What do you do when you have designed one of the most popular, best selling helmets on the market? Well, if you are Shoei, you redesign it to make it even better. Summary: Once again Shoei has made a helmet for the rest of us. While the cost of the RF 1100 helmet is a little more than you might like to pay, you get quite a lot for your money. Pros: quiet, good finish, many size options, lot's of color/finish choices Cons: cost, shield fogs up on cold day Features: The new face shield is called the CW-1 Shield. According to Shoei it is both wider and taller than the CX-IV that it replaces, and it protects riders from 99% of UV rays. The peripheral vision in the helmet is almost as good as not wearing a helmet at all, and I can almost see the back end of the bike with my head turned to the side. It also works with the pinlock system for anti-fogging. For this review I did not have access to said system so cannot judge whether it works or not, but I can say the shield has a tendency to fog up at lower speeds on a cold day when first starting out even with the breathguard in place. Once up to highway speeds, the fog quickly dissipated most likely due to increased air flow. (Note: pushing the helmet lock forward also slightly raises the faceshield allowing a breeze to help defog the shield) The shell of the RF-1100 uses AIM+ Shell Construction (Snell M2010-Approved) which, according to Shoei's website, combines fiberglass with organic fibers resulting in a stronger, lighter shell that will absorb and distribute the force of an impact safely and efficiently. Luckily, I did not get a chance to test this claim. View attachment 10709 A new feature you may note when comparing to the RF-1000 is the shell integrated spoiler. This eliminates the plastic aero wing. In the picture, the one I am holding is the wing from my old Shoei RF-1000. The idea is that the wing decreases lift similar to a race car with a wing. In comparison to helmets without some type of stabilization, I note the Shoei seems to have less buffeting especially when facing directly forward. View attachment 10710 The RF-1100's features three intake and six exhaust vents in total. This allows for a wide range of airflow options. Most of the vents are easily opened or closed with gloves on, however I did note some trouble opening the back vents on occasion when gloved up. My assumption is that as the helmet is worn, this will ease up both with familiarity of the rider and use of the vents. The RF-1100 is equipped with a fully removable, washable, and replaceable center pad and multi-layer cheek pads. This helps with cleanliness and also allows a rider range of fit options. When added to the 5 different shell options, just about anyone should be able to find a good fit. Fit The Shoei helmet fits me better than any helmet I have ever tried. It feels good on initial sizing and continues to feel good for me as time goes on. I have only used the helmet for a couple weeks so I will update this as time goes on. I did note some ear soreness when taking the helmet on and off frequently, but this is something I have noted with any helmet that fits properly. Noise This is the quietest helmet I have tried. I think you could probably ride without earplugs with it although, I did not and I do not recommend not wearing earplugs. My test helmet had the chin curtain installed which comes with every helmet and aids in blocking some wind assisting the noise levels and also helping on cooler days. Weight My test model, a size large, weighed in at about 58 oz or 1644 g. This puts is in the light category, but not the lightest helmet on the market. However, it is probably the lightest helmet I have tried that is this quiet. Price/Value The MSRP ranges from $399-$499 depending on finish level making it fairly pricey for most casual riders. One color gloss models are $399, metallic finish $419, and $499 for the graphics finish. Every RF-1100 I examined had a very good looking finish. No blemishes were noted and the graphics finish looked good enough to have been airbrushed on, but the finish looked sturdy enough to stand up to time. Of course my review time was very short so I will update as the helmet ages. Is the RF-1100 for you? That is a question only you can answer for yourself. With all the good quality helmets out there for a lot less money, it makes it harder to justify paying the extra for this helmet. In my opinion, try them on and try on others you are considering and weigh the features of each and decide what those features are worth to you.
