Mutley
Registered user
I have finally tried on one of these vfm Tour-X alternatives and thought I'd post a few thoughts.
I found the helmet in Hein Gericke Birmingham yesterday, it had arrived the day before, and was the first one they'd seen. It was plain metallic grey similar to the Graphitan that you can get on 1150's or the darker Tour-X. The vent on the chin guard was chrome - very off road stiley.
The outer shell was nicely painted and it looked a quality piece of kit in terms of finish. It has a lot fewer vents than a Tour-X but this could be a good thing in terms of noise! The peak is as substantial as a Tour-X and shouldn't flex too much. It's around the same weight as a Tour-X and feels quality because of that, not overlight and plasticky as the BWM helmet feels to me. The lining didn't seem to be removable and obviously wasn't going to be up to Arai standards, but it was comfortable enough, certainly not poor enough to put me off.
Two things did detract from the helmet for me. The first was that the visor didn't seal properly around the chin guard when closed. Given that a Tour-X is pretty noisy to start with this is not good. This could be a tolerance thing and other helmets may not be as bad. Second, it has a seat belt type strap closure which I hate.
Anyway it was marked up at £99.99 which seems a bargain given the overall quality of the helmet and the fact that it it a third of the price of an Arai. I've posted a picture but the one I saw didn't have a flame job:
I found the helmet in Hein Gericke Birmingham yesterday, it had arrived the day before, and was the first one they'd seen. It was plain metallic grey similar to the Graphitan that you can get on 1150's or the darker Tour-X. The vent on the chin guard was chrome - very off road stiley.
The outer shell was nicely painted and it looked a quality piece of kit in terms of finish. It has a lot fewer vents than a Tour-X but this could be a good thing in terms of noise! The peak is as substantial as a Tour-X and shouldn't flex too much. It's around the same weight as a Tour-X and feels quality because of that, not overlight and plasticky as the BWM helmet feels to me. The lining didn't seem to be removable and obviously wasn't going to be up to Arai standards, but it was comfortable enough, certainly not poor enough to put me off.
Two things did detract from the helmet for me. The first was that the visor didn't seal properly around the chin guard when closed. Given that a Tour-X is pretty noisy to start with this is not good. This could be a tolerance thing and other helmets may not be as bad. Second, it has a seat belt type strap closure which I hate.
Anyway it was marked up at £99.99 which seems a bargain given the overall quality of the helmet and the fact that it it a third of the price of an Arai. I've posted a picture but the one I saw didn't have a flame job:
