I suspect I’ve got a pinched nerve in my neck that’s been causing discomfort through the shoulder and arm, and making my index and middle fingers go numb from time to time. I noticed I always feel the latter sensation when heading on my motorcycle. I lasts only for a few minutes, but made me think that the weight of my Scorpion Exo-1000 helmet might be exacerbating the problem.

I like the Scorpion. It’s a solid helmet and I like the internal drop-sunshade. But it’s noisy. And very heavy. So I hit the local motorcycle gear shop (MotoAuthority) to see if there were any lighter lids for me. I had thought about the Akuma Phantom II — a carbon fiber helmet with various doo-dads, but they had me try on a few of the Shoeis and Arais in the shop.

The Shoeis I found to be far to tight back to front. I don’t like having my nose touching the front of the helmet…my first accident I hit the ground straight on the chinbar and busted my nose on the inside of the helmet. I figure the cheek padding should help soak the energy and keep my nose from plowing a divot in the plastic under the windscreen.

The Arais’ fit better, and the latest bowl he had in the shop was the RX-Q, the “street” version of their Corsair racing helmet. It’s very light — according to the various websites, it’s a different of a half pound or so, but it felt about a third to half the weight of the Exo-1000. (I also wear a different size between the Arai and the Scorpion — medium as opposed to large, so that will account for a bit more weight reduction.) After buying the helmet, I hit the road for a few hours of riding to measure the differences between the two.

One: It’s light enough I barely noticed the helmet at all.  Two: the visibility on the RX-Q is like nothing I’ve worn before. I’d swear I could see my ears. Supposedly, the windscreen has an extra 5mm side to side, and it definitely shows. I barely had to turn my head to check the blind spots. Three: it’s relatively quiet…there’s wind noise, but I noticed I could even tell if the wind had shifted around the helmet by the noise. That was good because it meant the slipstream noise over the helmet was low enough to differentiate my wind noise from that blowing off the mountain to my left; it was bad because psychologically, I could tell I was in windy conditions (20mph with 30mph gusts is pretty much de rigeur in New Mexico.)

I got on I-40 heading east through the canyon — always a wind zone — to see how it would handle buffeting. I absolutely did not speed (cough cough)…but if I had been going 90ish, the helmet would still perform as follows: the wind noise is present but better than pretty much any other helmet I’ve had. The RX-Q also does not buffet at all. In fact, there was little change in wind noise when looking from side to side, either. The helmet does not pick up at speed, jostle, nor shift if you are looking into a turn.

What it does do is let a lot of air in under the chin. This helmet will be fantastic in the summer — without the vents open at all, the RX-Q is comfortable with a light breeze across the head. However, in cold wind, it’s going to be a bit too breezy; a balaclava will be necessary. I had mine on and it was in the 40s today while I was riding — it wasn’t cold, but it was a wee bit chilly. There is a retractable chin guard on the RX-Q. It works great up to about 55mph, then seems to aid the air in coming up through the helmet. I put it back up on the highway and got less wind into the helmet, but below about 55mph, it’s the opposite. Don’t ask me…I don’t know.

MSRP is in the low $500s for the frost black that I got, and about $50 higher if you want the swank graphics (the UK flag caught my eye, but extra dough quickly soured me on it.) I got mine for a lot less than that. Before this, I’ve never spent more than $250 on a helmet, but I think the extra money is worth it for the RX-Q — it’s light and stable, and has great visibility.