Arai Motorcycle Gear
Arai is one of the most famous brands in the motorcycle helmet market. The company was started by Hirotake Arai in 1926. Today the company is run by his son, Michio. Although Arai makes helmets of all descriptions, it is probably true to say that racing sits at the heart of the company's philosophy. But Arai also makes full face helmets for the sport-touring motorcyclist, as well as off-road / adventure helmets and styles for the retro market. Few would question the assertion that Arai makes the best quality helmets on the market. The are beautifully put together, using only the highest grade materials and components. But Arai’s helmets are also tested, in-house, to a higher standard than other helmets. Most of their helmets easily exceed both Snell and the latest ECE 22-06 standards. Arai was the pioneer in developing helmets so that they can withstand oblique-angled impacts. Arai talks about the ability of helmet to ‘glance off’ when a helmet comes into contact with, say, the road. The company believes that rounder shells help helmets are better at ‘glancing off’, therefore reducing the rotational forces that can cause damage to the brain every bit as much as direct impacts. And indeed, to this end, all Arai helmets have round shells. Arai also tests for the energy absorption qualities of a helmet, using higher speed impacts than other manufacturers. Arai also tests all its helmets with what is known as a penetration test, a test that is certainly not required under ECE 22-06. Arai helmets are not perfect. For various reasons they tend to be a little larger than other helmets and a little heavier. They also tend to be a little noisier. They are not the cheapest helmets on the market, but the premium you pay reflects the research and development, the components and the care that go into the making of an Arai. For example, it takes 18 man-hours to make one helmet, during which process it will be inspected by Arai’s quality-control team on no less than five occasions. Arai is quite sport and racing oriented so, here at Motolegends, we don’t offer all their helmets. The models we do offer are the Arai Tour-X 4, the Arai Urban-V, the Arai Rapide and the Arai Quantic.