I recently bought an HJC CL-Max II Modular Helmet from BikeBandit. As you may know if you've been a longtime reader, I am an affiliate marketer for BikeBandit. I like their wide selection, good prices, free shipping for orders over $99, and as a (mostly) local company, fast fulfillment of most orders for my friends and me here in San Diego county. Why "mostly"? Well some warehouses aren't in San Diego, and some parts have to be backordered and may be drop shipped from other places/manufacturers.
OK, on to what I'm going to start calling "3 Ride Reviews". These will be reviews of new parts, modifications and accessories after just a few rides. Not just one ride-as either excitement over a new toy or unfamiliarity could shape the review, but also not long-term, having lived with it reviews either. I've found three or so rides are generally enough to highlight whether the purchase was a good one, future modifications needed, and pros and cons of the part. So my first "3 Ride Review" will be on the HJC CL-Max II helmet.
This was my first modular helmet, so I went and tried a number of models and brands on. Some shops had lower priced helmets, especially the Cycle Gear house brand Bilt. Prices went up from there, with the HJC being on the lower end and the usual suspects being the more costly. I tried on a Shoei helmet that really felt good, but at nearly 4x the price of the HJC and over 5x the price of the Bilt I felt it wasn't time for that expensive a helmet. Maybe if I was doing the Iron Butt Rally this summer! I settled on the HJC and while I often support my local shops, I also needed some maintenance parts for the Connie-too old a bike to normally have the parts at dealerships, so they would have to order them too.
The helmet and parts showed up fairly quickly-not as fast as usual for BikeBandit, but still within about a week. I have ridden in the helmet a few times, both during the day and at night. Here's the pros and cons.
Pro's
Value for price. While the Bilt is less expensive and more expensive helmets are definitely made to higher standards the price point of the HJC, especially from BikeBandit or if their price is matched ($134.99 with free shipping) is a good to great price for a modern, well-made helmet.
The modular faceshield allows easy access with a chin bar-so the pluses of a half or three-quarter helmet with full face protection.
Reasonably light-This helmet feels much better on my head than previous full-face helmets (a lower priced 707 and other cheapies) and about like my 3/4 Bilt helmet.
Consistent construction-All the parts seem to be of high-quality and no one part stands out as a place HJC cut corners to knock a few dollars off the price or make a few more bucks.
Con's
Differing wind noise/buffeting-Some of this is an "attack angle" and windshield height issue. After the first ride with lots of varying wind noise I experimented with both angle of the helmet on my head and my head in the wind and got much less noise. When I focused on a more upright, chin up position the wind noise is definitely lower. That said, there is still a moderate amount of wind noise where the face shield and helmet meet.
The cheek pad foam feels comfortable but kind of cheap. This is the biggest difference other than likely the wind noise I could find between this helmet and the much higher priced Shoei. Also due to the size of my head (big, square headed freak here) the cheek pads are pretty tight. BTW what everyone seems to say about HJC helmets being sized .5 to 1 size too small is right-I ordered an XL and it's still kind of tight. Of course, it will compress to match my big 'ol melon over the next few weeks so it's best to start tight.
I would definitely buy another HJC helmet based on 3 rides and anticipate this being my main helmet. I may rig a bluetooth system to it-it has a pre-molded mounting area but this wasn't a purchase point for me. If you have done this and can add a comment I would appreciate it!
Ride there!
Bur
