Just bought Arai GP-6S helmet - too tight?

[Steve M.]

So i've just got my helmet delivered and tried it on and can't figure out if it's too tight or not (i used the sizing guide and i was right between the medium and large, so i went for medium). It's pretty bloody snug but not sure if the large would be better or not. I'm hesitant to send it back to get a large only to find out the medium was better in the first place.

I'm based near Reading and I can't find any shops anywhere nearby to go and quickly try one on to see the difference.

Anyone else got experience of these helmets and know if they tend to feel very tight to start with and then ease up a bit? Or does anyone know somewhere within reasonable distance from Reading that I can drive to over the weekend to try out the large?

Cheers

Steve

[Tim Falce]

Where did you buy it from? I doubt you're going to find a racing helmet in a bike shop if that's your idea. It needs to be snug on your cheeks but comfortable round your forehead, not so tight like one of mine is that after ten minutes it feels like my head is being crushed. You'd be best off sending it back to try the larger size or if you got it from DTs you may even be able to buy another helmet and send the one you don't like back, it'll save you one lot of postage at least.

Different models and makes of helmet are all different in shape for different head shapes, the only ones I've found comfortable are my old Bell (the new one I got cuts into my forehead and my chin touches the front) and my HANS version of the Hedtec full face helmet.

[midgetman]

Steve, the helmet should give you hamster cheeks but not a headache. If it's pressing on your forehead, swap it for the large. The sides will ease with use but not the top. Especially an expensive helmet like the GP6.

If I were mid-way between two sizes, I'd always go up a size.

Tim, the Hedtec is similar to the old Bell moulds so it's no wonder it fits like your old one.

[GORDON STREETER]

The crazy thing about some of those Arai helmets is that they are not legal for motorcycle road use if you look into it.
Yet you can buy a 25 quid one from Lidl that is !!

[midgetman]

Gordon, no Snell SA series is road legal. Something to do with the visor aperture size I think.

I've got a customer for some twenty five quid Lidl ones if you can send them over here ;-)

[grantp]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

The crazy thing about some of those Arai helmets is that they are not legal for motorcycle road use if you look into it.
Yet you can buy a 25 quid one from Lidl that is !!

Legality and logicality do not seem to be common bedfellows.

This is most likely to be because the 'Lawmakers' are rarely logical in the accepted social sense of the word.

[Steve M.]

Got things sorted now. Had a large delivered and tried that on and it was much better, still snug but didn't crush my head. Sending the Medium back today.

I got all my kit from Advantage Motorsport. Was going to go with Demon Tweeks but they didn't have the suit I wanted in stock, and Advantage offered me the same discount that DT was offering, happy days.

Cheers

[MikeM]

I had understood that bike helmets have a different visor location and size, and also the back edge of the helmet is higher. This is because, in general, in a car you are looking ahead/down but on a bike you are looking up - which changes the "fit" of any helmet.

[kart_racer]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

The crazy thing about some of those Arai helmets is that they are not legal for motorcycle road use if you look into it.
Yet you can buy a 25 quid one from Lidl that is !!

Its more to do with the cost of getting the licensing for road use.

Not many Motorbike owners are going to want to spend 600+ on a lid anyhow.