#1 reason to wear a modular helmet?

[Roper_imp]

I wore a 3/4 helmet with flat shield from the late 60s until about 2009. Full face really did not gain steam with motorcyclists until the early 70s, the Bell Tourstar was one of the first, as I recall. I tried a full face, but it felt like a bucket in my head. Regardless, the helmet to wear is the one that fits right and is comfortable. How many times have you seen someone take their helmet off, and you instantly see that red "hot spot" indication across the front of the forehead, just like Peyton Manning had every time he took his Helmet off during a football game. I have tried Shoei, Schuberth, Arai, Bell, and others I don't remember, but the one that really fit the shape of my head properly, oddly enough, was HJC. From there I read all the reviews and tests on the various modular helmets, paying particular attention to the testing that determines whether or not the chin bar will stay locked in a crash. The HJC passed that test, and fit the shape of my head better than any other brand. I also found I could further tailor the fit by ordering different size cheek pads from HJC, which just Velcro into the helmet. As with most helmets, there are basically two sizes, sometimes three, for the helmet shells. The size is then dictated by the size of the liner. The fit around my head was perfect, but the cheek pads squashed my face. The standard cheek pads for the helmet were size large, however replacing them with size XL, the cheek pads fit my face perfectly. In other words. the only difference between large and extra large cheek pads is that the XL pads were slightly thinner. I live in Texas, so being able to open the front of the helmet at stop signs and stop lights to get air on my face is really nice. Others have already pointed out other benefits I don't need to repeat.

Sounds like my Shoei RF-1200. A friend laughingly told me "You can't chew gum in a Shoei." It sat in its box gathering dust for three years until this old tightwad was willing to pay $50 for skinner cheek pads.

Yep. me, too. Seems like the original cheek pads were meant to be the "push up" type. Made me look like a chipmunk. So I bought the thinnest ones.