Arai XD3 Dual Sport ‘Crossover’ + Tested
It’s always a good day when you get a new crash helmet and the dual-sport helmet is something that has interested me for a while. Yes I’ve ridden with a Motocross helmet and also road and race helmets but never […]
It’s always a good day when you get a new crash helmet and the dual-sport helmet is something that has interested me for a while.
Yes I’ve ridden with a Motocross helmet and also road and race helmets but never a crash helmet that is supposed crossover both genres and function as both.
At this moment in time I’m a bit skeptical but I felt that way when I first rode a dual-sport motorcycle and now I think they are one of the best motorcycles to ride so I’m totally open minded on how it will stand up to some on and off-road abuse.
I’ve a big dual-sport ride planned this week on the Ducati Multistrada so the XD3 will be seriously be put through its paces and I’ll be bringing you the results. Right now, just from putting it on and looking at it thoroughly I can tell you that it is super comfortable and has all the features and more that you would find on both off-road and on-road helmets. I’m looking forward to testing to the maximum and really finding out if you can have a dual-sport helmet that is a good as your dual-sport machine.
XD3 Tested!
There is a National Park just over 100miles from where I live that you can turn up, pay $5 and ride all day. The park has trails all over and they range from the flat to steep up hills, rocks to sand, dusty tarmac to snow and water. A perfect place to test anything that’s designed for on and off-road abuse and the kind of test I bloody well enjoy as I get to ride all day long.
The journey up to Gorman takes me though some think and dense LA stand still traffic and up and out into the freedom of the Highway hills and into open miles of freeway fun. Once at Gorman, a place that it just far away enough to experience different weather from that’s in LA and remote enough enjoy the freedom of 2wheels
Inside the park there are miles of marked trails, technical stuff and plenty of terrain to cover so you never once get bored and can be cold and wet on minute and hot and bothered the next, depending where you are. This time of year there is snow and dry dusty parts and the highest points closed off as ice and snow ends in disaster for the ill equipped or inexperienced. A perfect place to bring an dual sport helmet and motorcycle.
While putting the Ducati Multistrada through it’s paces I dressed from head to toes in Adventure Dual-Sport gear and tested it all, no finer time to ride, blast, smile and crash.
My main worry about the Arai XD3 was the peak/visor, I thought it would cause you problems on the road as wind speed will cause lift and drag.
So it was a shock when the XD3 stayed stable and stable without me noticing it was there up to 100mph. After this you start to feel a pull, but you shouldn’t be going that fast anyway so surprisingly it works well. Visors changes are easy but you have to remove the visor which is screwed on with 2 bolts on each side. A coin works best for un-tightening/tightening the screws, no special tools are needed and it’s simple to do.
I found the vents did work, keeping your head happy whatever elevation you were at the visor was effortless to use and only needed lifting when my panting got serious.
Going through deep water allowed some drips of water to get on the inside, where a MX helmet with goggles would have kept that out, but other than that the XD3 performed just like a great MX lid.
That wasn’t much of a surprise as it looks more MX than road, so it’s great roadability gave me the biggest shock. On and off the road I found the Arai XD3 to perform as good as the multipurpose machine I was riding and I looked stylish and cool at the same time gaining extra plus points.
Yes I did fall down and bang my head, no too hard but it was a bit of a thud, but I hardly felt anything and the shell hardly had a mark. Handmade Arai quality shining through and protecting me from harm.
I can’t fault this helmet and after hundreds of miles in several different climates and riding on all kinds of terrain, I’d say it’s a serious adventure helmet for a serious adventure rider that left me impressed and more than satisfied.
4.8/5.0
