  |
Scorpion Exo 1000
There are many motorcycle helmets manufacturing companies out there. But very few are able to match the quality and the price of ScorpionExo. Being one of the best manufacturer of motorcycle helmets, all their products are properly certified, and so you are guaranteed with helmets that are able to protect you, possibly saving you from a mind blowing hospital bills.
In 2007, Scorpion Exo 1000 was very much anticipated as it was the first one to introduce one of the newest feature in motorcycle helmet industry: the air inflatable cheek pads. The question is, after this many years since the release of the Scorpion Exo 1000, how are people finding it? Short answer to this is pretty good, sitting at the $300 price range, it is really one of the cheapest helmet comparing with other brands that have similar features. But there might some issues, if you are somewhat a perfectionist.
First we shall look at some of the cool features of this helmet.
Fibreglass / Kevlar matrix shell
As always, Scorpion helmets are made with the most protective materials: fibreless / Kevlar matrix shell. It will protect your head and minimize your injury risk. The helmets are Snell and DOT approved, which means that they passed a series of test before hitting the market.
Excellently painted graphics
There are two types of color scheme to choose from, solid color or with graphics. The painting on the Exo 1000 is extremely cool. From my opinion, the graphics are perfectly done. What do I mean by perfect? It is done just right, not too dull, and not too fancy. A lot of the time there are helmets painted with fancy graphics, but for me, those graphics are just overly done, in other words, too fancy for non-racing purpose. But these Scorpion graphics are really nicely done, and suitable for normal street riding.
Aero-tuned ventilation system
The Scorpion Exo 1000 has 4 intake vent from front (2 at top, 1 above brow and 1 at chin bar), and a number of exhaust vent (2 at sides below face shield, 2 at sides behind, and 1 one behind). Most air vents can be opened or closed, and should provide sufficient airflow if needed.
AirFit helmet pump air inflation system
Inside the helmet, it has the newest featured air inflatable cheek pads. It is a really cool feature, where you can inflate the cheek pads for better fit for you size. So if you kind of fall in between sizes (such as you're slightly larger than M but a bit small for L), then you can get the larger size and utilize the inflatable cheek pads for good fit. Also if the helmet get loosened up after a number of years of wearing, you can retighten the fit with the inflatable cheek pads. These cheek pads can also work as a noise reduction mechanism, if you feel that the noise of wind coming from bottom is a bit too loud.
EverClear face shield and SpeedView sun visor
This helmet has one outer face shield which they call EverClear faceshield, and a retractable internal sun visor which they call it SpeedView sun visor. The face shield can be easily changed, and you can change it to tinted ones if you wish, the internal sun visor is also similar. Note that both of the visors have anti-fog capability, and you shouldn't need to worry about them fogging up. The internal sun visor are really handy for all-day riding. At day riding you can pull down the visor at a flip of a button on the helmet side, very easily done even with gloves.
But any single helmet on the market will not fit absolutely everyone, it is no difference for the Scorpion Exo 1000. Below I've summarize some of the potential issues, expressed by various users of this helmet.
• The helmet heavier than other normal helmets, weighing more than 4 pounds, it might be harder to get used to, someone people claimed that they got sore neck after prolonged period of riding. But many also said they didn't really feel the difference.
• It is a bit tighter fit than other helmet. It is more suitable for users with a more oval head shape.
• Some users claimed that the air ventilation not working as good as expected, at speed lower than 50-60mph.
• internal visor is not 100% optically correct, which may or may not be any problem for average riders. From ScorpionExo information, only the outer face shield is advertised as optically correct, I'll believe them in this.
• The default internal visor might not be dark enough for summer day time riding, there are darker color visor available from ScorpionExo, and I think it is worthwhile look at those.
• The helmet might also be a bit noisy. For any helmet with decent ventilation, it is almost guaranteed that there will be some sort of wind noise, no matter how "quiet" it is marketed as.
• Some users also discovered there is a bit of whistling noise in certain angle, when riding in certain position. It should not be a strong noise, and so it may or may not affect you.