Shoei GT-Air

I just purchased a GT-Air. I picked it up from Cycle Gear for $603. No military discount for Shoei helmets. CG usually offers 10% off.

I have been riding with an Arai Profile for a few years. I loved this helmet. I commute 100 miles a day year round on my 07 FJR. I leave the house at 0430 and come home at 1630. As a result I was changing my face shield every morning and afternoon. It was getting tiresome.



I saw the new Shoei and was intrigued by the internal sun shade. I had seen other helmets with them but they were not as high quality as I was looking for. I am a sucker for nice graphics and so the solid versions were out. A little annoying that the graphic versions are $100 more. I first opted for the Black Wanderer version.


I first bought a large as that is the size of my Arai. I had to return it for a medium. Now for the curious part. Both the large and medium whistled like crazy. The whistle seemed to come from the top of the shield or maybe the top vent. Both cracked and locked down positions. This was making me crazy. I went back to the store and they suggested adjusting the base plate. We did this several times without any acceptable resolution. Below 70mph the helmet was fine. Above 70mph it whistled like crazy. I do not often ride below 70mph.

I decided to exchange the helmet. The store had a white version in stock so I swapped. Guess what? No whistle no matter how fast I went. This helmet has a gloss finish rather than the matte of the black version. I do not know if the finish is what was causing the noise, but both black versions had it.



Now, on to the helmet. It is very nice indeed. It has a very small neck opening. It helps to reduce wind noise I am sure, but it is a squeeze to get on. The helmet was tight at first but is breaking in nicely. It feels lighter than my profile but the specs list it as slightly heavier. The liner is very comfortable. It is easily removed and replaced. I removed everything to install a Sena SMH10 Bluetooth system. It was literally a snap.

Ventilation is very good. I feel air flow much more than with any other helmet I have worn. It flows over the top of the scalp and can be felt. The shield ca be cracked for more ventilation. I find myself riding city streets with the shield open to the first detente. This gives lots of air but still protects the internal visor from rocks, bugs and gunk.

The visor is great. This was the main reason I was looking at this helmet. It comes down far enough to effectively block the sun. It is about as dark as a dark smoke shield. Plenty dark. It also gives you that fighter pilot look. (right?) I love the convenience of it. I was always afraid I was going to wear out the shield mounts on my Arai. Not a concern anymore. It takes a few rides to get used to raising two visors when you dismount, but way easier than changing shields.

The helmet is pretty quiet, the white one anyway. I thought the Profile was quieter, but not by much. I have noticed that there is no buffeting when I do a head check. I can turn my head sideways at speed without the buffeting I got with the Arai Profile. I have no problems listening to audio when I ride. Even at my usual highway speeds. I can make phone calls and be heard well.

I will enjoy the pinlock shield insert when the weather cools off. I always had problems with fogging in the winter.

I would say that this is the best helmet I have had. I would recommend it. It is expensive but feels like it and looks like it.

Let me know your thoughts about the matte finish noise issue. It is possible that it's just coincidence. I searched for forum posts about whistling issues with this helmet and found some. I did not pay attention to which version those with problems had though.

That is a fine helmet. The review on webbikeworld praises it. Was considering one, but after trying on a couple decided my head and the helmet couldn't find a happy place.

After having the last two lids as Shoei I know you have a well built helmet from a company that goes the extra mile to build a hat.

Enjoy

Nice report Yessirrom. Sure is strange that the finish may have made a noticeable difference. It's a good looking helmet too and should be easily recognizable even at those +70 speeds, hehe.

Thanks for the report. This helmet is "on deck" to replace my RF1000 in the near future. I personally like gloss finishes better than matte but that's like the old ice cream thing The Shoei dark shields seem to cover more vs. most of the internal dark shields which results in less "glare gap" at the lower part of the field of vision. Glad you like it!

Skip Honeycutt said:

Thanks for the report. This helmet is "on deck" to replace my RF1000 in the near future. I personally like gloss finishes better than matte but that's like the old ice cream thing The Shoei dark shields seem to cover more vs. most of the internal dark shields which results in less "glare gap" at the lower part of the field of vision. Glad you like it!

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I am in an RF1000 (XL) as well. Great helmet. It has low noise levels, good ventilation, long-term comfort and the overall build quality is superb, but mine is getting a little long in the tooth. I was excited about the reviews on the GT-Air as it seemed like the next logical step from the RF-1000 for me. The flip-down visor is something I've wanted in a helmet for some time.

When trying on the GT-Air I found the XL was too small and the XXL wasn't a good fit either. So I kept looking through reviews of helmets trying to see what the options might be.

One that looked promising was the AGV Horizon. I visited Ducati Austin (AGV dealer) to check fit on one. This helmet has similar features to the GT-Air (high-flow ventilation, internal sun visor, removable liner, speaker cutouts for intercom, etc.). It is comparably well reviewed on WebBikeWorld. The XL was a good fit for me and an order was placed.


This might be another to consider should the GT-Air offer any fit issues.

I noticed that the helmet is quiet enough that I cannot hear my engine noise as much. You know how you get used to the sound of the bike in a certain gear and speed? Well, I have looked down a couple of times only to find I am in 4th instead of 5th. No audio cue to prompt me to change gear.

Nice review, I have the same helmet. Mine is also the white wanderer, it whistles every so often. If I reach up and put a little pressure on the shield the whiting goes away, and stays gone when I remove my hand. I think it has something to do with the gasket not sealing. For me the problem rarely happens and is fixed once I "adjust" the shield.

This is my first "expensive" helmet. I've had Icons and Scorpions in the past. The Shoei fit nicer from the start and broke in faster. I had a Scorpion with the flip down shade also. I do miss Scorpion's fog free shield, no pin-lock to mess with. The optics are much better on the Shoei though, its so clear that I don't even realize I have the shade down until I flip it back up and everything gets brighter.