I've got an Arai Astral-X which I'm happy with for the most part. I thought I had face shield re-installation down pat until I cracked and had to replace a side pod last weekend. I realized that if I cracked one when I was on a trip I'd be SOL unless I duct taped the faceshield on. I had a Bell Star in the early '70's and I was thinking of getting one partly out of nostalgia and partly because the Bell ads say that it may be the best helmet in the universe or words to that effect. I like the washable liner. I don't like that it's made by slaves in China. Has anyone on the forum bought one? Any comments?

 

I didn't buy a Bell Star but I did just pick up a new Shark RSX. I read a bunch of stuff on the new Bell & it looked great in pictures but I couldn't find one locally. This is the first time I have strayed from Shoei on the street & have to say I am very impressed. Check the other forums, you will see a lot of people fluffing the Shark products, for me this helmet lives up to the hype. It is light, fits (me) excellent, has perfect paint & the visor is the best in the biz. Once you change a Shark visor you won't buy anything else.

 

The reviews on the new Bell have been pretty positive but I'm just unwilling to drop $500.00 to $600.00 on a helmet built in Red China. There are too many proven alternatives for that kind of money or less. And I'll second the opinions on the Shark helmet line. I just picked up a pearl white /blue /black "Fujiwara" RSR 2 and it's easily the equivalent or nicer than my Arai RX7RR series of helmets- very high level of detail and plush interior.

 

For that kind of money I'd go weith the Suomy Spec 1R Extreme. I LOVE the cathedral theme. It's almost too nice looking to ride with lol http://www.motorhelmets.com/htm-helm...e-fabrizio.htm

I've had a few Bell helmets. Nothing in their upper price ranges but I wasn't impressed with them for the most part.