Yea bro, it's called a shit ton of money lol! They have deep pockets, and HJC can afford to pay him substantially more than what his Lorenzo's old helmet sponsor could. I was having this discussion with Ben at work because I was baffled too.

HJC is one of the single largest helmet producers/contractors in the world. The sheer volume in which they pump out of their factories can be hard for people to wrap their head around. Motorcycles is only one of the many branches in which this corporate giant is involved in. There's all various types of 2-4 wheeled motorsports, bicycles, an array of extreme sports (spectrum goes from skydiving to skateboarding) and the list goes on.

HJC's sales volume in the motorcycle industry comes from their lids priced in the $200 range. It seems to be the magic number in the industry for the majority consumers, and that's the market HJC has come to dominate in over the years.

It's funny because it's not uncommon practice for racers in the past to wearing an Arai with their helmet sponsor sticker slapped over the Arai logo. :lol

But yeah, people simply go where the money is.

There's no official figures released, but its estimated to be in the 1,000,000€ range (£822,122) and would be paid annually.

$200 is not necessarily the magic number in the motorcycling industry . Cheap doesn't mean people will buy it. It depends how you market the product and who you are targeting.

This is part of the marketing and public relation (PR) side of things. Obviously Arai has a lot more riders wearing those helmets than HJC in MotoGP and also in WSBK. People might not know those riders, but each rider has their own graphics and Aldo Drudi (Drudi Performance) created more graphic designs for Arai than HJC. Result is Arai has more style to choose from, so when riders are looking into helmets arai has more selections.

The marketing aspect side of things is that I believe HJC pricing is one of their problems. When you set a price for a product you can't set it too low or too high. The reason is because many competitor's product are priced between $400-$800 and having the same product priced between $100 - $300 gives consumers a perception that the product is "cheap" or "poor quality"

Helmets are designed to protect your head from a collision. So the question is why would you rather spend more on a helmet? HJC hadn't really ask themselves that question before they priced their own products. I am not saying HJC sucks, they are still profitable in other areas and people still do buy their helmets but in comparison, I think majority would rather buy an arai than HJC.

Yea man I hear you man, I think you misunderstood what I meant though.

I meant to say the $200 range is the magic number for people looking for entry level helmets specifically. I should have made it clearer.

Take AGV for example, for some reason we sell a lot more K3's ($189) than K4's ($259), and both are considered entry level helmets in AGV line. I'd say the ratio of k3 to k4 sold is 4:1 and most of the folks buying them seem to be in the market for their first helmet.

A lot of people even chose the K3 over the K4 after knowing the shell construction of the K3 is plastic over the fiberglass K4 shell, it doesn't bother them, they only look at the pricing.

HJC's pricing actually is in line with a lot of its competitors, Ern

The $400 dollar helmets you were most likely making reference to in the Arai/Shoei line are not competitors to the HJC's CL16/IS16.

I'm certain HJC set the price of their product in conjunction with the material construction of the helmet. The CL16/IS15 helmet shells are made out of plastic. The least expensive Shoei and Arai are already made out of a matrix of fiberglass and organic fibers.

You would have to look into mid level HJC's before you'd start finding fiberglass construction. Even looking at the most expensive HJC helmet, it's only made out of a fiberglass/carbon combination (similar to what you'd find in AGV's Grid). The HJC line just ends there, they don't even offer a helmet made with a full carbon shell like what you would find in the GP-Tech and Corsair V.

HJC's direct competitors would be something like Bell and Scorpion man, which if you compare their pricing, its pretty on par.

I don't think its the fact HJC doesn't want to price their helmets higher but it's more that they can't, solely due to the materials the helmet is constructed out of, quality is debatable. It's not fair to compare HJC to companies like Arai or Shoei though because they're not even in the same league, despite all 3 being helmet giants

All of the helmets mentioned in this thread do the job of protecting your head, so long as they have the appropriate SNELL rating, or whatever the newest/current rating is.

The difference between a $100 and a $750 helmet is:
1. Aerodynamics
2. Ventilation
3. Paint
4. Materials (Carbon fiber, Titanium, etc...)

In a crash both types of helmets are going to protect you in the same general manner. Where you notice the difference is Fatigue. A helmet with better aero, reduced wind noise, made of lighter materials will not wear you down on a long ride, this is where the extra money spent really pays off. A heavy, noisy helmet really makes for a miserable ride after any amount of time. And as far as paint goes, the more bad ass your paint job the more Horse Power it adds to your bike.:fuckyea:

This is why I own an Icon helmet. :troll:

One thing to add about sponsored pro riders.

The helmet they race in are not production models, they are generally one off hand produced models based off of a production model or future model.

prototype bike, makes sense to have prototype helmet :fullofwin:

Serious question, what do you guys think of this?
Does it actually save my brain in case of high impact?

Motorcycle Helmets, Motorbike Helmets, Crash Helmets, Free UK Delivery

Few things come to mind when I watch it...

1. What's THEIR definition of a "standard" helmet
2. Seems like the video shown is an animated video, and after further looking into their site, there's no technical data on how it works.
3. https://encrypted-tbn2.gstatic.com/i...IUFQfYVB-cpgAA

Sorry Timpo, there's no saving your brain no matter which helmet you wear.

but it says 'brain temperature' :confused:

Everyone's pretty much summed it up right. Find the brand/model that fits your head best and features you'd like (weight / aero / vents).
I ended up with bell cause of the fit but conveniently I get to use the transition visor. No need to carry extra visors for day/night riding. Rob at Daytona is awesome for fitting and service
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how much is the transition visor and where can i find one haha

For the Bell they are about $ 160 at Daytona.

But not only is it a transition but a better quality lens, thicker with better optics.

anyone know any type of helmets that have a small shell size?

the reason for this is because i have a small head. i used to wear a youth XL HJC helmet which didn't feel that comfortable. I switched to an Arai size small but it makes me look like a lolipop. its also annoying to shoulder check because of size of the helmet is always in the way(the chin of the helmet would bump into my shoulder). i've tried on some Icon Airmadas size XS but still looks very big on my head.

I would like to pick up a breathe box for my hjc CL-16. They are about $12 online. Is that something I might as well just order? Or are there any somewhat local places that stock them for similar prices. I'm also tempted on a new reflective visor lens ($25 online)
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Have you ever gone into a shop and been fitted for a helmet by someone in the know? I highly recommend you go into a shop and do that. I'm sure lots of guys here can give recommendations to some good shops to go get fitted at and who there to deal with.

my gf wears a bell star in XS and the helmet is pretty damn small

I think you quoted the wrong person lol
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dammit LOL

yea i have. a lot of stores don't carry XS for their helmets. they have to order it in just so i can try them on

my boss from work has 2 helmets, Scorpion and Arai.
he said that Arai is so much smaller and lighter.

Was at Imperial today the have a lot of Arai in XS and S on SALE

2,000KMs in my X12 and I am very, very happy with the fit.... it fits likes a dream. It took me a LONG time to find a helmet that didn't hurt... so many of the helmets I wore during training, regardless of size, created so much pressure in certain places that I would be counting the seconds until I could tear it off.... not this one at all.... and it's actually a smaller size than I assumed I would go with... A+++++

-one point, this is a LOUD helmet, though that shouldn't be a surprise based on it's intended usage.