"Cheap" helmets vs mid/top of the range helmets

AGV wearer here.

I have been in top of the line AGV (corsa, pista, gp ) for 2 decades now, I keep going back because they are comfortable and work well for what I do with them (track mostly). A few years ago I started road riding again and wanted a communicator in the helmet, I found out these were poor helmets due to the small shell size for speakers.

I had bought my daughter a K6 and it was a great street helmet so I bought one for myself. Riding with a buddy using communicators on the race track I soon found out it was not good for a sport bike tuck due to aerodynamics. I recently sold a K3 to a customer to replace his Kubuto and he is thrilled so far, me looking at construction note it seems we made just a bit heavier then the other higher end helmets.

So far fit and finish of the K6 equals the top of the line helmets and is super ligght but its design shape is upright not racer crouch. My track helmets however have had no issue with aero on any bike just not going to work well with speakers.

I have owned Arais , Bell , Icon and a top of the line Z1. The Z1 rated safe in the Hurt study but was by far the worst quality helmet I have owned. What I notice with good and poor helmets is the quality of the shields ,interior foam (comfort), venting, noise and yes weight. Those things are all important to me and I choose based on them as well as shape/features for the application.

I would not buy a K6 for the track
I would not buy a pista for touring with communicators
both will do the job but are focused in other areas, both are the equal in quality to similar Arai, shoai, etc.
Fit= I actually liked the Icon but I can only wear it for 50 miles at a time due to a hot spot that I do not get with the others.

dilbeckw said:

Thanks for your input Ducvet about the K6. i noticed that AGV recently released the K6s. It has a rear spoiler unlike the original K6. The helmet shape also looks different. I wonder if this is more for sport bike riders/track riders?

Click to expand...

This is the one i owned which I believe is the current model, released a couple of years ago. I’m not aware of any update to this model

I like the flip lids for being able to breath and let in the cooler air. I've use Neotech, C4, and Sportmodular.
Here's what I've experienced:
Neotech is super quiet, and fits my head well. It is uncomfortable after 2 hours, around my ears (large ears!). Also the chin clasp rubs my neck uncomfortably.

C4 is too round for my head and presses too much on my forehead.

Sportmodular is a full carbon helmet and I purchased it for the safety aspect. Its a great helmet and has been the goto for 2 years. Venting is excellent and it stays acceptable temp in 100*F plus days in Texas.

One thing I noticed though is carbon helmets are LOUD. The Neotech is more comfy INITALLY for me and quieter.
The Sportmodular is all day comfortable, but not as quiet.

I purchased the AGV Tourmodular and have been extremely pleased. I feel it has the initial all day comfort of the sport modular, with the quietness of the Neotech. Also, it has the 4mm thickness face shield and the locking face shield center clasp which I prefer. This allows me to "vent" the shield in a cracked open position for airflow but not bugs.

Having had two bad crashes in Shoeis, I can say.. they aren't good enough. In fact, no helmet is good enough though they are pretty amazing and totally pricelessly valuable. If these things (helmets) didn't exist and I didn't spend a lot to get one, I'd be dead right now. Since my head would have been crushed and I'd be dead, I'd say those Shoei helmets were worth.... many millions of dollars. Any degree of added safety in a helmet for any number of dollars they ask for is a bargain.

Not all helmets that cost more are safer though. That's where price matters... are they worth paying hundreds more for features, comfort, etc... probably not. But it's pretty hard to design and make a helmet that provides good protection under a certain price. I'd say trust in the company that will make a really safe helmet is really worth it. Companies that pride themselves on their safety like shoei and arai are absolutely worth whatever you have to pay. A company that values cool graphics, flipping visor gimmicks, etc... not worth a penny. I wouldn't buy a helmet that didn't pass ECE and/or SNELL, but also wouldn't treat all that pass these certifications the same. Some companies will game the tests and design a helmet just to withstand the specifics of the test and others pass the tests because they put huge effort into making a helmet that protects in real situations so of course it would pass these tests.

I recently paid more than my standard Shoeis to get an Arai as I decided they are more safety obsessed. Maybe I'm a sucker, but I'd literally pay anything to not get brain damage/die.

I'm with rennsportmotorrad - Arai Corsair X.
We have 4 of them. Please forgive the Honda helmet; there is an RC51 in the stable.

Thanks guys for the responses. As I said in an earlier post, I tried on the Shoei X-14 and loved the fit. I managed to find one for sale close to where the in laws live and my mother in law picked it for me. It was an absolute whale of a deal. The only problem is I’ve got to cover up the blasted ktm logos! Fortunately my wife is skilled with vinyl so it shouldn’t be too difficult