Headcase bluetooth motorcycle helmet?

[itstallion23]

Does anyone have any experience with one of these? I literally cannot find one review on them. I want to get one to communicate with my fellow rider

 

[Roadthrash]

Do not bother. They are cheap junk and are mis-sized.
The company that sells them primarily, Motodirect, is quite stingy on their return policy. They'll do an exchange easily, but all at your cost ($18 shipping through UPS) despite they can't get their sizing chart right whatsoever. You order an extra large, you get a medium. It's not just their arbitrary sizing vs. your opinion, they do specify the specific head-size ranges for each size. They are just flat out wrong and can't be bothered to admit it. I know that helmets come in different shapes. I have a rather round head and these are some of the most round helmets I've seen, as though everyone's head is a perfect sphere. No room front to back. My previous helmet was a large and I could tell it wasn't the right shape or size, but it felt so much better than these which feel like a vise.
I also know how to break in a helmet. Breaking in a helmet shouldn't be extremely painful the first time you even try to get it halfway on your head. It should be just a bit snug.
They mostly size these helmets for without the removable padding installed, which nixes the feature of removable padding, if the only way it will not strangle your skull of blood even after trying to break it in for a month, is to leave the removable padding out. Unless you enjoy a throbbing headache after only riding 20 minutes.

Anyway, if you manage to get past customer service to get in touch with a manager over your ridiculously mis-sized helmet, you'll just be met with smoke blown up your behind. They say they'll look into it and call back, only to be all surprised and not knowing what's going on the next time you call a week later. Then they still won't call you back. They just like to progressively tune you out as though there's no consequence for that. I was as respectful as could be, never once raising my voice or getting smarty..so I'm not sure what it is I did wrong besides pursue a concern that is their responsibility.

Beyond this major screw up and pathetic treatment of customer concern, the helmet itself is really not very good quality either.

The bluetooth quality is pretty bad on the input side of things (mic) and the audio can't take much either, though, it is much better than the mic. They say it uses noise cancelling, which is complete BS as very few times I've been able to have someone hear anything I'm saying despite there's very little outside noise. That's when you can make a call, of course, which is quite spotty and makes the communication feature, the biggest feature (at least to me), fairly useless.
Anyway, I use it for listening to music for the most part and it's got no low end at all for that though and half shreds your eardrums from the high end. Quite tinny.
The bluetooth connection is easy and the battery lasts for a good while..but that's about it on the good things of the bluetooth. The outside knob to access the bluetooth is also easier looking than other helmets, but the fact it's not sealed at all and given the rest of the helmet quality, i wouldn't be surprised if it gets bunged up by rain over time. The sticker on the center of the button falls off making it look rather crappy since you can see the botton's frame and the shaft of the switch itself.
The speakers on the inside of the helmet have wires sticking out of them that can catch and get dislodged if you don't tuck them back.

The inner lining of the helmet likes to come undone from the protective foam layer it is glued to. This happens when you remove the removable lining which is velcroed in place and the permanent lining that has the velcro pads likes to come off of the foam and fold up and stuff...this can also cause quite the rash on the forehead from those rough velcro pads.

The visor lens forms many small cracks around the front bottom edge...as well as not being able to seal whatsoever with the top of the seal, letting rain in quite readily. It's like almost a 3mm gap. Pretty bad.

Then there's the vents, that don't know whether they want to stay shut or closed. However, I haven't found it to make a difference whatsoever regardless of what position they are in even if you hold them open or closed.

The reduced noise they claim is engineered from wind tunnel tests is also pure BS. I've had much cheaper helmets sound a third as noisy as this. The hinges of the visor are those kind you have to twist a knob. They're not aerodynamic at all and covering them with your glove eliminates a clear majority of the noise.

And last but not least, the sunvisor. Quite useful when it works. Then the hinges get bunged up somehow and you can't use the slider on the side of the helmet to change the positions anymore. You have to open the visor and grab the end of the sunvisor to move it up and down which can be quite annoying of course.


I know that for those that are reading reviews for this helmet, if you've been to other sites already, this post may just seem a copy and paste troll job as the same has been said on other sites. Well, I got ripped off and would like to let as many people know as possible before they get ripped off too. I'm not the only one who notices this helmet sucks. Maybe word of mouth is something this company will decide to listen to. I don't think it's particularly important to write something original on every site I have this posted.



TL;DR
You are much better off buying an el-cheapo $70 helmet and sticking your own bluetooth in it.

 

[Unregistered]

Thanx Roadthrash!

I almost ordered one of these today, and am very glad that Motodirect was out of my size!

After reading your review, all my fears are confirmed about this helmet.

Thank you again, happy riding!