my wife and i were discussing ride comfort last night (coming off long trip involving various speeds)... this got us to rate our various helmets on "tourability"...

we limited our selection to the full face and modular street helmets only because:
1. between us, i'm the only one who would wear an open faced helmet on long trips...
2. when riding 2 up, we use a bluetooth comm system... the half face helmets bring too much wind noise to the microphones...

just thought some folks here might be interested in our assesment of our various lids... we rated each helmet between 1 to 5 (higher rating = better)

shark rsr2:
aerodynamics: 4
lateral stability: no side-to-side buffeting at all speeds
longitudinal stability: minimal... very little neck strain at speed
head check stability: turning the head to the left or right above 150kph produces mild twisting force... no discomfort
airflow: 5
venting: large chin vent, forehead vent and exhaust flow a lot of air... very comfortable on a hot summer day at any speed above 30 kph
noise: 4
frequency: low rumbling noise starts at 100kph
earplugs required?: no... bearable at speed without earplugs

shark rsr:
aerodynamics: 4
lateral stability: no side-to-side buffeting at all speeds
longitudinal stability: minimal... very little neck strain at speed
head check stability: turning the head to the left or right above 150kph produces mild twisting force... no discomfort
airflow: 4
venting: large chin vent flows a moderate amount of air... forehead vent and exhaust flow a lot of air... very comfortable on a hot summer day at any speed above 50 kph
noise: 4
frequency: low rumbling noise starts at 100kph
earplugs required?: no... bearable at speed without earplugs

shoei x11:
aerodynamics: 5
lateral stability: no side-to-side buffeting at all speeds
longitudinal stability: minimal... very little neck strain at speed
head check stability: turning the head to the left or right above 150kph produces mild twisting force... can look up with minimal stress... very very comfortable
* most stable helmet i've ever tried
airflow: 5
venting: chin vent flows a lot of air... forehead vent and upper intake vents very effective... 2 upper exhaust vents and a neck level exhaust vent... flows the most air of our full face helmets... very comfortable on a hot summer day at any speed above 30 kph
noise: 2
frequency: low rumbling noise starts at 50kph
earplugs required?: yes at anything above 150kph

caberg v2r gara:
aerodynamics: 3
lateral stability: no side-to-side buffeting at all speeds
longitudinal stability: mild... little neck strain at speed
head check stability: turning the head above 150kph is not recommended...
airflow: 3
venting: chin vent are useless at slow speed but flows a small amount of air at higher speeds... top vents and exhaust flow a moderate amount of air above 50kph...
noise: 1
frequency: very annoying high frequency noise starts at 50kph
earplugs required?: yes or tape up the vents
* the high frequency noise can be minimized by taping up the 2 little exhaust vents at the top/rear of the helmet at the cost of airflow...

hjc ac12:
aerodynamics: 2
lateral stability: mild side-to-side buffeting above 150kph
longitudinal stability: mild... little neck strain at speed
head check stability: turning the head above 150kph is not recommended...
airflow: 2
venting: chin vent flows a moderate amount of air... top vents and exhaust flow a minimal amount of air above 100kph... hot
noise: 1
frequency: low frequency noise starts at 50kph
earplugs required?: no

caberg rhyno/trip:
aerodynamics: 1
lateral stability: moderate side-to-side buffeting above 100kph... severe side-to-side buffeting above 150kph
longitudinal stability: mild...
head check stability: turning the head above 150kph is not recommended...
airflow: 1
venting: only chinbar vents... very hot...
noise: 5
frequency: quiet
earplugs required?: no

airoh miro:
aerodynamics: 4
lateral stability: minimal side-to-side buffeting at speeds above 150kph
longitudinal stability: minimal... very little neck strain at speed
head check stability: turning the head to the left or right above 150kph produces moderate twisting force... comfortable
* most stable helmet i've ever tried
airflow: 5
venting:chin vent flows a lot of air... forehead vent and exhaust vents very effective... very comfortable on a hot summer day at any speed above 30 kph
noise: 4
frequency: low rumbling noise starts at 100kph
earplugs required?: no...

for 2 up riding, we use our shark helmets... at 150kph we can talk without shouting into our microphones... on very very hot days, their airflow provides excellent comfort...

How bout ICON & KBC Kuya?!?!!?:nuts:

funny you should ask that...

clariza tried all the kbc helmets at motoworld, fort last saturday... facing an electric fan in front of her while wearing the helmet, we tested for airflow... she also tested a shark rsr on display there to have a point of comparison

all failed miserably... very little to no airflow difference between open vents and closed vents with the electric fan set at full...

with the summer heat in full blast, venting is a very big factor in helmet selection...

for past helmets we've owned, here is a rough "memory tainted" assessment...

suomy gunwind
stability: excellent
airflow: excellent
noise: piss poor (noisiest helmet i have ever owned)

suomy spec1r
stability: excellent
airflow: excellent
noise: get earplugs

hjc ac11
stability: very good
airflow: not good
noise: fairly ok

hjc cl14
stability: good
airflow: so-so
noise: fairly ok

simpson bandit
stability: not good
airflow: piss poor
noise: my ears are still ringing... but it looked soooo cool...

never had an icon... sorry...

funny you should ask that...
clariza tried all the kbc helmets at motoworld, fort last saturday... facing an electric fan in front of her while wearing the helmet, we tested for airflow... she also tested a shark rsr on display there to have a point of comparison
all failed miserably... very little to no airflow difference between open vents and closed vents with the electric fan set at full...
with the summer heat in full blast, venting is a very big factor in helmet selection...

I'd have to agree with TS on this one.

I'm a KBC VR1-X user, and the ventilation on my lid is dead zero (0).
Also it's noisy at 100 kph and up, basically because a lot of air gets inside the lid coming from
the opening at the jaw area during high speeds.
If you are used to a less noisy lid, KBC VR1-X is a downgrade on this aspect.
So the expected result is a hot lid, sweaty head, and a noisy ride on high speeds.

I am comparing this from my other lid an HJC CL-12, a much cooler lid I may say.
For now I am stuck with my KBC, no plans on getting a new one yet; "budget considerations".
All in all KBC VR1-X is not that bad, its looks very pogi, a lot of my pals envy it.

My points on KBC VR1-X.
Ride safe to all!

shark rsf2 - no ventilation at all

arai rr5 - excellent ventilation, aerodynamics and minimal noise