HJC Helmet Micro-Review

Last updated: Tue, 26 Feb 2008 18:56:00 GMT

Good news and bad news on the noggin-floggin front.

I commented a while back about how I should probably replace my off-road lid. Later, I added up the years, and realised that both of my lids, road and off-road, are more than five years old, and they've taken more than their fair share of knocks in those years. With the missus just getting her learners' license, it seemed like time for a helmet-buy-a-thon.

I've heard good things about HJC helmets, and from the people I know who've bought one, they seem like a safe bet. They're at the budget end of the helmet range, but well-made for the money. They're the right shape for a "Shoei head" like mine: legend has it that there are two predominant skulls shapes, Shoei caters to one, Arai to the other. I've certainly never worn an Arai that fit, nor found a Shoei that doesn't.

HJC CL-XS

"Great," I thought, "an affordable dual-sport helmet, for all my dual-sportin' needs!" You'd think so. I read some reviews, including a fairly negative one at webBikeWorld. I wrote that one off. The guy's beef seems to be that it's not a budget lid because he had to pay a lot to have it imported. Well, boo hoo, dude, welcome to the world that everyone else lives in, where everything's imported. That said... he has a point. Finish is decent, fit's great, and it's a decent looking lid, in my opinion. But it has the worst-fitting visor I've ever seen. I once threw a helmet out because it had been distorted by an impact, and the visor on that thing fit better. Not only are there gaps all round the visor that'll let rain, wind and dirt by the bucket-load, but the variable radius of the visor's curve means that there's some ugly distortion at play. I never even bothered with a test ride -- it went straight back in the box.

HJC CL-ST

Budget lid once again, but exactly what I was expecting from HJC. Decent features, nice finish, great value for money. It fits the missus well and it's a damned fine looking helmet. It's not too heavy, and her indoors says that it's quieter than the AGV of mine that she used to borrow. She looks pleased with it, doesn't she?

Don't worry -- she took that sticker off before riding. In fact, the sticker said "remove this sticker before riding." Well, duh. Not only that, it also said "do not wash visor with any sort of liquid or cloth." Um, right. So, a sandblaster, then?

I'm pleased that HJC came through with the goods on the CL-ST. It's a nice lid, and I'm left with a slightly rosy glow. A shame about the CL-XS, though. It's a design fault, plain and simple. Worst. Visor. Ever. And they haven't done themselves any favours by letting it out of the factory.

One up-side is that I've had excellent service from MotoMail. This is the third time I've ordered from them, and the first time I've had cause to call customer service. They were helpful and pleasant, and apparently happy to take the HJC back if I'm not happy with it. They're holding a Shoei Hornet DS for me, and they're sending a courier to pick the HJC up. I'm paying for the shipping, but at $10, I'm not going to lose any sleep over that. Kudos!