Motorcycle Helmet Review - Shoei X-eleven
“If you’ve got a Shoei head, get a Shoei lid”
Shoei has been manufacturing motorcycle helmets for over 40 years and their current flagship model, the X-Eleven, continues their tradition of high quality helmets that work as good as they look. The X-Eleven designers gathered real-life feedback from top Moto GP riders like Chris Vermeulen and refined their ideas in the wind tunnel to perfect it’s aerodynamic profile and ventilation system.
Appearance
It may seem odd to begin with the look of the thing but, when you think about it, it’s the look that catches your attention, isn’t it? And, if you’re honest about it, the look of the lid plays a big part in whether you choose it or not. The X-Eleven comes in a large enough variety of paint schemes (including solid colors, original paint schemes and some replicas) that everyone should be able to find one they like.
As befits a flagship product, the X-Eleven are partially hand-painted and, as usual with Shoei, the quality of the paintjob is brilliant. Many owners will say that, even after heavy use and a few “scuffs”, the varnish and colors bear up exceptionally.
When wearing the X-Eleven for the first time, most riders remark on the comfort of the fit.
The first thing you notice about the X-Eleven is its comfort. As I said earlier, different helmets fit different riders, but if the X-Eleven fits your head shape (as it does mine), you’d be hard-pressed to find a more comfortable piece. The padded mesh inner liner (removable for washing) has a smooth texture and is firm enough to keep the helmet safely in place without being uncomfortable.
Ventilation System
Ventialtion is one of the most important aspects of any helmet. There’s nothing worse than having your head “boil” inside your lid because of poor ventilation. There’s no chance of this happening with the X-Eleven though as the ventilation system is absolutely top-class. It’s got five vents:
- one directly in front of the wearer’s mouth
- one at the top edge of the visor,
- one high on the front of the helmet (this one has two intake holes),
- two placed on the back of the helmet, high up, one either side)
The vents work together in perfect harmony to create an airflow around your as well as across the inside of the visor to prevent the dreaded fogging. A certain amount of wind noise is inevitable with any vented helmet but, even with five vents the X-Eleven isn’t a “loud” helmet.
Visor System
As with all Shoei helmets the X-Eleven sports their revolutionary, easy-to-use visor system. This system is intuitive and many X-Eleven owners say that, even without looking at the instructions, they could figure it out pretty quickly – no more wrestling with the helmet for an hour to try to change your visor!
Conclusion
If you can afford it, if you’ve got a “Shoei head” you should seriously consider getting one as the X-Eleven is a technoligical marvel and certainly one of the finest helmets on the market today and the quality matches the price. It’s not $50, more like $600 … but then have you got a $50 head or a $600 head?
Find the Shoei X-Eleven Helmet you want, then buy it cheaper online!
Tags: helmet, motorcycle, motorcycle helmet review, shoei, shoei x-eleven, x-eleven