If it is good enough for Valentino Rossi, it's good enough for me. OK, so I don't know what model AGV helmet the MotoGP road race champion wears, but I do know he trusts his noggin to the Italian helmet manufacturer.

The Stealth Razor helmet is a premium helmet that ...

I am intrigued by flip-up helmets. I don't feel safe in anything but full face protection, but I'd love to be able to leave a helmet on and still talk to a cashier or another rider. However, there are some concerns -- maybe unfounded -- with the ...

As an avid dual sport rider, I have always felt the choice of helmet for this kind of riding is a bit of a conundrum. Should I wear a full-on dirt helmet and goggles? Sometimes this is the perfect set up -- especially in slower, dustier off-road ...

Let's start with the technical features of the Fox Racing V3 Latinese motocross helmet. Most importantly, it is Snell and DOT certified. The shell is constructed of carbon fiber, Kevlar, and fiberglass. These are the premium materials for modern helmet construction. Fox Racing knows dirt ...

I have always felt that there are two areas where a motorcyclist simply cannot cut financial corners. One is tires, and the other is helmets. My experience with helmets is relatively extensive. I buy a new helmet every three years. However, I always seem to ...

The KBC Ed Hardy "Death or Glory" Nomad brings me a weird kind of joy. The Ed Hardy tattoo designs, which don't shirk their responsibility of transmitting a certain disregard for an under-lived life, give this helmet an uncompromising look.

This particular model of the Nomad is in no way subtle, ...

Hawk helmets have been doing creative acrobatics with their helmet designs. The Advance green and white helmet takes the broad tapering stripes that have been the fashion in decals since, well, as long as I've seen full face helmets with decals. A little twist and they've added a strong, almost typographical art ...

Flames or no, as winter approaches, beanies look cold. I realize that not everyone riding through this broad expanse of land, traced with the veins of well traveled roads, is about to end their riding season. For those of you who enjoy ridable weather year-round, I understand if you want ...

Every class of machine comes with its own style that works its way into accessories or bits of ride-specific apparel. Although there is always crossover, you can see trends. Sport machines have lots of color, sharp angles, and are composed of numerous synthetic materials. Cruisers have leather, black, red, curves, chrome, ...

In the summer months, it isn't hard to find a parking lot populated with motorcycles. Most of them have helmets dangling from the handlebars like low hanging fruit. Some less scrupulous individuals can bring in quite a bit of cash by harvesting unsecured helmets. And, while many bikes come with integrated ...

I wish I'd found out about this helmet decal kit a couple months ago. I spent an hour cutting strips of reflective tape to put together a halfway decent pattern on my own helmet.

I realized that, in the dark of night, drivers could see the spot of my tail light and nothing ...

The Suomy Vandal Bayliss Limited is Suomy's new entry-level helmet designed for sport riders, sport tourers, and "urban riders", whatever that might mean. The Vandal features the same features found in Soumy's top-shelf premium helmets such as an ultra-luxurious liner with special "anti-nap" fabric the provides comfort, durability and hypoallergenic qualities. ...

The DOT half helmet seems like a wise-ass invention. It's like saying, "I'll protect my head, but only enough so I don't get pulled over." That's not the only way to look at it, but I find it to be the most amusing way to look at it.

Nolan's Cruise half helmet, ...

Full-face helmets are not for everyone. The claustrophobic, for instance, might find them restrictive. Heck, I find them restrictive and I'm one of their most avid defenders. I'm inclined toward the half helmets for their style and the wind-in-your-face experience. Scorpion's Spitfire is a nice compromise if you're ever feeling ...

Helmet technology is booming. And in every aspect from weight to functionality to features to the bottom line (or ‘head' of the list, maybe)-safety. The Akuma Phantom MFR is another of these on the leading edge of technical design.

Start with the carbon fiber shell, very light and very strong. ...

This is one ambitiously innovative helmet. Advertised as a modular, it'd also be easy to label as a convertible because it can be altered from a full-face helmet to a half helmet. The French company Shark is relatively new to the U.S. market, but they'll definitely draw attention to themselves with ...

Helmet branding is important. My natural inclination is to reject branding due to its relevance to status, which is a bunch of bull in my opinion. Branding, however, has function beyond that superficial stuff. It's a way to know that you're getting a good product without having to conduct crash tests in your ...

I don't tend to wear sunglasses. After breaking pair after pair and losing the ones I didn't break, I just gave up on it. So, I'm left in a bit of a pinch when the sun is near the horizon. Having a tinted shield for day riding frees you from even ...

The AGV Miglia (Italian for "miles") is a modular helmet that comes with some surprisingly good features. If you've been considering a modular but didn't want to pay the investment price of some of the upper-end models, the Miglia brings high quality to a very affordable range.

At a fairly light 3 ...

I'm going to get right into the AGV S4 specs, because it's an impressive list.

The shell is constructed with carbon Kevlar fiber stratification and high resistance and absorption thermoplastic resins. The composite fibers keep it light but strong. To ensure this brain cage fits, the rider has the selection of ...

It may be that I just look in all the right places, but Vox helmets seem to be on sale all the time. They are perpetually discounted, so even if you think you're buying a $300 helmet, you end up spending $100. This makes me wonder why they don't just lower ...

Where I grew up there were miles and miles of woodlands with ill-tended 2-tracks snaking throughout them. You could ride off into the forest and not see another human for hours. Most popular sports involved guns, and most popular clothing was camouflage.

Many of THH's helmets are designed with flaming skulls and ...

Old tech is cheap, so there are a few manufacturers of helmets who decided to take what works and sell, sell, sell. Like everything today, your cutting-edge helmet is going to be old news in a few weeks, so saving your pennies might be smart.

Cyber helmets are not at the cutting ...

HJC has been the best-selling helmet brand in the US for years. I don't know if they will hold that title for 2009, but I would guess it likely, considering the quality they deliver for prices that make you nod. The cost of their helmets is not ridiculously, quality-questioningly good, but ...

Nolan makes some of the most aerodynamic helmets, including the Outlaw full-face model, which is surprising as they still have a stabilizing spoiler. Spoilers often lead to greater wind resistance and noise, but Nolan's engineering has gotten around those pitfalls with their unique polycarbonate shell. Even though it's a modular, it's ...

My brother-in-law has a really big head. I'm not kidding around; he has trouble finding hats. My sister, on the other hand, has a small head. It seems wrong that, despite the extreme difference in cranium size, they end up with the same shell size when they buy helmets. ...

Helmets come in all sorts of styles and variations: full face, open face, half helmet, dirt, and street. Heck, you can even buy a suction cup Mohawk to attach to your lid if you so desire.

HJC's A-3 Carbon Fiber Open Face helmet is their cream-of-the-crop open face helmet. The ...

The Shoei Na Company has been making helmets for motorcyclists since 1958. Their newest off-road offering is the VFX-W, introduced in 2008 and bringing some new designs for 2009. While a top-quality helmet with unique features, you'll also pay for this uniqueness in the same ballpark as Arai or ...

My first riding helmet was a matte black shell without any kind of symbol or emblem aside from the DOT sticker. After a while, I cut a few designs out of reflective tape and decorated its plain exterior. One of my riding buddies told me later that the ...

This helmet is what I call a blank canvas. The matte black TZ-R by Shoei is as simple as they come in appearance and will happily take your stickers, reflectors, paint, or whatever else you want to use to personalize it.

While the exterior is plain-jane, the inside carries a long history of ...

Shoei's X-11 Kiyonari helmet graphics are aggressive and uncompromising, which might be just the attitude you want on the road. We do, after all, have to ride more defensively than any cager. Our reflexes must be sharp and our actions bold.

While I can deal with any differences of opinion on the graphics of ...

If inexpensive modulars make you nervous, this isn't the helmet for you. If, however, you don't have the cash for a top of the line helmet and you still want something to keep your skull intact, the VOX helmet will do the trick. Realistically, we only need a helmet for ...

We've talked about modular helmets, otherwise known as flip-up helmets, in the past -- and you have a lot of options to choose from. The reasons to buy a modular are obvious: the protection of a full-face helmet with the accessibility of an open-face helmet. But the reasons to buy the Shoei ...

As your speed increases, small mistakes can turn into big mistakes. It's amazing how quickly a tiny error becomes a catastrophe. If you're running at race speeds, you don't want to be looking down at your speedometer just to impress yourself with how fast you can go, because in that split ...

I wear a full face helmet for the protection, noise reduction, and the look. Yes, I think full face helmets are better looking than skullcaps. You'll certainly stay better-looking if you happen to find your face heading for the pavement. Should you want to get yourself a fine full face ...

Edward Teach, better known by the infamous title of "Blackbeard the Pirate," was a master of psychological warfare. It is entirely likely that he never killed a single person on his routine high-seas pillaging. Teach chose, instead of violence, to terrify with symbols and extravagant charades. This is why he set his ...

I've always worn a full face helmet and drooled over the features of modular helmets. I have never bought a modular because I don't trust the ones I can afford. I'm waiting for the technology to advance or the price to come down. In the meantime, there is an economical alternative -- ...

You can't judge a book by its cover. These words apply to helmets as well as books, and are especially pertinent to Icon's Airframe helmet with the Burn Baby Burn design. Sure, it boasts a bikini-clad babe riding a spark plug like Major Kong on the falling bomb, but it's also an ...

Although worn by some very famous racers over the years, from Kenny Roberts to Valentino Rossi, AGV is better known in Europe than in the U.S. That status is changing, however, and their new Blade helmet is certainly garnering some fans.

AGV began in 1945, building leather seats for bicycles. ...

Finding a high quality, inexpensive helmet is like finding the Holy Grail, and so this GM68S helmet by Gmax is appropriately named "Crusader." Here it is, folks: a fantastic, safe, full face helmet at a price for every rider. Gmax has included and improved upon the common features, like ventilation, and ...

Unlike cruisers, motocross bikes are not known for their chrome shine, but that doesn't mean the riders can't embrace their kinship with the road bikes. THH makes a motocross helmet with a chrome shine that expresses a common love of polished metal.

A clear-coat, scratch-resistant surface adds to the metallic illusion and the ...

If you're looking for a replacement visor or a daytime visor for your Shark RSI helmet, then I don't need to tell you how smart you are for buying an RSI. You already know how well-designed, comfortable, and robust the Shark helmets are, but there's no sense in having ...

There are several helmets in the $250 range that are well worth the cash, but this is the one I would buy, were I in the market for a new helmet. The Icon Airframe price is in the high middle, and the helmet is top tier.

DOT approved and Snell approved, the Airframe ...

Arai has made a name for itself by being expensive. If money's no object and you want the best the world has to offer, buy an Arai. Lots of companies make very good helmets for protecting your skull and all its guts, but Arai is the top ...

For whatever reason, you're going to have to remove your goggles at an inopportune moment. It could be fog, heat, sweat, or maladjustment, but losing time taking your goggles on and off is not ideal. Scott USA is trying very hard to make things easier in that regard.

Normally, I ...

Put all the flash and flair you want on a helmet, but the end goal is still the same. If all goes as it's meant to, your helmet will be a useless lump of expendable plastic and you'll be walking away. It's one of those few items made for quality and disposability.

The ...

The Scorpion EXO-700 Black Dahlia helmet is a fantastic midrange helmet for a nice midrange price. Everything lines up, and there are no surprises. Trust me, there are usually surprises when you find a helmet priced too good to be true.

DOT-certified, obviously, this EXO shell is an advanced polycarbonate composite ...

Don the Domain 2 and you'll feel like an icon. Maybe.

This is Icon's best-quality offering in helmets, and comes with a spoiler on the back. The spoiler is said to reduce the air uplift while riding to give you less of that helmet-being-pulled-up feeling. It's seamed in nicely ...

Last year I was riding down the freeway when I saw a woman on the overpass above me, stopped at a red light. She was riding a large cruiser but she could have been riding a horse for all the attention I paid to the bike. She was wearing ...

Goggles are a highly personal choice. And there is a mountain of choices out there. Many riders buy a new set (or two) every season, while others will replace lenses on a favorite pair until they can no longer get new lenses for them. Typically, most of us ...