| Author | Message | ||
     Bomber |
Anyone got any experience with them? good, bad indifferent, worth the price, stay away at all costs? | ||
| Sarodude |
My experience: Simpson at least USED to only make race helmets (no DOT sticker so technically illegal) - and they were mainly focused on SA rated helmets at the time. Big with 4 wheeled drag racers, circle trackers, and road racers. Never really heard anything bad about 'em. Saved my cousin's head on a particularly interesting highside. Mainly collected lotsa bugs, rubber chunks, & castor oil on mine. Never got to test it. -Saro | ||
| Bomber |
DOT and Snell rated on their scooter-specific helmets now . . .. | ||
| Jssport |
I had used Simpsons in the early 80's, they had the M-61 (mine) and M-62 models (original darth vader style) and it was a real popular street helmet for many yrs. My lining became seperated from the shell and the factory fixed it for free under warranty. Simpson seemed to fade from the motorcycle helmet scene as they increased their car safety equpiment (full fire suits for pit crew and drvrs) and drag racing helmets. It seems like they are just getting back into the mc market,... unless they had a real good deal I'd stick with Arai/Shoei/Bell, etc.. | ||
| Rocketman |
Bomber, I have two Simpsons. A slightly older RX 7, now the RX 8 I believe, and a much more recent Bandit. The RX 7, getting on 10 years old, wasn't suitable for bike riding really. A tad on the heavy side and not great in the wind. I rode a Busa about 175mph wearing this lid and my head felt like it was in a paint shaker. Another time I had a famous 'off' wearing this lid, when I ran into the rear of my friends then 6 week old 998 Duc. It was his fault, honestly! No question, the lid did a great job as I landed about chin down, but I did get a nose bleed from the lid contacting my face. Could've been worse. The Bandit still looks the biz, better still with the now slight spoiler under the chin area. Still heavy though compared to the composite bike lids but still comfortable. More so than the RX 7. Your chin and nose will probably not contact the inner front as they might do on the RX styles. Great lids. Style and design icons. No question about how safe they are. Look great on an S1. The Yanks do make great lids and I'm a fan. Rocket | ||
| Court |
Bomber: I've dealt with the Simpson folks on the TEAM ELVES Bandit helmets. The helmets are DOT/SNELL rated and meet all street legal requirements. I'm an Arai sortaguy, but the Simpson products seem excellent and their company is quite responsive. Court | ||
| Bomber |
thanks for the input all . . .they are actually less expensive than middle to top of the line Arai, Shoei et all . . . . I'll admit to being sometthing of a posuer, and I like their style alot . . . .. . . like Rocketeer sez, "design Icon" could be time for a new lid (the Schuberth is great on the street, but less than great for trackdays and, er, spirited Sunday Morning rides) thanks again | ||
| Rokoneer |
I have had a Super Bandit since '92 and still use it depending upon which bike I am riding. It is still holding up fairly well considering that the formerly blue lining now has a black 'patina' to it. Compared to my more modern helmet, an Arrow Mono Convertible, the Simpson is heavier, has worse ventilation, and the eyeport (eye-slot?) is considerably smaller which allows a more limited range of sight. But I still love the damn thing and there is no other helmet (except a Roof Boxer) which looks as awesome as the Bandit. Oh yeah, one more heads up on the Simpson, the replacement visors have gotten extremely pricey. A visor for my Bandit is $57 from Dennis Kirk, but around $40 from other places. It should be noted that I still have the original visor from '92 on my Simpson though............. |
