As most of you know I need to get pretty much all new gear. My helmet's still in decent shape but it's almost 4 years old, I'd like a Snell M2010 certified helmet and it's probably a good thing to get some graphics for visibility. I'm really glad I got to try on a lot of helmets at the bike show, especially some of the rare ones, since my dang oval head only fits in a few helmets really well:
Shoei X12 - awesome but super expensive, don't like the graphics
Arai Profile - very nice, still pricey
Bell Star - excellent, very pricey but closeouts are cheap
Shark RSI - chin bar is too close to my face, mediocre ventilation
I know for sure I'm gonna get the Arai Profile Riptide Silver at some point, but then I saw that motorcyclecloseouts.com has a few of the 2009 Bell Stars at amazing prices. I was going to order this one, the Ace of Spades:
I figure it's gotten excellent reviews and although these graphics aren't my style, for $199 (normally $549), what the heck. It's matte black, visible, etc. Then I saw a picture of the top:
Damn... I just can't do the skulls.
Anyway, if you're interested in a Bell Star, go check out what they've got at
www.motorcyclecloseouts.com. They have 4 or 5 of the graphics starting at $199, but I know for sure you need to go a size down for the 2009 models. They have corrected the sizing for 2010. I really like this one from their 2010 lineup, but it's full price (and not enough color for the visibility argument:
