Arai QV Pro Helmet Review

This Arai QV Pro helmet review takes a close look at Arai’s latest sports touring motorcycle helmet and covers what it is like to live with this helmet after a few thousand miles of riding. We will cover all of the latest Arai helmet technology featured on this helmet and the pros and cons of buying this model.

Arai describe the QV Pro helmet as no less than the ‘ultimate sports touring helmet’, below are some of the key features of this helmet and how we found they performed in real world riding conditions:

• Large ventilation openings with anti-wind noise shutters when closed – The vents on this helmet work very efficiently, there are a total of five vents on the front of the helmet and two on the rear. This allows plenty of air to flow smoothly through the helmet, keeping you cool on hot days. When the vents are closed the wind noise is reduced dramatically, all of the vents seal well and in combination with a pair of earplugs there is very little wind noise. One thing i noticed while testing is that with all of the vents open it seems to reduce wind buffeting, perhaps due to how the air flows through the helmet.
• Wide aperture Pinlock Max Vision visor – Your view whilst riding is totally unrestricted thanks to the large visor, even your peripheral vision is unobscured. The pinlock system is easy to use as expected, although i did notice a little bit of fogging around the edge of the pinlock insert on cold mornings, however i will put that down to installation error rather than a fault of the helmet.
• Pre-cut pockets in cheek pads for communication system speakers – I didn’t have a communication system fitted but with a visible check i can see that there is plenty of space for your preferred system to be installed.
• Fully washable and removable Eco-Pure anti-bacterial interior – After using this helmet on a regular basis for over 12 months i haven’t felt the need to remove the lining to wash it, so it seems that the anti-bacterial interior is doing its job well as there are no bad odours or discolouration or anything like that. I will post a follow up report on how easy it is to remove and reinstall the lining soon.
• Quick release visor removal system – I purchased a tinted visor for trackday use and after a few swaps between the different visors i can truly say that the Arai quick release visor system is one of the best on the market, a full visor swap can be easily done in less than 30 seconds. The locating tabs make it easy to line up the visor to be installed, which is a great benefit for cleaning or swapping your visors.
• Anti-turbulence chin curtain – As mentioned earlier the only time i felt some turbulence with this helmet was with all of the vents shut, but it is only very minor, it’s hard to know if the chin curtain really makes much difference with the turbulence, however i do think it really helps to keep out cold drafts and even some rain in wintery conditions, it feels like you are almost sealed into the helmet.
• Pro-Shade (PSS) visor system included – Unlike some of the other helmet manufacturers that put their sunvisors inside the helmet, the Arai pro-shade system is externally mounted which personally i really like. Unless i’m riding at night time i leave it down all the time, but it’s very easy to push up and down with just one hand and you can remove it completely in a few seconds if you need to. One slight negative with the system is that you do get a bit of buffeting if you ride with it in the fully up position. If you were going to ride with it up for any great length of time, i would recommend removing it instead.
• Five year Arai warranty – The five year warranty on the Arai QV Pro really demonstrates the brands faith in the product, it really is an excellent quality helmet and the five year warranty is an added bonus.

To summarise our Arai QV Pro helmet review, this is one of the best all-round motorcycle helmets that we’ve tested. We used the helmet for over 12 months and clocked up over 10,000 miles on UK and European roads plus a couple of trackdays using the helmet. It is comfortable, it fits well, it is very quiet, the vents keep you cool and the visor and sunvisor are easy to operate and remove. We love how the helmet looks in the stealthy matt black and grey colour scheme and there are lots of other colour options available to choose from. Although the helmet is a bit heavier and maybe not quite as desirable shape as say the Arai RX-7, we think this model is much better suited to most road riding and touring and performs admirably on track too. As you’d expect there are a few included extras in the box with the Arai QV Pro helmet including a fleece lined helmet bag to carry and store your helmet safely. There is also a little bottle of silicone visor lubricant, it’s worth putting a few drops on the moving parts of the visor mechanism every month or so to keep it in good condition. We also received an anti fog pinlock visor insert which we fitted straight away, this is by far the best way to prevent your visor from fogging up in cold weather,

Overall the Arai QV Pro is highly recommended and we would give it 9/10!

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