Here’s a list of our top ten motorcycle helmets of 2016 so far. For a helmet to make our top ten list, it’s got to be an all-around performer for everyday riders on the street. That’s why you won’t find the most expensive race helmet money can buy on this list, or the cheapest helmet that looks great on the shelf. The competition is tough, but we whittled our list down to these top ten helmets by weighing safety, bang-for-the-buck, quality, and ride comfort. Ranging from the $130 HJC CL-17 all the way up to the $800+ Arai Corsair X, we’ve got something for (mostly) everyone. We’ve even included our favorite open-face helmet and our top modular, always a very heavily contended category. Check out our Premium Modulars Helmets Face Off to dive into our four best modular helmets. Click on the links to learn more about our top ten, and visit Road Rider or your local motorcycle gear shop to try on a variety of helmets and select the right one for you. Shopping at your local store will help ensure you are spending your money on a helmet that fits correctly, so it can protect you when it counts.

N/A (drop-down sun shield) The GT-Air continues to be one of the most highly-rated, best-selling helmets around. Renowned for delivering low noise levels and an incredibly smooth, stable ride, it’s also the only Shoei full-face with a drop-down internal sun visor. Click here to learn more… The DLX is a heck of a value for around $200, and includes a Transitions photochromic shield. Both the standard Qualifier ($109) and the DLX ($249) are available in a variety of fantastic graphics. Year after year Bell has been delivering quality helmets for folks on any budget, and the DLX is yet another winner.  The Vector 2 delivers the incomparable fit, comfort, and safety of Arai at a mid-range price. There are many reasons to choose an Arai, but safety is number one. To understand why Arai helmets are so highly regarded for their safety, read our article Down To The Details: Arai Helmets. Or just click here to learn more about the Arai Vector 2… The C3 Pro is the best, made better–a modular masterpiece.

It’s quieter, more stable, and vents 60% more air than its predecessor.  Our top budget helmet is a Snell-rated, high-quality HJC lid, available in a host of nice graphic options, and yours for around $150.  2016 is Year One for the Star reboot, and what a helmet it is, too. With 360° of innovative advancements, including the awesome new Panovision shield, it’s the new gold standard in its class. It cuts through the air and delivers a quiet, stable experience for riders of any style.  The Qwest isn’t the newest or fanciest helmet around, but it is still an awesome value for a rock-solid Shoei lid, and the buyer reviews continue to show it. It was designed to deliver optimal performance for riders in an upright position, so it vents well and is quiet and aerodynamic for the way most of us ride. The Mag-9 features a peak, pivoting shield, and an internal sun visor. Pair it with a Bluetooth headset or not–you’ll appreciate its customizable features either way. 

The X takes the Corsair lineage into new territory for riders who want the best, and this time was designed with street riders in mind. motorcycle gear windsor ontarioA totally redesigned shield system is one of a long list of reasons to love the new Corsair. motorcycle helmet with drop down sun shield Are we saving the best for last? mini bike for sale saskatchewanShoei’s RF-1200 is probably the best selling helmet in the world right now, but that’s not why it made the list. red wing boots abqIt’s lighter, quieter, and more aerodynamic than its predecessor, the RF-1100. It’s Snell-certified and made with Shoei’s premium, lightweight AIM+ composite shell material.

There are a lot more reasons to look twice at the RF-1200…click here to learn more.Not so many years ago, a lot of helmets had snaps over the eye port to allow for the attachment of various types of shields and/or a snap-on sun visor. There are still some helmets available with the old snaps—but I’m not so sure about snap-on duck-bill sun visors that were available. In any event, the ones I had used some years ago tended to cause whistling noises in the wind and if you tended to lean forward very much—as in sport bike seating configurations—where you tend to look out the upper part of the helmet’s eye port, an old-style visor would obstruct your vision. MUST READ:  Flawed Logic of Wearing Only a Helmet | So, we thought we’d share our technique to create cheap, durable and easily replaced sun visor for modern helmets that is even better than the old snap-on visors, since it does the job without blocking your vision and can’t cause any wind noise. Retail prices for a roll of the static-cling vinyl range from under $10 to about $13 depending on the manufacturer, product, and amount in the package.

Any package size will provide a lot more material than you’ll need for any one application, but being able to make more for replacements, new helmets, or other projects is handy and the material has very long shelf life, so it shouldn’t all go to waste. For most helmet visors (and I’ve done quite a few of these), about 17 inches in length and 1 ½ inches in width is all you need. The beauty of having plenty of extra material is that you can experiment with different widths till you find what works best for you. Cut the material to rough width first off the roll, then cut it down to the rough length you need to cover the entire top edge of the visor from end to end.  You’ll trim both ends to the point you want after you position the film on the shield. Since the vinyl is static cling and doesn’t use any adhesive, you can lift the film off and reposition it as often as you need to without messing anything up. MUST READ:  Road Trip: Europe On a Suzuki V-Strom 1000 Part 1 |

I line the top edge of the cling vinyl up with the top edge of the middle of the shield; that way, the edges will align across the top edge without trimming. You may have to use a different approach for positioning the vinyl for the shield you’re working with. Lay the vinyl up on the shield working from one side across to the other, applying gentle tension to the vinyl and smoothing it on as you go. After it’s in place, select the points where you want to trim it and cut to the finished length. I find that it works best to make sure the vinyl extends past the edges of the eye port on both sides—you may opt to run the ends all the way to the end of the face shield. Even though the static cling material generally stays put once it’s on, at certain speeds, wind force may be enough to lift the vinyl off the shield, so putting a length of transparent tape across the ends to the shield can help prevent that. Depending on the tint you choose, if you tend to ride in a position where you look through the top edge of the face shield, as in a sport bike, you may want to use a lighter tint and be prepared to lift the shield in low light to be able to see through the shield instead of the sun visor