I have been using my Z1R Blade helmet for a half a year now. I felt that the time had come for me to graduate and get a good upscale brand helmet like Arai or Shoei. Not that there was something wrong with the Blade. I will still keep it in case I ride with a passenger.

After visiting a couple of motorcycle stores my pick became obvious - Arai Quantum 2 or Vector. Why Arai? Because between Arai and Shoei the first one fits my head better. Also Motodisiac owns Astral-X which is the precursor of the Vector. And I got to try it out - perfect fit. Problem was - Arai Quantums cost over $500. It is pretty darn expensive. So I went online and after a week of grueling helmet market research I’d found a somewhat good deal on a Arai Quantum 2 in Voltage Red - $370. I had ordered this helmet online last week and finally received it last Friday, 3 days ago. I had also ordered an extra shield in dark smoke as it tends to get pretty sunny out here in Southern California.

Why Voltage Red? Good question. Originally I wanted a color called Black Frost because it perfectly matches the color of my Futura. But after a couple of rides with Motodisiac I had noticed that I could see him from very far mostly because of his bright helmet. That put an end to the dark helmet color preferences.

Friday night was marked by my almost futile efforts to replace the regular shield with the dark tint one. Removing the factory shield took under 2 minutes. Installing the new tinted one - over 30. I guess I was afraid to break a shield. I won’t call it the most convenient system but per Arai “flat spots in the curved shell shape diminish shell integrity, whereas continuing the shell’s three-dimensional curve beneath the shield pivot-points (that nobody sees) maintains shells integrity.” As long as it makes the helmet safer I am down with that.

I could not wait till Monday to try the new helmet out. I craved a test ride. Luckily one of my friends and I were going to get together for lunch on Sun. Naturally I decided to ride there.

First impressions - the helmet is more snug than my Z1R, probably because it is new and the Blade is a little worn out. Or may be because Arai makes better helmets :). The noise level seems to be a bit lower. The upper rim of the face guard seems to be higher than on the Blade. I had to make more head movements to look at a console or look to each side before executing a maneuver. I am sure it is not a big deal and just something that will take a couple of days to get used to.

The same impressions from the today morning’s ride into the office. Lower noise levels, perfect snug fit, softer padding. And I love the color.

That was just a first impression sort of review. As I ride more I’ll post more information. But it does seem like this one is a keeper.

This entry was posted on Monday, April 21st, 2008 at 11:10 am and is filed under Motorcycles, Street, Riding, Gear. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.