AIROH FORCE VISION

WORDS: Ross MacKay PIC: Osborne & BD

The arrival on the local market of the Airoh brand of helmets, courtesy importer Forbes and Davies, has signaled something of a shakeup in the lid stakes here at KR.
First up Pro MXing Dirt tester Ollie was offered one of the ultralight Stelt models to add to his wardrobe, then I was offered a new Force Vision road helmet.
Over the years I’ve tried all sorts of helmets but settled into swapping between a Shoei X-Spirit and the predecessor to Arai’s Viper. Both current lids are due for replacing, something which the arrival of the new Airoh brought into sharp focus.
Airoh is the brand that fi rst came to notice here when our own Ben Townley was signed for his MX2 World Championship-winning year, so we know a bit about the brand and the people behind it. Suffice to say it is a premium brand with premium products with the Force Vision enjoying an ECE2205 safety rating and retailing here for $559.
Fit and finish is snug and comfy and there are plenty of ventilation choices not to mention trick little accessories like the clip-in chin curtain, breath guard etc.
Perhaps the biggest bonus however is the integrated sun-shield which folds up or down at the click of a rocker switch on the left hand side of the base.
I’ve always been a bit dubious of these but as I’ve found the idea works, and works well.
Another new and different feature I’ve come to quite like is the ‘Microtech retention system’ chin-clasp.
Like most motorcycle riders using an old-skool twin D-ring system has become second nature, but you can’t fault the new one with its simple grooved tongue and click-in/click-out clasp.
Fogging has been an issue over the least few (very cold) weeks but I see Airoh offers what they call a ‘Foggy Stop’ kit so I’ll be ordering one of those to help supplement the standard antifog treatment of the 2.2mm thick visor.
I’ll be swapping back and forth from Shoei to Arai to Airoh over the next year and will report back on any further findings at a later date.