them quite noisy . Road helmets , on the other hand , prioritise a lining that ’ s more comfortable on the skin and keeping noise down .
ARAI QUANTIC – A NEW DIRECTION I ’ ve ridden , raced ( and crashed …) in Arai helmets for 30 years now ( my first was an Arai Giga 2 in 1993 I seem to remember ). I trust them implicitly to do the job , and I love the fit , finish and quality ( they ’ re beautifully hand built in Japan ) – and then there ’ s the smell of a new Arai when you take it out of the box . Arai ’ s new Quantic popped up on my radar and seemed to fuse the road and track worlds together ; the lower noise and comfortable brushed material inner of the road with the slippery shape and generous cooling of the race . And , as a bonus , it comes with Arai ’ s new flip-up tinted visor . I normally stick a clear visor in a sock and put it around my waist inside my riding suit , swapping between the two when the sun comes out , it gets dark or the rain comes down .
FIT AND FINISH Pulling it out of the box , that ‘ fresh Arai ’ smell was there , greeting me like an old friend . The brushed nylon lining is much more plush than the one in my old RX7V , and it has ‘ pockets ’ for speakers – as well as a flat section on the side – so installing my Cardo was a piece of cake . The lining is fully removable and washable , something I normally do a couple of times of year . The foam comfort liner has a 5mm peel away pad at the forehead to help fit comfort ( Arai sells different sized cheek pads too ). There are three vents up on the front – two little nubs up the top and one hidden inside the logo . The visor has two eyebrow vents , and there ’ s another in the chin bar . At the back , two exhausts are hidden underneath spoiler / wing .
ROAD AND TRACK My first big ride in the Quantic was the 2500km winter lap of the South Island on the ‘ Busa . There were a few things I really appreciated on the wet and cold days . The flip-up tinted visor was awesome . I was expecting it to cause some kind of buffeting with the air coming off the Suzuki ’ s fairing , but there was nothing – no whistling or turbulence . The helmet comes with a Pinlock anti-fog insert , which proved its worth during days of rain . Next ,
I really appreciated the difference in helmet noise over the RX7V . It ’ s still noisy enough to require earplugs ( I never ride at road speeds without them ), but it ’ s a big improvement . I could also feel that the helmet is warmer and more ‘ cosy ’ with the comfort lining . I was lucky enough to head to Aussie for the launch of Suzuki ’ s GSX-8S , which gave me the chance to try the Quantic out in 24-degree conditions
KIWI RIDER 47