I recently attended Arai’s Monterey introduction of this new helmet aimed at a crossover section of the booming Dualsport/Supermoto market.
Called the XD (Crossover design) it’s a very innovative and stylish cross between a dirt style helmet and a street lid. It has a neat full-face style visor that flips up, almost flush, to the peak and can be worn motocross-style, with or without goggles.
According to Arai VP, this helmet is targeted towards a number of different arenas:
“It’s a street helmet for the dirt, or a dirt helmet for the street, an adventure touring helmet or something faintly hooliganisque for the streetfighter crowd” Says Weston.
The build quality is, as per usual, superb and features a removable washable liner. The liner is also fully adjustable with Arai’s optional available cheek pads. The neck roll pad at the rear is included to both promote comfort and to help reduce wind noise.
The helmet is also well vented with dual front intakes, similar to my Quantum F. The peak is also channeled to direct air to these vents. The XD features the “Double-Delta” bridged rear exhaust ducts to further aid cooling and is said to draw a significant volume of hot air from inside the helmet.
Like all Arai’s this helmet enjoys a full five-year warranty and the helmet also exceeds the Snell and DOT standards.
I’ve been displaying mine for a few days now and everyone who sees it, likes it. It’s a very unusual design and I’ll be wearing mine in combat sometime soon.
The XD is available in XS through XXL in five solids colors, Black, White, Aluminum Grey, Aluminum Silver and Sport Blue. There are also some snazzy designs called Storm – in black, blue, red and KTM orange. Price is still being finalized, but expect them to be around $455 for solids and $538 for the storm designs.
Sticker shock? Well if you value your head you need to buy a helmet that has topped every single J.D. Power helmet satisfaction study since its inception. The build quality is the same for you as the one that your favorite pro-racer wears, including every American MotoGP racer. I always wear mine and I’ve still got all my marbles – I crash good too…
