hondasarge
10-03-2003, 10:26 AM
Well my new ROOF came in the mail last night. The good people at www.tricktape.com were nice enough to send me one so I could decide if it was for me.
I tend to wear large in Shoei or Arai helmets, but all they had in stock were mediums so I figured I'd try it out. The helmet is pretty round in shape and the medium fits me perfect. It's pretty snug now, but I know when the padding squishes some, it'll fit a little less snug and be 100% perfect. I think a large would actually get too loose after time. It's a fairly round helmet so the front of the chin bar seems closer than my old Arai, but not so much as to make me fell closterphobic(sp?) or anything like that.
Quality looks to be first rate and the paint is really nice and deep. I'm not going to go crazy and say it's better than Arai or Shoei and that everyone in the world should own one, but it looks to be just as good as those two and much better than some of the HJC, ICON, and others that I've tried on in the past week. Weight is awesome and much lighter than anything else I've worn. It's also 100x quiter than the RX7 Arai I've been wearing and a bit quieter than the Signet GT I have. Ventilation seems to work well and the switches don't seem cheap. It also comes with a nice removeable chin bar curtian for colder riding. Shield change will require a screwdriver or quarter to remove the side pod and while that's not as nice as the Shoei system, it's still better than the Arai "I think I broke it" way.
It definately does get the looks from people too. I hit 4 stop lights on my way to work in the morning and had 3 people ask me what kind it was on the way in. I think I'll just print out some business cards to make it easier.
Couple of complaints, but both are minor. There isn't a tab or anything like that on the face shield so you have to put your hand/glove directly on the shield to close/open it and there are no notches in the shield path to sort of lock it in a partly open position. I don't really see either as a big problem espically the latter since the shiled is farily stiff in it's up and down movements. One last thing, and it's only because I'm stubborn, the seatbelt type latch works just fine, but I'd be happier with a traditional D ring set up.
As a side note to red VFR owners, the red is about a 95% perfect match to the Honda paint :D
http://www.tricktape.com/images/products/helmetaccess/redroof.jpg
http://www.tricktape.com/images/products/helmetaccess/redroofside.jpg
Small Update:
I rode Friday night some and it got down to about 47 on the VFR's outside temp gauge in some parts. To my suprise, the helmet didn't fog up a bit and the little under chin skirt really kept the chilly air from coming in under the helemt.
Saturday afternoon was hot so I took the curtin thing off and opened the vents, it really flows the air well at even slow speeds (damn Nashville, IN craft shoppers). I also hopped on the interstate for about 25 miles and noticed that my head wasn't getting bobbed around like some of my other helmets would when following trailers and such. And it's still the quietest helmt I've worn.
I still don't like the seatbelt style buckle system, but it's quickly becoming one of my favorite helmets.
I tend to wear large in Shoei or Arai helmets, but all they had in stock were mediums so I figured I'd try it out. The helmet is pretty round in shape and the medium fits me perfect. It's pretty snug now, but I know when the padding squishes some, it'll fit a little less snug and be 100% perfect. I think a large would actually get too loose after time. It's a fairly round helmet so the front of the chin bar seems closer than my old Arai, but not so much as to make me fell closterphobic(sp?) or anything like that.
Quality looks to be first rate and the paint is really nice and deep. I'm not going to go crazy and say it's better than Arai or Shoei and that everyone in the world should own one, but it looks to be just as good as those two and much better than some of the HJC, ICON, and others that I've tried on in the past week. Weight is awesome and much lighter than anything else I've worn. It's also 100x quiter than the RX7 Arai I've been wearing and a bit quieter than the Signet GT I have. Ventilation seems to work well and the switches don't seem cheap. It also comes with a nice removeable chin bar curtian for colder riding. Shield change will require a screwdriver or quarter to remove the side pod and while that's not as nice as the Shoei system, it's still better than the Arai "I think I broke it" way.
It definately does get the looks from people too. I hit 4 stop lights on my way to work in the morning and had 3 people ask me what kind it was on the way in. I think I'll just print out some business cards to make it easier.
Couple of complaints, but both are minor. There isn't a tab or anything like that on the face shield so you have to put your hand/glove directly on the shield to close/open it and there are no notches in the shield path to sort of lock it in a partly open position. I don't really see either as a big problem espically the latter since the shiled is farily stiff in it's up and down movements. One last thing, and it's only because I'm stubborn, the seatbelt type latch works just fine, but I'd be happier with a traditional D ring set up.
As a side note to red VFR owners, the red is about a 95% perfect match to the Honda paint :D
http://www.tricktape.com/images/products/helmetaccess/redroof.jpg
http://www.tricktape.com/images/products/helmetaccess/redroofside.jpg
Small Update:
I rode Friday night some and it got down to about 47 on the VFR's outside temp gauge in some parts. To my suprise, the helmet didn't fog up a bit and the little under chin skirt really kept the chilly air from coming in under the helemt.
Saturday afternoon was hot so I took the curtin thing off and opened the vents, it really flows the air well at even slow speeds (damn Nashville, IN craft shoppers). I also hopped on the interstate for about 25 miles and noticed that my head wasn't getting bobbed around like some of my other helmets would when following trailers and such. And it's still the quietest helmt I've worn.
I still don't like the seatbelt style buckle system, but it's quickly becoming one of my favorite helmets.