I've been wearing modular helmets since about 2001. I've had HJC, Nolans, and Schuberths. My previous helmet has been a Schuberth C3 and I've liked it -- except for one annoying thing. The top of the eye-port is too low, just barely above the top of my glasses. The Pinlock insert fits about 1/4 - 3/8" below the top the face shield and I often end up with the top of the Pinlock lining up with the middle of the distance focal of my tri-focals. I decided to try something else mainly because I saw a Klim carbon TK1200 modular on closeout from motorcyclegear.com for only $299.
When the Klim came, I was greatly impressed with the way it looked and with its very light weight. But then I tried to put the danged thing on! *&#%!! It was incredibly tight at the bottom. As hard as I tried to spread it, I couldn't get it on without pushing my glasses all cattywampus on my head. And it tore my ears up, going on and coming off. I will say that once it was on, it was fairly comfortable, but after putting it on and taking it off maybe 5 or 6 times, my earlobes were swollen and terribly sore. I seriously wondered if they'd ever go back to normal. Motorcyclegear.com was great about the return (and by then, I was hooked on the idea of a new helmet, so they came out just fine).
The only other options for a top-end helmet seemed to be AVG and Shoei. The AVG looked interesting, but even though I'm incredibly wealthy, I couldn't quite go the $749 - $800 that they ran. So, Shoei, it was. And only $699!!
When it got hear, I was impressed with the appearance and the quality that it seemed to exude. Then I put it on and it went on very easily (maybe not quite so easily as my Schuberth, but there was no damage to my glasses or to my ears. Today, when I took my 168-mile ride was the 3rd time I've worn it on the bike. The first two had been the short trip to Wild West Honda and back and didn't really tell me much except that the eye-port opening was much better placed than the one on the Schuberth. On today's ride I was really impressed the helmet's performance. It was comfortable and felt as if it might be lighter (by a bit) than the Schuberth. It was definitely considerably quieter than the Schuberth -- and Schuberth's have a reputation for being among the quietest of the modular helmets. The ventilation system worked very well and the Pinlock kept condensation from the faceshield. One slight issue was that when I lowered the internal sunshield there was some condensation on it, but it evaporated quickly.
I give the Shoei Neotec 2 five stars. My old Schuberth 3 1/2 stars. The Klim 1 star... but that might be 1 star too many.
When the Klim came, I was greatly impressed with the way it looked and with its very light weight. But then I tried to put the danged thing on! *&#%!! It was incredibly tight at the bottom. As hard as I tried to spread it, I couldn't get it on without pushing my glasses all cattywampus on my head. And it tore my ears up, going on and coming off. I will say that once it was on, it was fairly comfortable, but after putting it on and taking it off maybe 5 or 6 times, my earlobes were swollen and terribly sore. I seriously wondered if they'd ever go back to normal. Motorcyclegear.com was great about the return (and by then, I was hooked on the idea of a new helmet, so they came out just fine).
The only other options for a top-end helmet seemed to be AVG and Shoei. The AVG looked interesting, but even though I'm incredibly wealthy, I couldn't quite go the $749 - $800 that they ran. So, Shoei, it was. And only $699!!
When it got hear, I was impressed with the appearance and the quality that it seemed to exude. Then I put it on and it went on very easily (maybe not quite so easily as my Schuberth, but there was no damage to my glasses or to my ears. Today, when I took my 168-mile ride was the 3rd time I've worn it on the bike. The first two had been the short trip to Wild West Honda and back and didn't really tell me much except that the eye-port opening was much better placed than the one on the Schuberth. On today's ride I was really impressed the helmet's performance. It was comfortable and felt as if it might be lighter (by a bit) than the Schuberth. It was definitely considerably quieter than the Schuberth -- and Schuberth's have a reputation for being among the quietest of the modular helmets. The ventilation system worked very well and the Pinlock kept condensation from the faceshield. One slight issue was that when I lowered the internal sunshield there was some condensation on it, but it evaporated quickly.
I give the Shoei Neotec 2 five stars. My old Schuberth 3 1/2 stars. The Klim 1 star... but that might be 1 star too many.
