Gearing Up For the KTM

I have never been able to wear a full face helmet comfortably. They would always be very tight on the head. Wearing my glasses with a full face helmet on was next to impossible. Therefore I have never really owned one and have been rather apprehensive about them. But after the Duke I realised that an FF helmet is a must for fast long rides. 

First of all, the high speed wind at speeds above 60 kmph is very tiring when it continuously hits you on the face. Next, on the highway and in the city too you are often exposed to a lot of suspended particulate matter (SPM) that gets into your eyes. Anyone who has been caught behind a truck carrying sand - and there are lines of these trucks on  the highway at any point of time - will know this. Then there is the issue of rains. Since I wear glasses, it makes riding all the more difficult when it is raining. 

Having joined the "modern biking fraternity" rather late in life I started reading up on various subjects and soon realised that helmets come in various sizes. Honestly I never knew this. I knew there were helmets for children and for adults. I didn't know they came in sizes like all other wearable things do. The Wellington retailers (for non-Calcuttans Wellington is an area in Calcutta where lots of small traditional shops sell motorcycle parts and accessories) never told me about helmet size. 

After learning that helmets come in various sizes, I also learnt that modern helmets have a few other modern features like vents (both inlet and outlet) to circulate air inside, detachable and washable inner linings etc. Frankly I also learnt that there are safety ratings for really expensive international helmets. All this while, I knew helmets were hard shells that cover your head. 

The last trip to Wellington, after perhaps 15 years, to buy a motorcycle cover had left a very bitter taste in my mouth, particularly about their knowledge level. Funny that even a few years ago that was our only hope and pride. Most of them had not even heard the name of KTM. So I knew that is not where you should go for a modern helmet. I discovered a few brands were selling on Amazon and Flipkart. But I wouldn't buy a helmet without actually wearing it once.

There is another online store specialising in motorcycle accessories where you get AGVs and Arais of the world. These are the brands people use while vying for world championships like Moto GP etc. Those brands cost upward of Rs 1 lakh for a helmet !!! I think the one that Valentino Rossi uses, sells for close to Rs 2 lakh or something equally ridiculous.

I asked my online friend Sourav for suggestions. He said SOL and LS2 were the brands to go for. And the store to go to is Gear Up in South Calcutta. Turned out it is really close to our office on Rajendra Road (near Northern Park/Urhiya Parha). 

Last night I finally managed to visit the store and buy my first "modern" helmet. It's an LS2 FF 322. I liked the owner - Deep. This is something very important for me. I have to like the person I am dealing with. Deep has obviously turned his passion into a business. He is a biker, tourer and doing business on the ground floor of his own house. It seemed his wife is also involved in the business. In fact after the deal he told me they go out on regular weekend rides and invited me to join the gang. It's nice that he is building up a community of bikers. I am not sure if I want to join a group just yet.

At the store I saw a good collection of gloves from Rynox and Viaterra saddle bags. In fact yesterday only I was wanting to see the Duke-dedicated saddle bags that Viaterra has, called Velox. And by evening I got to see them in the store !!! There were jackets of various brands and Motuls and Leatherman etc. 

The store is very small but that also gives it a cosy feeling. The collection of helmet is not huge. Probably less than ten on display. They did not have XL sized helmets which I think is my size. 

I had originally planned to buy an SOL but turned out the L sized SOLs were just not for me. Even if I manage to wear them, I cannot wear the glasses as my ears were getting folded down !!! Finding space for the handles of the spects was impossible. 

After trying out quite a few SOLs finally this L sized LS2 fitted me somewhat and most importantly I could wear my glasses too. This is certainly a first for me. The orange and white colour combination somehow went with the bike's colour scheme, but that's purely by accident. I bought it without spending too much time on procastination. 

I went home. Took my time to examine the helmet at leisure on the sofa. Took a selfie and sent to Sourav and then went out for a ride. I rode for about 55 kms in two hours, going up City Center 2 and coming back. My first impressions are as follows. Before proceeding further I would remind the reader, I am a first time user of a proper full mask helmet. So I have no way of benchmarking this product against better or worse brands. And unless I have used something I never comment on those.

On with the review. The visor behaves like the door of a modern car. It can open at various positions and stay fixed there, if you want. Most cheap helmets have the visor rolling up or down freely. You cannot really choose to keep it open just a bit and ride fast. It would roll down. Not here with LS2. I tried keeping the visor up and rode at moderate speeds. It didn't matter really. With bad helmets that becomes an issue and it resists against the onrushing wind.

With the visor completely down if you are stationary, the visor fogs up quickly. But if you are in motion, internal fogging is not an issue at all. Here I must mention that I was riding with the vents open completely.

Initially the helmet was pressing hard against my jaws. In fact when I came back home I found the pressure had left an impression on the two cheeks on my face. I am hoping it will ease up a little. If it does not, I might have to give it to Monisha and go for a higher size. But I did not feel the pressure after some time. 

With the visor down the wind noise inside the helmet is annoying at high speeds. It makes a hoo hoo kind of sound - something that windshield less microphones pick up if exposed to high windy situations outdoors. Will I get used to it ? I don't know. I have to check if the wind noise goes down if I close the front vents. 

The helmet looks gorgeous when I see it. There is that particular sheen (though personally I would have preferred the matte finsish) that makes it look new. But in real life use I shall not be seeing it. I wonder what others might think when they see me in it ;-) But who cares?