STOP! Don't buy the Arai RX-7V Evo until you've watched this mini review 

The guys at Sportsbike shop pointed out that there IS an optional dedicated intercom for the RX7V / Evo - the Sena ACS10 www.sena.com/us-en/product/acs10. We'll hopefully get a review of it live as soon as possible.

I had a crash in November that broke both my legs causing compound fractures that required nails from my knee to my ankle. I broke my knee and shattered my heel. After high-siding and landing over 40 feet away from my bike, my head came to rest on a metal sewer grate. I was wearing my Arai XD-4. I never lost consciousness, had zero head injuries. I own 3 Corsair X, 2 XD-4 and a VX-Pro. I loved Arai before my crash and I refuse to ride anything else after. I’m convinced it kept me alive.

Please Bennetts keep this channel going for years. John is such an experienced and fantastic presenter. He’s always on point. After all the last 15 years of motorcycle channels from any so called social stuff from companies like yourself, they’ve always felt stale and nasty. You’ve nailed it with John and this channel. I honestly watch every one of his vids and will continue to insure my bike with Bennetts. Many thanks ( the other chap is also very good)😀

This man does such a thorough and balanced job - he must be protected at all costs.

Your mention of having so many layers to look through is really nice to hear. Especially at night, or during sunrise and sunset the internal reflections get really out of control. I also prefer to just carry around the other visor

I agree, the visor lock on the Quantic took some time getting used to but, as always, once you get the hang of it it's really no issue.

Incredibly likeable chap and very engaging when so many motorcycle gear reviews are drier than day old toast.

Great video! Definitely my favourite helmet brand to be ARAI for what they stand for... be keep buying Shoei's because of drop-down dark visor! Another minor aspects weighs when choosing a new helmet: compatibility with Cardo comms, noise level, and of course workmanship /comfort.

Thanks for the review!I found it really difficult to open the visor of this helmet. I was really worried that I didn't fix the visor properly. Tried re-installing visor multiple times. Eventually I realized there is a simple trick to open the visor and that there was no problem in the way the visor was mounted. After opening the visor by pushing the lever, instead of trying to push the visor straight up, one has to slightly push the visor forward and then push up! Thats all is required to open the visor without any trouble. Its like open the visor using the lever provided using thumb and then pull the visor slightly out and push up.

Great job as always!

Thank you for the video, this is great information to know, as always keep up the good work.

Nice review 👌 I like the point on glasses and all the extra layer of plastic. It's changed my opinion on what my next helmet might have.

Another solid video, good work from John as per!

Love the energy and honesty in this vid, thanks for this excellent review! Do you think you're able to get the RX7 evo and the Quantic side by side for a comparison vid? I find myself (and maybe others with me) really not being able to choose between the two.

Great video, thanks 👍🏻 I’m an Arai fan boy, gotta love em 💪🏻

FWIW, I do find the RX7V quite loud, definitely louder than my Schuberth C3Pro and R2, but its not the loudest I've ever worn either. Great video John, nice to know that my RX7V is more protective than I knew.

It says it all doesn’t it; Arai didn’t have to change the shell or lining for the helmet to pass ECE.22.06 - kudos Arai.

Great review as always, you present as if you are part of a discussion not a lecture, great result, i agree about the glasses issue, frames getting bent is also a pain.

I just bought my annual insurance with Bennetts after getting my FSCS cheque after MCE went bust only 5 months into my annual premium, lost over 6 months NCD. Still a fairly newish rider after passing my test in 2019, so these YT reviews really are excellent, especially for the novice riders. Looking forward to digging into all the BikeSocial stuff in the coming weeks. Great content, keep it up 👍🏻👍🏻

Another great review John. You can get a photocromatic pinlock for the VAS visor rather than drop down visor. I recently bought the old V version for a bargain price. Glad to hear next to difference between the two versions.

Great video. I have a RX7V and Tour X4 and love them, Arai fit my head. The Arai quality and fit is great and worth paying for in my opinion, the visor change on the RX7V isn't rocket science after a bit of practice.

I had a wasp go in that centre vent and sting my head. Luckily I was doing 25mph in a village. Arai might have the safest helmets, but their vent foam is too open. I also have a Arai shaped head John. I love the fact that my RX7-V meets the new standard as is. Thanks for the video

The lack of a drop down sun visor keeps me out of an Arai. I understand where they are coming from, but it's just such a useful feature to have.

Great review as always John. Just one difference that you overlooked - the Evo comes supplied with a tinted diffuser in the box that you can choose to either fit or discard. It’s attached by thin strips of 3M double sided tape. If you do choose to fit it, it means that the tiny rear spoiler between the back of the two top air intakes can no longer be adjusted. Keep up the good work - you give us the most detailed reviews available anywhere on RU-vid

Great video cheers, I'm waiting for new Arai to arrive ! Would love to see a video of the comms on the helmet as looking to buy one myself for new helmet & my new Z900 !!

As always a nice review John, I've owned Arai since my first Quantum E in 1998 (which I still have, don't wear it any more) after having other brands, (Bell) I then went on the sell bike gear for a living, and would always try to get my customers into an Arai, and no I wasn't earning commission... 😉 I just found that they fitted the best for most people, and usually my customers found that also after trying on cheaper brands. After a big off where I banged my noggin pretty hard, then slide down the road on my face and again in 2002 had a pretty big off, while wearing Arai I believe them to be the best helmets...well at least for me....and when I sold helmets I tried all of the others as a comparison, and Arai always fitted and felt better on my head. I bought an RX7iv Edwards rep in 2003 and barring an interior replacement after a few years was still using it, right up until last year (2021) although not as regularly as previously, when I felt even though it was still giving good service, felt it should probably be replaced after 18 years, when I replaced it with a Profile-V, thats how good an Arai is in my opinion, yes they are expensive, but you get what you pay for, imho, where as a cheaper brand and I'm talking sub £200-250 here, not the better brands like Shoei or Shark etc, would probably last maybe 2-3 years, this is obviously just my experience, others may well disagree, and no I don't/didn't work for Arai 😏 I actually found the visor change easier on the previous Arai's this new system I found too fiddly, although you're not changing it every 5 minutes so once fitted with a dark visor thats where it stays mostly.

Thanks for the review. If I get another bike when I get my full licence, I will probably buy another lid then.

I understand and respect that they don't add a dropdown sun visor but why they don't make a photochromatic visor like Shoei does is beyond me. Seriously I love my Shoei photochromatic visor more than any dropdown visor. I understand it doesn't get as dark as a proper dark visor but it's 95% of the way there and that's enough for any occasion.

It is highly reassuring to know that after 7 years in production, the 'old' design passed the new homologation without changes. I'm proud to wear Arai and like you said, in my case as well, I put it on and I forget it is there. It is uncanny. The ventilation is simply outstanding. There is no other helmet on the market, in the same category, that vents nearly as well. And in terms of noise, there may be some, but I always wear ear plugs, so it makes no difference to me. Besides, all helmets are noisy, even the more quiet ones. In any case, thanks for the great introduction to an amazing bit of kit. Cheers.

John ordered a light tint pin lock for my TT RX 7 GP would I have been better to have brought a visor instead. Another good one John.

love that last comment there- keeping it real!

I wished arai had a better fit for my head shape. Never had any success with them. Got a new carbon fibre Simpson venom helmet. Love it !

Another great vid John. The omission of a drop down visor just stops me buying not matter how good the helmet is. Recently been riding in Madeira and that's lots of dark tunnels emerging into brilliant sun. The internal sun visor for me was an essential safety aid. If I owned that leather jacket I would have to buy the new Cyan Storm MT10 to match it 😉

It is good to see that some manufacturers build their helmets to out perform the current standards. I had previously heard that At least some Arai helmets passed the new Snell standards when they came out. As far as the drop down shield, isn’t the RX7 their racing helmet? Does the Shoei Spirit or X14 in the US have the drop down shield? While I don’t subject myself to the speeds on a race track, the race track doesn’t have sign posts and guard rails all over the place. If something besides the Arai Signet fit my head, I would be wearing a modular. I may when the Schuberth C5 comes out if it can me made to fit my longish head. I miss convenience of the flip up chin bar. Great video.

I like this guy, always honest and normal, no bullshit

Good first look video

For the people complaining about the lack of a drop down, internal visor on the Arai's... Once you get used to it, the Arai Pro Shade works great. And, in comparison to e.g. my Shoei Neotec II, the Arai is much easier to keep clean & non-fogged than the internal shade on the Shoei. Another aspect is that the helmets with internal shades have less visibility in the up direction than the Arai and this makes a non-trivial difference when riding faster, more tucked.

I have always worn Arai Helmets from Quantum F up to 1 x Roberts RX-7V & 1 x Crutchlow RX-7V.

So….. am I correct in assuming that here in the USA, I can purchase the Corsair x and feel confident that that lid will eventually be covered under the new ece22.06 standard

I bought the Quantic after your review and it is the most comfortable lid I've ever had but the sun visor is something I miss.

I had all the helmets and the rx7v is by far the best, build quality and fit are unbelievable

I Ordered the new arai Quantic in M, but prior that I had the Arai RX7V testfitted in the same M size, and to be very honest, Arai RX7V fit me much better than Quantic. Eneded up paying extra and going with RX7V

Do u prefer wearing this or the quantic

my first helmet had drop down visors. Tried it a few times and I found it's more of a hassle than it's worth.. Never used it again and never bought helmets with drop downs since then.

Love your videos very informative especially for a rider just getting back in to riding. Btw do you know of any skill shops where I can learn new techniques gain more confidence etc?

I'm still confused between thr rx7v evo and xspr-pro for road use. Both are at the same price point for me, currently using a k6 that fits perfectly. Any suggestions?

Hi what color do you recommend white or Black thank you

I understand why Arai don't fit their excellent Pro Shade visor on what is their premium racing helmet, but I do think they should offer the aforementioned visor system at a reduced price for those of us that don't go on-track. They did it for the brilliant QV-Pro:so why not the rest of the range? ps I wear glasses - & the pinlock'd Pro Shade visor has never restricted my vision.

D30 has now developed a liner to work with MIPS technology in helmets so they are getting much much safer. Its a real shame that Chris Rouse couldnt see this safety technology.

I liked the old Arai visor change mechanism better. It was harder to learn, and a lot of people were scared of it. We actually had people come to the shop to have their visor changed. (I work in riding gear retail). However, for those of us who DID know how to use it, it was so damn quick - faster than any other visor mechanism around. But I guess it was too fiddly for people to learn from an instruction booklet :D

You said that it really aerodynamic how come its noisy? Also would it suit trackday sports bike riding? What would be the quietest sportsbike helmet?

Hi what color you recommend to buy

Would it be possible for you to make a video showing how to fir the Sena ACS10 intercom to these helmets? The installation instructions that come with the Sena acs10 are pretty useless So I have been trawling the net and came across this video which has been useful to show cheek pad removal etc. but the ACS10 just "doesn't look like it'll fit, even though it is supposedly designed for the RX7V and RX7 EVO Thanks for this great review

Hi John. Really loving your work! A quick question or two if I may? 1. Does the rx7 evo have a stepped or intimate visor mechanism? 2. Am I right in thinking the quantic can take an intercom internally as per the neotec 2 3. Which would you chose for very fast road use and maybe 4 track days per year? The evo or the quantic? Thanks in advance for your support.

I am not an arai fan these days though I used to be up until 2009. For me they are too heavy, the visor mechanism is archaic & the brow vents are in my field of vision on a sportsbike. I have no use for a drop down sun visor though! Great test btw!

The drop down visor socks, I hate that I have on my arai rx7v is a tinted visor ,and it's awesome in Queensland Australia

Nice review, unfortunately I can’t get a good fit with Arai tried a few. What’s the difference in safety testing between Sharp and ece, which is best or are they just different?

It definitely is noisy however it fits my head the best

Always loved Arai Helmets always wanted to have one, but I couldn't justify the price, it's way too much expensive,can't justify paying 750-800 for a helmet alone, got a deal on a xlite x803 ultra carbon for 300$, couldn't miss on that,it's a good helmet not as fancy as the Arai but it's close,and it's lightweight

Does the RX Evo share the visor with the old RX?? thanks

I’ve owned and enjoyed Arai. The reason I’ve strayed from the brand were my difficulties with their face shields. The other brands offered snap-on-snap-off shields, but you needed to be a magician to remove an Arai shield. Relative to the shields of other brands, has this improved?

I managed to pick up a quantic from sportsbike shop for £299 with price match. Absolute bargain and love it.

I owned a Rx-7x arai.. best helmet for me

Noise diminishes greatly when I replaced the cheek pads for a firm fit.

Hello, can you please tell me how it would fit Cardo systems to this new Arai? I’m loooking to buy this new model of Arai but I would like to install the Cardo system as well, edge or freecome etc

I use a couple of Shoei Neotec (not at the same time!) and often keep the top vent open - and, depending on the time of year, will almost invariably have some bug find its way onto my head - very irritating! Do you know of any modular helmets that incorporate mesh to prevent the insects getting in?

Arai is the best helmet money can buy. No question. The only thing I want to see is the return of the race rep.

I love my Arai Quantum X. Works well with Cardo and have put on a light tint visor with pinlock full time and when it gets really sunny, I take off my no tint prescription sunglasses for my tinted prescription sunglasses. Would I like an internal sunshade? Sure, but it's not a deal breaker.

Arai: "If it aint broke dont fix it". Also the post edit bits are funny.

I have 3 RX-7V's. I just purchased the 3rd one last month, I went for the kiyonari trico design. What made me laught, I paid in or around £500 for the standard RX-7V model, the RX-7V with the rear diffuser was something like £800. An extra £300 just for a diffuser 😲. Now ARAI are my favourite helmet, the RX-7V fits me like a glove. But come on that money for a bit of plastic at the back......Maybe I'm missing something 🤷‍♂️

Why doesn't Arai offer a photochromatic visor such as Transition? I have a Bell and Shoei with these visors fitted and its the best and safest option by far. Arai do offer a Pinlock light smoke insert but it is no where near the performance of that offered by Transitions - I know as I have both. Come on Arai its time you caught up with the market. Hope Arai are listening and introduce this soon :)

How does the Arai compare with respect to noise compared to the quieter touring helmets (Shoei Neotec 2 or Schuberth C4 or C5? Thanks.

How does arai deal with the twisting forces without MIPS or other similar technology?

How do you know that they are big enough for a horsefly to fit in the airvents?

Wait a second...you're telling me the Quantic is suitable for a sports bike as well (I ride an Aprilia RSV 1000) and it has the SAME airflow that the RX7-V? I tend to sweat a lot and have my head really hot inside the helmet and I need a super aerated one... I thought the Quantic was suited for naked bikes and road enduro.. I ask this because I recently bought a Shoei GT-Air 2 for my Multistrada and while it performs really well on this bike is not suitable for the Aprilia

He is great .

You forgot to mention that the Evo have 4 shell sizes instead of 3 (size M now have It´s own shell)

I have a light sensitive visor on my shoei, Its the dogs nads

I need helmet here in the USA that has top vents that don't let rain come in. Good luck to me! Bell is all I've found. Any suggestions? Thanks

Getting my first helmet. There’s a good deal on the Arai chaser x for £330 or quantic for £500. Is the Quantic worth the price increase?

Arai helmets are the best form of protection in my opinion makes me laugh when people say how much and my reply is how much is your head worth my safety is very important even down to my alpinestars leathers it makes me cringe when i see people riding with cheap ass helmets and just casual clothes on absolutely crazy

Hello sir, i have a naked Ducati can i ask you a question your opinion between Quantic and Rx 7 evo what to choose, thanks and sorry for my English

If you personally could pick this or the Shoei equivalent, what would you pick?

Just ordered Arai Shogun...replacing rx-q

I happen to have the Arai head, 2 big offs, the chin bar took an absolute beating both time. No head injuries that I know of so they'll have my business till they no longer produce a helmet to fit my noggin.

Arai don't appear to have a long oval in the range anymore 😢. The RX7 seems a little shorter front to back than the Quantic. John if you have a chance to speak to Arai I'd love to know why there is no long oval. Thanks for the review..

Which is better buy rx7v evo or quantic

Have you done a video for the noisiest to quietest helmets?

I’ll stick to shoei! 😅

I have the same helmet, it's awesome and its noisey, however I live in Queensland Australia it's so fu@#n hot,lol but the ari is cool to ride in and it looks cool with my gen 111 busa👍👍👍👍

👍

Hi isit hard to fit the spectacles inv

7.00 your right side chinstrap cover is stuffed behind the cheek pad.

I have an Arai RX7-V Iom TT Limited Edition ellan uarrir For £750 it's alright would recommend Arai Profile V it's much better just i wanted this RX7-V iom tt limited edition for the colour The Arai Profile V has suede cheek pads which is higher quality and more softer on the skin which is much better than what my £750 helmet cost lol ridiculous

why does not motorcycle helmets use MIPS like cross helmets and bisycle helmets?

What would you buy Quantic or RX?

the Evo comes with a clear spoiler for racing

How does the shoei X14 do in the new test does any one know 🤔

Go on then...how did you know about the horsefly?

Another detailed video, thank you. How about a vid on how to pronounce all the odd motorcycle brands - Arai, Shoei, Akrapovic, etc Save us all embarrassing ourselves What about RE Himalayan , apparently should be pronounced Himarleean!!!!