Friday, October 19, 2012

Is the RF-1100 the best out there?

My brother recently purchased a Shoei RF-1100 as a way of rewarding himself for finishing his long-standing project of restoring his beloved 1986 Harley-Davidson Heritage Softail.  He's been dabbling with that classic bike for the better part of the last decade, and thought that the completed restoration deserved to be paired with the finest helmet available. 
Now, my brother's the motorhead in the family and thus--like Craig Effron and most of my other friends--far more capable than me of judging whether the RF-1100 is really the very best out there, but having handled it and even donned it for a quick once-around-the-block I have to say he's probably right.  Besides being solid and surprisingly comfortable, the RF-1100 has an amazingly efficient ventilation system and an optional breath guard to aid in the reduction of annoying internal fogging.  My only question is, with over thirty color and design styles available to complement the ultra-cool lines of this helmet, why did he choose the solid bright orange?  He's looks like he's riding around with a fruit dropped down on his shoulders. Or maybe that's the point:  With Halloween coming up maybe this is part of his costume as the Headless Motorcycle-man of Sleepy Hollow, the restless spirit of a decapitated cyclist who haunts the backroads of North Carolina with a pumpkin for his head, condemned forever to terrorize all the local rednecks until one of them can produce his head.
     Or maybe he just likes orange.

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