DS Helmet

[Bearhugger]

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I have a Hornet and it's the best fitting helmet I've ever had. With a small mod to the chinguard I have reduced the amount of fogging. Remove the foam and rubber piece from the chin vent. use stiff straws or whatever you want to separate the inner lining from the shell just under the visor. You get a lot more air passing over the visor. The only time i get any real fogging is in heavy rain. Cold morniings, it doesn't fog. I even leave it down at stoplights with no issues. In the rain you do get a bit of spray coming through the vent but having a clear visor more than makes up for it.

 

[mike_123]

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do you have any pictures of what you did for more air flow

when i first got mine it never fogged up at all but now its really bad

im guessing the colder weather and my heavier breathing trying to stay warm dont help matters

tried the no fog cloth wipes today and seemed to help quite a bit

 

[motorambler]

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mike_123 wrote:

ive got a hornet ds and i gotta tell you from day one that was the absolute worst most uncomfortable helmet ive ever worn in my life.i would come home from a ride and my inner sheeks were raw from being pushed in between my teeth from the tight fitting cheek pads.

after a few good hours of torchurous use the helmut fits me like a pair of fine worn out jeans and is the most comfortable helmet ive ever worn

Mike, that is hilarious because I have a new Hornet too & your experiences were exactly like mine! I used to dread putting it on & taking it off because it felt like it was scraping off my skin. however, after about 6 or 7 rides it fit me soooo good I don't ever want to think of replacing it!

 

[bchunter]

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I just looked in the catologe for one of our local stores and the Shoei Hornet is listed as $679.99. It is a 2010 catologe. Have prices gone up that much?

 

[motorambler]

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bchunter wrote:

I just looked in the catologe for one of our local stores and the Shoei Hornet is listed as $679.99.  It is a 2010 catologe.  Have prices gone up that much?

Dunno. I bought mine at Orcabay in august of last year. I just checked my receipt: I paid $440 + taxes for mine -- it was their last one & was on sale. I have a plain coloured (white) Hornet because I didn't want to pay the extra cash for fancy paint schemes.

I just checked online at Bayside (I have bought lotsa stuff there) & their prices are pretty good too.

 

[mike_123]

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i got the fancy paint scheme and paid 735 bucks if i recall

that was from bigjoke powersports in chilliwack

if you order online from the us there is more colours available and its quite a bit cheaper

problem for me was i wanted to try one on before i bought it and none of the stores had an xxl in stock

so i bought at a local dealer just in case it was gonna have to go back .and i was to impatient to wait

 

[bchunter]

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For fitment, do you guys find that the hornet fits normal or tighter then other helmets? I have a HJC off road helmet in XL that fits me great and I have bailed a ton while sledding and it does not shift at all. Actually it felt fine while I bailed on my TS a couple of times last year. Although the mud softened one landing

Thanks for your patience. It is hard to find stuff here in the north and I can't just walk into a shop and try on something, so the more info the better.

 

[mike_123]

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measure your melon then go on the shoei site and see what the size chart sais

like i said mine was terribly uncomfortable till the foam and cheek pads were squished to the shape of my nuget

now it feels like part of my body

i used to have a xxl hjc that would flop all over the place after3 monthsof use

my hornet deffinatly has no flop to it after a year and its a xxl aswell

i think the cheaper helmets use an inferior foam that breaks down much faster

 

[Island Hopper]

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I have a Hornet in a Medium and find the fit to be really good after about a week long break in, before that it hurt my ears .... It fits similar to helmets in the same size made by Nolan and Arai... I've tried the HJC and the medium has a sloppy fit... The SHR and THH in Medium are a more round fit so they put enough pressure on the forehead and back of the head to lead to headaches. If you go a size up then the fit is sloppy....

My friends brought some Hornets over from Europe and they came standard with pinlock no fog inserts....

 

[motorambler]

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bchunter wrote:

For fitment, do you guys find that the hornet fits normal or tighter then other helmets? I have a HJC off road helmet in XL that fits me great and I have bailed a ton while sledding and it does not shift at all. Actually it felt fine while I bailed on my TS a couple of times last year. Although the mud softened one landing

Thanks for your patience. It is hard to find stuff here in the north and I can't just walk into a shop and try on something, so the more info the better.

I have found that the Hornet fits true to Shoei sizing. For example, if you normally wear a size medium Shoei street helmet then the same size Hornet will fit you. The best way to ensure your new Hornet will fit properly is to have someone measure your head with either a seamstress tape or a very flexible tape measure. I was shocked to find that according to Shoei's charts I am a size medium. My old RF-1000 was a large & fit me great (or so I thought). Two weeks after buying a size medium Hornet I thought I had made a huge mistake. But, after a few more rides I noticed the helmet started really becoming like a second skin. Now I've come to understand that the large size RF-1000 I had was too big for me. I've read that something like 70% of riders wear helmets too big for them. Measure your head & use the Shoei sizing chart -- they know what they're doing!!.

I did a mini review of the Hornet on my blog if you'd like to do some more reading

 

[bchunter]

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bikerideswith.me wrote:

I have found that the Hornet fits true to Shoei sizing. For example, if you normally wear a size medium Shoei street helmet then the same size Hornet will fit you.

I was wondering about this. Maybe I will go into the shop here and see if they have any Shoei's that I can try on.

Funny enough, just after I typed my message the phone rang and it was my buddy from down south who has ridden for years. We chatted bike stuff and I asked him about helmets. He said that when he bought his bike new a couple of years ago the dealer gave him a deal on any helmet, 50 % off any one, so of course he bought a really expensive one. Now he is tainted. He can not go to a cheaper helmet since they feel just that, cheaper. He said he is spoiled and is trying to save up enough $$ to get another expensive one, the same as he has.

I might just be buying cheaper boots and putting the extra $$ on my head instead of my feet.

Thanks guys.

 

[bchunter]

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Well, welcome to the North.

I went into one of the shops here that has the most helmets (bikes, sleds, quads) and looked around. No Shoei. I asked the guy, who I know quite well, if he ever brings in Snoei's and he laughed. He said that he never will since they are perceived as being too expensive and people are not willing to pay the $$ for them. He said that the #1 question he is asked by people who fork out $$ for sleds and quads is that if they can have a free helmet. They will spend $16,000 on a rocket sled and then baulk at spending $150 for a helmet.

One last question, if you guys don't mind. I have a watermelon head, not a round catoloupe head. Do you think the Hornet will fit a a watermelon comfortably?

Thanks for the links to Bayside. They do have good prices. I will have to see what their return policy is if I am going to buy one.

Thanks again for helping out. My watermelon appreciates it

 

[motorambler]

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You know I always hear people say "I've got a Arai head" or "I've got a Shoei head" but truthfully I can't tell the diff, if there even is any. Both the XD3 & the Hornet fit me properly & they were both size medium. I chose the Hornet because I felt it was built a little better.

I simply had my head measured & shopped according to the manufacturer's sizing chart. I suggest you do the same & you should be good to go.

 

[motorambler]

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Oh, a bit of a side story here: I also have a Vemar VTXE in my closet. Before I bought it I read some reviews & heard someone say it fit smaller than Japanese helmets (i.e., Arai & Shoei) & to buy 1 size larger than you normally would. Well, even though the Vemar sizing chart clealry indicated I needed a medium I ended up ordering a large because "it fit smaller than normal" according to Joe Blow on the Internet. After a month or so the helmet was starting to feel a little loose on me.

Moral of the story? Follow the manufacturers sizing charts!

 

[bchunter]

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I agree with that. I measured my melon and it came out to the smaller size of a large for the Shoei. I for sure would have order XL. Thanks for the advise.

I have decided that I am going to buy the Hornet. Now I just have to find a place that I can order from that won't mind taking it back if it doesn't fit upon delivery. I am going to give Bayside a call tomorrow as their internet price was great.

Thanks for taking the time to help out. It is greatly appreciated.

Jim

 

[motorambler]

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bchunter wrote:

I measured my melon and it came out to the smaller size of a large for the Shoei. I for sure would have order XL.

Jim, maybe I'm not understanding you correctly but are you saying that the Shoei sizing chart says you are a large but that you are going to get a XL instead? If this is your plan then I would say not to do it. I would buy whatever the sizing chart says!

 

[bchunter]

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No, no, that is not my plan. I was just saying that I thought I was an xl and would have ordered an xl for sure if you did not give me the advise to follow the Shoei fitment.

I was at the dealer in Houston and he said he should be able to match the Vancouver prices, so here is hoping. I would like to keep $$ locally if possible. Now I can't wait for it to come in. My jersey and pack came in yesterday. Fricken spring fever