Shoei Glamster vs Arai Rapide HA | First look review

First look at the awesome new Shoei Glamster retro motorcycle helmet. How does it compare with the Arai Rapide HA? Full strip down and review, plus guide on how to fit a Pinlock
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[@andigorani]

Got my DAS course in 2 weeks. So decided to get a helmet and tried on various brands and shoei felt nice, but then I popped on an arai and damnnnn 😂 😂 felt like a baby in the womb 😂

[@Lukas-kh5gu]

Guys, I just received the Shoei Glamster in size M in grey and it is perfect. Seriously, I didn't think I would keep it as I already have the Bell Eliminator, but that Glamster is PERFECT! The small outer size is phenomenal, the weight is incredible and much lighter than the Eliminator and the actual size in M is simply perfect. It's on the tighter size as I have exactly 57.5 cm around my head and the M isfor 57-58 and the helmet is very tight! Just perfect if the interior padding does slightly become a little thinner.

[@smoll.miniatures]

But was it perfect?

[@mikewatson361]

Arai shape with the Shoei visor 👍 Thanks for the review 🙌🏍

[@cornish_boy6235]

I’ve got both an arai and a shoei, the shoei is a really nice and easy to live with lid that’s easy to take apart and clean. The arai just feels like it’s better quality lid(and that’s not me saying the shoei is bad in any way) but man it’s like a puzzle to take apart and clean, took the cheek pads out to put a coms unit in and took me ages to get them back in.

[@cornish_boy6235]

@FMM arai is better in my opinion. Think noise depends on which model you have as my old gt air was quieter than my arai but think the arai in quieter than the xr1100 that I have now.

[@rickdelmonte1682]

I like white helmets and ride with a white Arai Quantum X. It looks pretty retro: nice round shape, very clean. I'm not sure I would give up the better venting of the Quantum to get rid of a couple of small plastic air scoops and a spoiler.

[@dunstanhawk7367]

I just had a Matt Black Glamster delivered yesterday. Great looking helmet and feels very light compared to my old HJC helmet. I bought mine to go with my Ducati Scrambler Full Throttle - just need to be able to get out and try it out now!

[@Oystersatemywife]

I love the styling of this helmet, and I love that shoei made it retro style since I love the retro style and I've had bell bullit, and gringo biltwell. So my question is, are you able to remove the shoei sticker in front? I like my helmets not to have any branding and have a clean look.

[@dunstanhawk7367]

@Ruben Alejandro hard to tell. When you feel the letters, they feel slightly raised as if you could get a finger nail under each letter and try and peel it off. That said, the letters are black, so blend in a lot with the helmet. Three negative things I’ve found after 6 months of riding with it. It doesn’t have a sun visor - I knew this when I bought it, but I miss that versus my old helmet. The visor doesn’t have a range of ratchet positions - only fully open or fully closed. Finally, between around 18-30 mph with the visor fully open, there is a lot of noise, a bit like blowing over a bottle top. I thought it was my wheel screeching at first! Despite those things, I still really like it though.

[@dunstanhawk7367]

@FMM I actually find the helmet quite noisy at motorway speeds. Unless I’m wearing my custom moulded ear plugs, there is a lot of noise.

[@smoll.miniatures]

The way the hinge assembly is attached to this helmet is atrocious. The holes in the screws are massive compared to the tread size. The hinge is backed with silicone material, so when you tighten the screws that have an absolutely useless locking teeth on the face, it’s meant to stop the hinge from moving around. But the screws are aluminium and they round so easily it’s unreal, meaning you can’t tighten the screws enough to stop the hinge moving… This causes the whole hinge to move when raising and lowering the visor. You can see the upper screw at 6:09 is not central in the aluminium washer… this would be “fine” if it remained this way, but like I said, it moves around. I 3D printed some little spacers that keep all 4 screws perfectly central and the operation of the vsior is sooooo much smoother. If anyone wants some just let me know and I’ll send you some out free of charge(uk only). Could send you the 3D print file if you want also…

[@fabzrustrider9838]

It looks really really Good looks like it’s light, great video 👍🏾 congratulations Paul. I like the shoei

[@nigeloscarmarsden]

Great review! Prefer the Glamster for looks... not a fan of the Arai ‘grill’

[@NickMasseyRideon]

17:00 I have replaced the plastic screws with brass ones exact same size and thread, I love the look and I dont have to worry about them

[@AleksiJoensuu]

I ride with the Ex Zero every day with my old Electra Glide. With that massive screen you could easily use an open face, but a chin bar has once saved my chin in a crash. So if you want a helmet that lets in the music from your stereo and you have a big old windscreen to take care of the bugs and chips, the Ex Zero is great. I'm sure Shoei didn't think of Electra Glides when they made it but, well.

[@robbikebob]

Yeah, I love open face lids and have worn them often in the past, but in the serious crashes I've had, fortunately, I was wearing a full face lid and in both instances the chin bars had taken a serious battering in the crash. So given the choice now I'd always wear something like the ex zero.

[@ejdtm]

Yup. That Ex Zero would work great on my Road Glide but it’s $80 just for shipping to the States.

[@badmondaywang]

I had exzero for 3 years. Lots of good thing abt it. Especially the look and weight. But it doesn’t stop rain going into my lower chin and mouth and sometimes painful. And it’s very noisy! I switch to Arai instead and it fixes all the problem and it feels more substantial and better build quality. Tho it’s heavier but not too heavy!

[@amjay9963]

I want Arai for the quality, but for the weight difference, I am inclined to go with Shoei. Tough choice.

[@MoroMagrew]

Nice looking helmets! “Different fits for different parts of the world”, this is the bane of my helmet purchasing life, as an expat living in Asia, most places only sell Asian fit helmets! They are proud of that since mail order is never Asian fit. So I have to get brands that don’t cater for different parts of the world! I find Airoh fit my head nicely I have a few of them, but they don’t have a retro helmet!!

[@NickMasseyRideon]

just in case anyone was wondering the bolts for the shield are standard 6x12 mm

[@NickMasseyRideon]

the Arai is called the Concept - X in New Zealand and I just happen to get one yesterday

[@jonathongallant9105]

Shoei all day. looks awesome.

[@hogfest5047]

I normally wear a black shoei neotec 2 great helmet but still need ear plugs in , just ordered a glamster for its low profile looks . All I've read about it sounds pretty good to back up its nice styled look , my ride is currently a decatted 2022 triumph speed twin with verex 2 into 2 stainless system with shorty exhaust I guess I'll be needing the earplugs in this helmet too !.

[@andreasfalt8691]

It would be an Arai for me. Cooler logo and no vent in the forehead. Smarter and safer with the venting integrated in the visor.

[@keithappel5021]

John good review don’t you hate it when one of those little pieces flies off the bench you found it it was great I’ve had them disappear into the abyss drives me crazy I’m lookingFor a new helmet an Arai would be my first choice Shoei or Sch Something it’s a German helmet keep the reviews coming

[@EXIAN_MOTO]

Helmets the same size? So hamster most smollest helmet? I just need most smollest helmet for project

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Eh?

[@EXIAN_MOTO]

@@bennettsbikesocial I was in gloves, what is most smallest full face helmet? I need for custom project

[@RandomGRK]

I had the Glamster for about a month and just sold it yesterday. Extremely comfortable and beautiful but the helmet is loud. Wind rushes up under my neck into the ear pockets and it’s a relatively high pitched wind noise. I was really sad to get rid of it but I had to. my Shoei NXR (RF1200) is far better when it comes to noise management.

[@roadsweride_pt]

The same thing happened to me too, I loved the helmet, the weight and structure but very very noisy, I hated that aspect so after using it 3 times I sold it and I'm also going to buy the NXR ! Are happy with it?

[@juliencremers-laurent509]

i prefer the Shoei shape because seems that the opening is bigger allowing better visibility

[@neilwilliams9844]

Top quality review 👏👏

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Thanks! John

[@lynsmith1096]

Good video. I am a big Shoei fan.

[@Zahax_..86]

Bro loves sniffing helmets 😋

[@NeverBackize]

Great video!

[@robbikebob]

If I had to choose between the two I wouldn't, I'd buy a shoei X0.(I prefer the shoei of the 2 though). Although I wouldn't/couldn't buy a helmet that expensive, I simply don't have the funds to spend more than £200 on a lid. I wouldn't tell people that you enjoy sniffing other mens helmets.....

[@TalismanRocks]

I’ve been riding with a 3/4 Arai Classic-V helmet. But, for safety I want to start using a full face helmet. Maybe the Arai Concept X without the face shield as I like feeling the wind on my face. I use motorcycle glasses, so don’t need the shield as majority of my riding is back country roads, not major highways. If I remove the face shield, and the mechanism holding it to the helmet, if that area painted?

[@Larry_Mott]

I went to a store to buy the Glamster, but half my chin is sticking out underneath.. Bitter disappointment! The Arai fits so much better, but is quite heavy + the breath deflector(?) hits the tip of my nose. Misery! :)

[@Rizomoto]

Lexan is polycarbonate. Plexiglass is a brand name of PMMA and is never used for a visor. And I prefer the Shoei despite I prefer Arai helmets usually , the the shape of the Shoei is nicest than the Arai .

[@roundlake96]

Wonder what would look best when riding a cruiser (Virago 1100) 🤔 Both looks great tho and look forward to test them in the future 😊

[@moosey62]

At Bike Magazine you always wanted to go along and smell somebody's helmet?. I'm not rewinding for fear of finding that's actually what you said.

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Only a fresh helmet

[@donsmith3573]

Definitely the Rapide i bought one 👍

[@MaxFromSydney1]

Reviewers don’t seem to talk about chin strap comfort. I once had my heart set on an Arai XD-4. I put it on in the shop and the comfort was fantastic, until I did up the rather unpadded chin strap, which put uncomfortable pressure on my throat. Goodbye, Arai. Hello again, Shoei.

[@bennettsbikesocial]

I've not had many issues with chin straps, but this was only an introduction to the helmets. All our reviews are here: www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/reviews/products/helmets?page=1

[@Demonwicked]

does it come with holes for intercom speakers ?

[@TheChromeRonin]

I had a look at an Arai Rapide yesterday, and was very comfy, but the visor lock felt very fiddly, evenn with bare hands, and same with the brow vents. The slide for the chin vent is inside the chin, so again, I thought would be annoying to operate with gloves. Do these wear in to make them easier to operate, is it something you get used to?

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Here's the full review... www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/reviews/products/helmets/tested-arai-rapide-ha-motorcycle-helmet-review

[@frankcastle13]

I really like the look off the Shoei, but is it possible to get it without the brand name on it? That kinda ruin it for me.

[@grumpybraincells6612]

it's a sticker, with time and patience i'm sure you can get it removed

[@frankcastle13]

@@grumpybraincells6612 Have you actually tried this yourself? Because I have, not with Shoei brand. But the problem was, doing this makes a faded spot that is really visible. So no, I wouldn't recommend trying this.

[@grumpybraincells6612]

@@frankcastle13 on a matt finish might work?cuz gloss finish helmet they might spray a clear coat on it

[@t7489]

Is the Glamster considerably thinner/ narrower than the Rapide? I’ve also been used to wearing a Vector 2 the last five years to daily my Versys but will be getting a Z900rs in the coming weeks to replace it. I’ve returned a Biltwell Gringo S simply because it’s awful fitting and overtly round aesthetic. Any insight would be greatly appreciated!

[@bennettsbikesocial]

In the next week or so we'll have a review of the Glamster, to join the one of the Rapide, on www.BikeSocial.co.uk John

[@tucker9162]

The sound effects made me chuckle

[@leebutler7307]

Hi john, love the look of the Arai, just bought a naked bike and wondering how this helmet is at speed? Currently using my Rx7v on it but it's bloody noisy and due a change. I'm not that worried about the venting. Cheers

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Hi Lee.... I've had no problem at speed - here's the full review. I have an RX-7V and do love it for its venting. I also never really worry about nosie as I'm always in earplugs anyway. Cheers, John www.bennetts.co.uk/bikesocial/reviews/products/helmets/tested-arai-rapide-ha-motorcycle-helmet-review

[@chrisyong7569]

At 13:05 - the side by side comparison and Arai looks much bigger. Are they the same “Size” fit?

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Yes - both are the same. The Shoei has a smaller outer shell. John

[@myfanwyeaves3602]

Does the Arai have a drop down sun visor? Thanks

[@bennettsbikesocial]

No - no Arais do as the company believes they compromise safety.

[@J.Crubach]

You can get an external one

[@hybrid6692]

Are you aloud to say "I love the smell of a new helmet" on KZbin :)

[@BoiledOctopus]

What size are the helmets? They look tiny! Or maybe I just have a massive bonce!

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Both are medium

[@chrisyong7569]

If comfort is high on your priority list, then Arai is your man. Arai uses the same interior and padding for all their helmet. Shoei uses a lower quality liner for their Glamster.

[@Dave_D]

Nope. Only retro helmet I’d be interested in would be the Driver Alien. Was THE crash helmet to have if you were a scooterboy in the 80s but not sure it is was as popular with bikers?

[@ioderov]

I am taking my visor off constantly. In summer it is full of bugs. Release mechanism matters to me. That's why I don't like Arai. That's why I like Shark

[@NunyaBizness2k]

Never thought I'd hear a man say "I'd love to sniff their helmet". That phrase means different things to different people lol

[@rahadiwibowo]

I choose Arai for this one..

[@allgoo1990]

What makes them "retro"?

[@Boxer1250RT]

What ever fits you better therefore I am bias toward Arai.

[@mrbrad479]

Arai for me. but the Shoei looks nice .

[@johnhalloran1234]

arai for me looks better and more stylish but thats what makes this good we are all diffrent so we have plenty choice

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Exactly! The same thing with bikes

[@raiseinets3759]

Maybe it's just me but the shoei doesn't look protective at all. Looks too thin and flimsy imo. The arai on the other hand looks much more sturdy and well constructed.

[@petersykes8891]

Seriously this fella loves sniffing helmets 😂 i did hear that right didn’t I ? (What a helmet)🇮🇲🇮🇲🇮🇲🇮🇲🇮🇲🇮🇲

[@ejdtm]

Love the Ex Zero but not sold in the States

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Oh no! Can you get the J•O there?

[@ejdtm]

Bennetts Bike Yes, the J-O is here.

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Weird - wonder why they didn't bring the Ex-Zero in. A shame, as it's awesome. John

[@JoJoRoeland]

Shoei Glamster

[@turvyjj9232]

How boring those grey and white helmets. Grey is like a curse lately, everything is grey. Thanks for the vid.

[@brandoncostner7437]

What's the bike at 1:12 with him drinking a water

[@bennettsbikesocial]

It was the XSR700 I built as a custom a few years back. John

[@ktkace]

WHAT YEAR IS IT?!

[@robbikebob]

The year people have a great choice to wear whatever they want!

[@davidhughes5807]

Why do you not think they are are everyday commuting helmets?

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Mainly venting and lack of quick-release visor. If you're only commuting in dry weather you'd be fine, but I mean right through the year. John

[@Dave_D]

Bennetts Bike So just for those that only ride at the weekend? As long as it’s dry and sunny. 🤭

[@bennettsbikesocial]

@@Dave_D Who cares how people use their bikes, as long as they're enjoying them? Personally, I ride every day in all weathers, but I've got no less respect for a rider that only has a chance to ride at the weekend or only wants to ride in the better weather. Or some people might want two lids - one for commuting and one for their weekend blast. If you've got one bike and it's a practical commuter you use every day in all weathers, these aren't the best lids you can invest in. John

[@TheACEIRA]

Bennetts Bike Could u make review for best commuter lids plz?

[@soilsmanadv6673]

I want to find a Bell MOTO replica,

[@tdmtam]

Cracking looking lid, but crap name for it.

[@exsoulagent]

Lol, helmet sniffer, that sounded so wrong

[@altypeRR]

I’m afraid I’m not a fan of these retro helmets. I know they must be safe and possibly perform as well as modern helmets but they just don’t look it. I also think retro bikes look better with that strong contrast of modern kit.

[@bennettsbikesocial]

Totally fair enough - if we all liked the same thing, motorcycling would be pretty dull! Cheers, John

[@slimturnpike]

Prefer the shape of the Shoei

[@prfm_setya95]

Glamster : _Glamour Hipster_

[@c.g.c2067]

Nice but expensive

[@Uninfluenceable]

I've never understood people that try to match their helmet/gear color scheme and/or style to their bikes. I mean I don't usually wear nail polish that matches the exterior lacquer or a jacket that matches the leather seats whenever I take the car out for a drive... probably just me.

[@jeffreycuthbertson5269]

Shoie

[@gpzfan5272]

Glamster, nice helmet, terrible name

[@kwr6100]

The arai comes in red, just red. I want red... I WANT RED 😫 😡🤬💪💪💪💪💪 arrrrggh .. the only hat that comes in red is this arai rapide. So annoying 🙄 WHY please tell me why red is rare

[@kwr6100]

Every thing else is black and white with a hint of red or red and black with annoying logos. I just want all red

[@liamjohnson2474]

14:08 "you don't want to touch the inside" 14:44 Immediately touches the inside