midgetman]

The guys on the PH thread are correct, you've got exactly what you paid for - a Japanese-spec Arai. It's SAH2010 and FIA 8858-2010 so you can quite happily use it worldwide for racing.

How can I tell? It's got the FIA hologram and the SAH logos, they have anti-forgery properties so you can be confident that what you've got is what it should be. There's no way a fake would bother with such good quality ratchet gear or a Kevlar strap.

Doesn't fit properly? Then you should always buy the helmet you try on. Japanese Arais are indeed different to UK ones.