Back in the day helmets used to be simple, granted not very safe but simple none the less. A few quid would get you a hard shell, a bit of soft padding and buckle to hold it on your nonce. Thankfully, helmets have changed meaning our heads are a lot more secure when they come in contact with terra firma.
Arriving in the post today is the EXO 1000 AIR Type E11, Scorpion’s latest top of the range helmet featuring 'Airfit Technology'. In practice this means that once you put it on your head, you can inflate the supportive cheek pads using the chin mounted pump giving a personalized, comfortable and secure fit. To get it off simple press the air-release button which lets out a satisfying wooosh of air and then pull it off.
I don’t tend to ride much in dark during the summer so opt for a permanently dark visor. Changing this from the clear one fitted as standard was quick and easy, I didn’t have to read the instructions to work out how to do it.
However, the EXO-1000 air comes with one of those integrated sun visors. The operating mechanism feels strong and precise and when it’s down it doesn’t rest on my generously sized nose. On consulting some other riders in the office it seems that this is actually a really useful feature in the real world and would prove very useful for those bikers that don’t ride with dark visors. I think I'll stick with my first option though but I am looking forward to seeing how refreshing it feels with the visor up and the Top Gun visor down.
The lid weighs in at 1.5kg on our post room scales, a weight comparable to more expensive helmets from the likes of Shoei and Arai. It's Sharp and ACU Gold approved, comes with a Pinlock visor, has a removable liner made from that KwikWick material and no less than five adjustable ventilation flaps.
We are going to get some miles in with this to see if the overtime in the windtunnel really makes it as quiet as Scorpion claims. RRP for the white one is £269.99. Click here for the list of stockist and to see the official Scorpion site.
