Let’s talk retro style helmets

  • Thread starter Thread starter Voodooo
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Voodooo

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I’m interested in buying a retro styled open face helmet.
I’ve looked at the following brands.

Ruby
Bell
Davida
Biltwell
Hedon

Does anyone have any experience in any of these helmets as far as quality, likes or dislikes, fit, weight, comfort, etc?
 
Scott,
In terms of quality and weight I would go for Davida or Hedon but as with any helmet it depends on fit - I tried a hedon recently, great quality but wrong shape for my head! Same with full face, I would love an Arai but does not fit my head so shoei is my preference!
As they say, you get what you pay for - the more expensive helmets are lighter, fit better, have better features. Don’t forget to factor goggles into your budget unless you go for the classic aviators,
John
 
Voodooo said:
Can’t lol. I live in the USA.
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Another vote for Davida. "Hand made in the UK" like Norton. In fact Norton used them to produce one in the Manx silver with black/red pin stripe, although I can't see it on the Norton web site any more.

I like that Davida will produce them with your own design. I had mine done to match my 961 before Norton commissioned theirs, I think mine is better than the Norton one anyway. They also did one to match one of my Triumphs.

Perhaps you could get the US dealer (in California) to ship you one to try for size.

PS - I added the Norton logo on my helmet, as Davida weren't allowed to do that.

Let’s talk retro style helmets Let’s talk retro style helmets
 
comet said:
Another vote for Davida. "Hand made in the UK" like Norton. In fact Norton used them to produce one in the Manx silver with black/red pin stripe, although I can't see it on the Norton web site any more.

I like that Davida will produce them with your own design. I had mine done to match my 961 before Norton commissioned theirs, I think mine is better than the Norton one anyway. They also did one to match one of my Triumphs.

Perhaps you could get the US dealer (in California) to ship you one to try for size.

PS - I added the Norton logo on my helmet, as Davida weren't allowed to do that.

View attachment 9342 View attachment 9343
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I’ll call Davida tomorrow and have a chat with them. Those look great!
It’ll go with my Schott Prefecto P665 and the Lewis leather MK II racer jacket I ordered.
 
I can’t remember how long I’ve had mine, way too long I expect. I am a Shoei man when it comes to full face lids, but it’s the Davida I end up wearing 90% of the time.

I even used it for my R66 trip...

Let’s talk retro style helmets
 
I bought a Davida without trying it first, fit was terrible, goggles wouldn't fit snug. My bonce suits Arai and Shoei so I now stick with these. As Sam has said, the Shoei with integral visor is a good bit of kit and goggles fit nicely if you want to use them instead of the visor.
 
Voodooo said:
It’ll go with my Schott Prefecto P665 and the Lewis leather MK II racer jacket I ordered.
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Do keep us posted as to how you get on with that jacket Scott, especially on your Domi, the lack of stretch panels in the back / shoulders would concern me if using it on an extreme Cafe Racer.
 
MxMartin said:
I bought a Davida without trying it first, fit was terrible, goggles wouldn't fit snug. My bonce suits Arai and Shoei so I now stick with these. As Sam has said, the Shoei with integral visor is a good bit of kit and goggles fit nicely if you want to use them instead of the visor.
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Davida sell a good selection of goggles, and will advise which will fit which lid best.

They sold me the ones in the pic which not only fit the lid, but also fit over my specs, which I thought was pretty nifty !
 
Fast Eddie said:
Davida sell a good selection of goggles, and will advise which will fit which lid best.

They sold me the ones in the pic which not only fit the lid, but also fit over my specs, which I thought was pretty nifty !
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Yep, when I bought my Davida they were also selling the Aviator goggles with integral spectacle frames which were pretty useless too as they steamed up below 20mph and made your eyes stream over 20mph.... but I looked cool I guess lol
 
Fast Eddie said:
Do keep us posted as to how you get on with that jacket Scott, especially on your Domi, the lack of stretch panels in the back / shoulders would concern me if using it on an extreme Cafe Racer.
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I wore my brand new Schott Prefecto P665 yesterday when riding my Commando SF with the upright stock bars. This is the first time I wore this leather jacket.
It’s very stiff and heavy, it weighs in at 5.8 pounds. It’s gonna take some breaking in to get it loosened up.
I also wore a hoodie under the jacket and that kinda restricted my movement a tiny bit but it wasn’t uncomfortable by any means.

Looking forward to getting the Lewis leather jacket.
 

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Let’s talk retro style helmets
speirmoor said:
Normally I wear Arai but they dont offer anything retro. Their Full face helmets are outstanding tho.
For retro I went through 2 Bell 500's and loved them but then my focus shifted away from open face helmets. Currently wearing one of the Urban Helmets to see if I'd like the shape before I drop some hefty coin on a Ruby. Works well with my eyewear and comfortable.
https://urbanhelmetsusa.com/collections/helmets/products/urban-bigbore-blue-flake-without-visor
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Well what I just learned about the Ruby helmets are, they are all made in China and the ones you see sold are counterfeit. That’s straight from Ruby.

Davida for me!

https://www.ateliers-ruby.com/pages/about-us
 
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