![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/airoh-aviator-2.2-six-days-2017.jpg\")
Look at it. It is spectacular.<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/airoh-aviator-2.2-six-days-20417.jpg\")
Those vents go all the way through. But you can cover them up if you’re planning on drowning in mud.<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/airoh-aviator-2.2-six-days-20171.jpg\")
What the competition should see. Oh, and that’s not dirt. That’s the graphics.<\/p><\/div>\n
\u201cYou seen these helmets?\u201d the store manager David asked me.<\/p>\n
\u201cDon\u2019t care about helmets,\u201d I said, adjusting my uncomfortable pants in front of an F4RR that was painted like some kind of unaffordable supermodel prostitute.<\/p>\n
\u201cFeel it,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m feeling it,\u201d I responded.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo, the helmet.\u201d<\/p>\n
He tossed me the lid, a gloriously garish fluoro-yellow dirt-bike lid.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re kidding,\u201d I grinned, hefting the lid in my hands. \u201cWhat does this weigh?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAbout 900gm,\u201d David smiled.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s crazy,\u201d I said, turning the helmet over in my hands.<\/p>\n
And it was. This dirt helmet was lighter than my Bell open-face. And it was very much lighter than any of the full-face road- and off-road helmets I store in my shed.<\/p>\n
Now I don\u2019t know much, but I do know this:<\/p>\n
The heavier the helmet you put on your head is, the more complicated the chain of events that will happen if you crash and need that helmet to help your head out, as it were.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017_KTM-Adventure_Boris_03-1.jpg\")
Works just fine on the road.<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/iK_KTM_2017-ADV-0335.jpg\")
Works just fine in the jungle, too.<\/p><\/div>\n
There\u2019s this thing called inertia.<\/p>\n
It is defined thus: \u201cInertia is the resistance of any physical object to any change in its state of motion; this includes changes to its speed, direction, or state of rest. It is the tendency of objects to keep moving in a straight line at constant velocity.\u201d<\/p>\n
So in an accident, where changes of direction can be chaotic and often end in an impact, helmet weight is crucial issue. Put simply, the lighter the weight you\u2019re carrying on your head and supported by your rather fragile spinal column, the better the result will be in an accident in terms of mitigating inertia.<\/p>\n
Your neck-bones will be happier changing directions the less weight your head is carrying.<\/p>\n
Science, bitches.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/18320908_1887798094841554_8519913226229726767_o.jpg\")
Perfect for hunting.<\/p><\/div>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017_KTM-Adventure_Boris_06-1.jpg\")
And cruising your local state forest is a breeze.<\/p><\/div>\n
And it\u2019s the science of grams. Put a helmet weighing less than a kilo on your head and it instantly feels very different to a one-plus kg helmet. Something as sensitive as your neck and skull instantly identify and deal with the weight you ask them to bear. Three-hundred grams might mean very little to you if you\u2019re benching or curling. But they mean everything to your head and neck when you\u2019re wearing a lid.<\/p>\n
And then there\u2019s the fatigue issue. It\u2019s not even science anymore. A lighter helmet obviously translates to less fatigue because your neck muscles aren\u2019t working as hard as they would be to support a heavier helmet.<\/p>\n
Now if that lighter helmet offered the same (if not better) impact absorption and spread in case of a catastrophe, then you have to ask yourself\u00a0 why you aren\u2019t wearing one.<\/p>\n
Oh, you\u2019ve looked and they\u2019re expensive?<\/p>\n
Fair enough. Go back and stand in the Aldi cue with your bargain-price lid. Or better yet, keep shopping on-line for a good second-hand helmet. I\u2019m sure there are tonnes around. Off you go.<\/p>\n
The rest of you might want to know Airoh are made in Italy by Locatelli S.p.A, under the stewardship of Antonio Locatelli. The company, founded in 1986, once made helmets under contract for other brands, but in 1997, Antonio struck out on his own with the Airoh brand.<\/p>\n
Put simply and honestly, I reckon they\u2019re a stunning lid. And certainly the best thing I have put on my head since this really cool Russian hat made out of unethically-sourced mink I got for a birthday present one year.<\/p>\n
Sure, they look good (and they must and they will because Italians are designing them), but they are also ridiculously comfortable (there\u2019s that weight thing again). And unlike so many other top-end brands, the helmet you buy for yourself is exactly the same as the helmet they supply champions like Cairoli with. You go and try to buy the AGV lid Rossi is wearing. You can\u2019t. It\u2019s tailor-made for The Doctor alone.<\/p>\n
Anyway, I must have made the right noises at David, because a few days later, Moto National, the importer of Airoh, sent me a box containing the most astonishing off-road helmet I had ever seen.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"http:\/\/bikeme.tv\/wp-content\/uploads\/iK_KTM_2017-ADV-0127-1.jpg\")
I may be lost, but I look fabulous.<\/p><\/div>\n
It was an Aviator 2.2. But not just any Aviator 2.2. It was the fully pimped and limited edition Six Days created to commemorate the Navarra, Spain, ISDE. It even came with a numbered plaque riveted on the side. My number is 0952.<\/p>\n
So while I cannot ride like Cairoli, I can certainly look the business. And when I\u2019m parked up on some rocky bluff and staring into the distance contemplating the Hard Enduro I have just conquered, and people see me from afar, they will have no idea the Airoh-crowned majesty they are beholding will probably shortly fall down the cliff it\u2019s resting on.<\/p>\n
I wore the Aviator 2.2 on the KTM launch, I took it exploring on the BMW Rallye X, and I even put it on and went shooting astride one of Yamaha\u2019s finest YZF 250 razorback chasers. And it\u2019s not only the best off-road helmet I have ever worn, it\u2019s pretty much the best helmet I have ever worn.<\/p>\n
Clearly, the wind-tunnel stuff works. I saw some serious numbers on the speedo (on the road, of course) and the Aviator did not lift or try and strangle me. It performed better at high speed than some road-dedicated full-faces I have worn in the past.<\/p>\n
On the dirt, where you\u2019re leaking sweat and screaming, it was just superb. I cannot praise it enough. It\u2019s an eleven out of ten. Possibly a 12.<\/p>\n
And this is why. Each Airoh lid is created in a wind-tunnel, and utilises Finite Element Modelling (FEM) technology to test it for impact. The outer shell is then moulded from composite fibres such as aramid and Carbon Kevlar and layered manually. It is then assembled entirely by hand and closely checked for the slightest imperfections.<\/p>\n
The Aviator is 100 per cent Carbon Kevlar and comes in three different shell-sizes. It is so well-ventilated you\u2019ll think you\u2019re wearing a sweat-band rather than a helmet. The peripheral vision is superb and expanded from the previous model. It comes with an extended and adjustable peak, cool spoilers front and back, removable nose-guard and dust filters, and an emergency cheek-pad release system. And of course the butter-soft lining is removable and washable.<\/p>\n
Just like Cairoli\u2019s lid.<\/p>\n
But do yourself a favour and go and pick one up. Heft it. Put it on your head. Then pay the money and take it home. Sure, it\u2019s not a cheap helmet. It\u2019s just a great helmet.<\/p>\n