Bored at work so gonna put reviews of all my gear, they were all bought within the last two months.
(Helmet+tech) Scorpion EXO-400 + aeroskirt (medium) with Sena SMH10 attached
Pros
-looks awesome
-cheap
-communication with other SMH10
-SMH10 battery life is awesome!
-Music while riding
-Firmware upgradable
Cons
-could have better ventalation
-paint durability could be better
-Pretty barebones in terms of helmet, associated with cost of course
-SMH10 a little chunky, but its probably purposely designed like that so you can control with gloves.
Helmet looks so damn cool, when you look at it straight on its green, but the more angled it gets (farther away from your vision) it turns brownish red, awesome paint work. As for durability I am iffy about it, theres a pretty large scrape on the top of my helmet and I have no idea when that even happened. Since then i dropped my helmet from about 4ft twice by accident and there hasnt been any marks except on the visor.
Wind noise is pretty quiet considering the price range (i paid $~159) and the ventilation is decent as well. If im at a stand still or low speeds i had some condensation issues just at the very top of the visor but pushing the visor up 1 notch and riding for 5 meters has been my bandaid solution so far. All in all very decent for the price. I got the aeroskirt installed a few weeks after i bought the helmet and i did notice some noise and wind differences, chin not so plummeted by wind and quiets it up just a touch, its mostly helpful with the SMH10 as it puts a very nice place to put the microphone which will never pop out. The aeroskirt installed has improved sound quality through the microphone infinitely, on the move its quite accurate, at a standstill its dead accurate vs before on a move it was soso, standstill was pretty good.
SMH10 install in this helmet was pretty easy. I used the velcro stickers that came with it and while the stickers fit fine the speakers were a tad too big. By a tad i mean maybe 2mm, I just forcefully pulled the liner until the speaker fit right in and its been very good! Bluetooth connection is super easy never had issues, after the initial pairing i just leave my iphone BT on all the time and when i turn on the SMH10 it greets you with a "hello" and about 5 seconds later it never fails to say "phone connected".
Sound quality is good considering its a helmet. At first I thought bass response kind of sucked but its... alright, its not horrible enough to not want to listen to music. Siri in my helmet is pretty fucking awesome because i feel like iron man, but I have had some issues with siri and volume/how good she is but that is Apples fucking problem.
Battery life is very very good, my only issue is that a few days ago I was riding from richmond to north van. When i put on my helmet and turned it on i held the two buttons for 3 seconds so I can hear what the battery level is. SMH10 said battery level was high, but on the way there about 75% of the way the unit died on me. Yea i listen to music the whole way but the ride should warrant maybe a medium instead of high? I would prefer a percentage rather than high med low, maybe it can be fixed with firmware! Which is awesome because its firmware upgradable!
I rode in the some light/medium rain and never had a problem with the SMH10
(Helmet) Scorpion EXO-1000 (medium)
Pros
-Cheap!
-ventilation quite good
-quiet
-sunglasses
Cons
-Paint could be better, but it is a really cheap helmet
This is my Gfs helmet, dont ask why the hell its cheaper than the exo 400
again im iffy on the paint i just saw yesterday that there are is a pretty long jagged scratch on the side and my gf only had it for 4 days or so. But then again its different from my exo 400 because I dont really trust my gf in terms of taking care of stuff so YMMV.
I tried the helmet and it vents better than the 400, and wind noise is much quieter. The internal sunglasses are pretty cool and works well. The size is the same as mine but the fit on the top of the head is a little tighter but not uncomfortable, and the air pump to the cheeks works relatively decently, just a gimmick in the end IMO. On the top of the liner there are spots with no padding for airflow im assuming which differs from the EXO 400 which has full lining inside, I see that as both pro and a con depending on season. For the EXO 1000 the aeroskirt is pre installed.
For both EXO400 and 1000 the visor is clear, easy to clean, easy to pop off. I like the EXO 1000 visor a little better because it has push up tabs on both sides rather than mine with the push up tab just being on the left side.
S-MX5 (forgot the size but will update when i know)
Pros
-Ride better!
-Comfort
-Casual looks
Cons
-I wish the velcro extended a little farther. Not really a product problem, im just a thin mother fucker.
Got the boots because they were casual enough to wear around if i did not want to bring shoes with me and the velcro is really good on it. It allows you to adjust very easily how tight it is to your skin. Im very thin so it helps boatloads, under jeans no problem. Flexability is awesome, I am very comfortable walking around, but its stiff enough that if i were to drive a car it would suck. Tried it once and never again, its too stiff cant control the gas comfortably.
It took maybe 30 min of riding to get used to it, and since i bought them i never ride without them. Few days ago I had to get something at canadian tire and its not that far so i decided to just go in regular shoes, that ride was so shit, the difference between riding shoes and real shoes is night and day and I can say out of all the gear, if you want to be a better rider get some decent riding shoes! I love them!
(Jacket) M2R Sabre (Small)
Pros
-Leather and armor at a pretty good price
-perforated for coolness
Cons
-Perforated so rain is probably a nono but I have not tested it myself
-speed hump is ugly as hell and cant remove, but if you did remove it would still be ugly as hell because the jacket is shaped for it
-Made 2 Race logos are uglyier than your cousins 3 generations of incest babies, but luckily easily removed.
Paid $~179 its leather and pretty heavy, its got padding on the shoulders, elbow, forearms, and upper back and feels pretty good. Its pretty comfortable, not really sure what else to say, the speed hump is a little ugly but whatever. Oh yea, if you have a m2r jacket you can leave the M2R logos, but the logos that say "Made 2 Race" look ugly as shit, and make me feel like a 12 year old that is wanting to be a man by getting real into fast and furious and shit. I ripped that shit off and it looks fine! I dont even notice where they used to be, the only indicators that a logo was there is the holes that the thread went through and its not that big.
Its a perforated leather jacket so riding in rain im assuming is a nono. I rode it in light/medium rain and I didnt have issues, but it was a short 6 min ride so thats probably why.
Not really gear but eh, ill put em here too.
(Lighting) DDMTuning 55watt 6k HID kit
Pros
-Looks awesomely white
-Bright so people can see you
-Cheap!
Cons
-Ships from china so takes a little long to arrive, but not absurdly so (shipped to US though
-People probably are slightly blinded/mirrors auto dim. Its a good thing because they know you are there, but bad because it might piss them off.
Paid $~35. Ballast is pretty small, I mounted on a piece of plastic slightly in front of my air vent. Install was pretty easy, I just DIY it. Just need to clean up the wiring a little.
Lighting is awesome! So bright so white! I love the line cut off because when i ride at night and i turn it makes me feel like a fighter jet! Its fucking cool
So far never had issues with ballast or bulb, my friend tells me stories of the housing melting at 55watt but so far I have no had any issues.
(Controls) Pazzo levers Black on Blue (Shorties)
Picture in spoiler because its a big picture
Pros
-Better fatter feel
-Gear kicks in earlier
-More ergonomic
-Looks badass!
-Shorter! Clutch side doesnt demand 4 fingers
Cons
-Cost
-Other brands are essentially the same but cheaper
Got the levers where they manufacture them in Langly. Aside from the fantastic customer service (see thread "lets see your bike") the levers are awesome! I thought it was mostly asthetic, with SOME differences in feel, but boy was I wrong. At a stop gear kicks in a little earlier which i prefer, the fatter levers feel better in the fingers, super easily adjustable (my clutch is at 1, my brakes are at 2), and the gear shifts just happen to be more smooth right off the bat. Im guess I was releasing too late with the stock ones and the Pazzo levers fixed it right up, so more of an issue with me YMMV.