Arai complaints - Ducati.ms

Decreasing Dave · Jan 11th, 2011, 5:50 pm

I know, it's hard to believe as Arai is an awesome helmet.......usually.

I'm the first guy to jump up and start convincing folks to pay the extra cash for an Arai, this is why I'm so pissed about some of the crap that I'm seeing now.

I bought a Corsair-V back in May of 2009. It was one of the first ones put out to the public. I couldn't get ANY different shield for it besides the clear one that it came with. That's how new the Corsair-V was to the market at the time.

Since then, I have only put about 4000 miles on my Arai and I have had to replace 3 side pods, and send the helmet back to Arai to have the chin vent replaced due to stress cracks.

The other day, I was putting my helmet on after stopping at a store. When I went to put my shield down, it was stuck. Further investigation showed that the right side pod had broken for no reason. I managed to get home but upon further inspection, the left side pod was cracked up the middle from the bottom for about an inch.

I know what you're thinking, I probably screwed something up when I put my shield on the last time but that shield had been on for over 5 months and probably 2000 miles!!

The kicker: I tried to order new pods for my Corsair-V, Randy Red, and I was told today that they are discontinued. They are shipping me black pods instead.

I know that the economy is circling the drain and has been for too long but WTF?? They still sell Randy Red Corsair-Vs so why can't I get some new pods??

Is anyone else having issues with Arai Helmets??

Dave

va duc · Jan 11th, 2011, 6:20 pm

That sucks, I just bought a Vemar helmet to replace my aged Arai, we will see how it goes.

finepooch · Jan 11th, 2011, 7:00 pm

my previous helmet was an arai rx7rr3.

arai is over hyped.

my new gmax $135 helmet seems to be as good!

DuckMan · Jan 11th, 2011, 7:48 pm

And that's exactly why I just bought a new Shoei even though both my Arai's are still in very nice shape. I'm just sick and tire of fucking with the damn broken side covers. I know, I know, so and so has had theirs for a million years and changed shields 100 times a day with no problems. Bull shit. They suck. There I said it

It was so funny. When Jackflash and I were in the hill country over the 1'st, we stopped at a place for a burger. There was a nice looking BMW with the helmet sitting on the gas tank. It was one of the nicer graphic models but one of the side covers was plain white. I cracked up.

LSeca · Jan 11th, 2011, 8:31 pm

Sorry to hear this, hopefully they have the issues straighted out with the Corsair V. I sold an almost new one here a while back, went with a Shoei, and immediately realized the Arai is better for me. So, I purchased another. I certainly hope the pods don't break, what a pita that is to deal with. A helmet of any brand at this price point should not be having issues like this, and the company should make it right if there are issues.

velocidave · Jan 11th, 2011, 9:32 pm

I had a bunch of similar QC type problems with my last Corsair, and it kinda caused me to open up to different brands. I ended up with an HJC Carbon, which is not on the same level, but thus far has been flawless. I still hold that Arai is one of the safest lids on the planet, but for 700+ bones, I shouldn't be losing eye brow vents, cracking chin vents, and having the trim fall off my hat.

Decreasing Dave · Jan 11th, 2011, 10:02 pm

That's funny, because I was going to buy an HJC Carbon but my Arai Rep talked me back into my Arai.....before I found out my pods were discontinued.

LSeca pointed me in the direction of the proper pods for my helmet. The Rep is giving me black pods for my troubles. I will probably buy the right pods and carry the black pods when I go to MotoGP this summer. The last thing I want is to be halfway up the Cali coast and have my $900 helmet fall apart.

Dave

bruce19 · Jan 12th, 2011, 8:42 am

Quote:

Originally Posted by Decreasing Dave

Is anyone else having issues with Arai Helmets??

Dave

A few years ago I started having problems with my Arais. I had been using them for several years at that point. Then shields started blowing off at speed WHILE CLOSED. Vents started falling off. Arai replaced the vents and it happened again. It happened on 2 or 3 helmets and I gave up on them.

Matt_P · Jan 12th, 2011, 8:56 am

I've had an Arai profile for a couple years now. No problems at all. Excellent helmet. I just wish those stupid sidepods weren't so noisy.

LSeca · Jan 12th, 2011, 2:38 pm

Quote:

Originally Posted by Decreasing Dave

LSeca pointed me in the direction of the proper pods for my helmet. The Rep is giving me black pods for my troubles. I will probably buy the right pods and carry the black pods when I go to MotoGP this summer. The last thing I want is to be halfway up the Cali coast and have my $900 helmet fall apart.

Dave

Dave,

I imagine being in AZ, you need great ventilation, and as I said before I moved away from the Corsair V to another model/brand...it took me about three rides to realize how good the V vents and I ended up purchasing another. Riders Discount, a forum sponsor, hooked me up with a price that was unbeleivably good by the way. Up here in WA, fog is an issue and it is not uncommon for me to not have to lift the visor at stops with this model, amazing! After reading your post, I went ahead and ordered a spare set of pods as my Arai is worth the hassle and cost to me.