“There is nothing that makes its way more directly to the soul than beauty”
Joseph Addison
I have sat with it and drunk beer, and looked at it and told it how beautiful it is. I used to do this with girls. Helmets are easier.I have spent more time staring at this X-SPR Pro than I have wearing it. I have spent just as much time fondling it, turning it this way and that in my hands, and seeing how the light reflects off it. It looks different in the sunlight than it does in my mood-lit office.
I can see it now as I write, sitting on my shelf of Awesome Lids right next to Arai’s now venerable Haga replica, a spectacular numbered (No. 0952) Airoh celebrating Antonio ‘Tony’ Cairoli’s efforts in the 2016 International Six Days Enduro (ISDE), a luscious X-Lite X803, and a Shark Race R-Pro King of Thieves Scott Redding replica.
It is in fine company, but it really needs a podium all to itself.
It is two things simultaneously.
If you leave it on the pillion seat to attract bitches (and why wouldn’t you?), make sure it will not fall to the ground with that sickening “Thunk!”. You will cry if that happens.Firstly, it is an absolute stunning work of art. And there are 22 artistic variants of it – all of which you can see HERE.
Shoei Helmets Australia | Official & Exclusive Australian Shoei Distributor
Yeah, you can get a white one or a black one (matte or gloss), but why would you? Oh. You’re not a Bling Lord? Fair enough.
This will teach me not to lean towards the camera because doing that makes my head look twice as big as it is.You can also get a bunch of Marc Marquez replicas (stands to reason, he has been around for a while and enjoyed some success), and you can even get two Alex Marquez replicas if you don’t mind people looking at you with pity. There are even two Daijiro Kato lids, and a Wayne Gardner jobbie, if you’re that way inclined. And of course, there are some rather cool-looking graphic variations unaffiliated with any racer.
In my consultations with Shoei, I was asked which one I would like to essay. Flattered to be offered a choice, and concerned I’d be sent a Marc Marquez replica, or heaven forfend an Alex Marquez unit, I chose the one which is hands-down the most stunning of them all. And it happened to belong to a racer I quite like, who is, in turn, linked to my personal Godhead, Valentino Rossi. I chose the Fabio Di Giannantonio replica and thus damned myself.
The bastard thing is too beautiful to wear.
This is how Fabio looks at Franky when Franky does bad shit to him.But wear it I must and wear it I have. I’m gonna wear it some more, too. And it is the best helmet I have ever put on my head for a whole bunch of reasons. I have not yet worn it on a racetrack – the very place it is designed to be worn, so I cannot yet tell you how good it is when you’re cutting sick laps.
I can, however, tell you what it’s like to wear in a similar competitive environment because I have some red-eyed mates who tend to…um, taste the salt now and again, and I go riding with them.
“But you hate full-face helmets, Borrie!”
No, champion. You haven’t been paying attention. I hate being told what I have to do. I hate being told I must wear a helmet at all – and given no choice in the matter. That’s what I hate.
Appreciating, using, and understanding a technological masterpiece like the X-SPR Pro is something very different, no?
In my day-to-day business I prefer a Shoei J-Cruise 3, which you can read about HERE.
And while that is a great helmet, the X-SPR Pro is the pinnacle of Shoei’s helmet-craft. All bullshit aside, this is as good as it gets right now. And coming from Shoei, this means X-SPR Pro is better than anything else you’ll wedge on your head. And that’s the second thing it is.
It sits here among its lesser cousins.It is more aerodynamic, and thus incredibly stable at speed. It is specifically designed for speeds in excess of 300km/h. Yeah, that’s not a typo.
And it is insanely well-ventilated – which is the true game-changer here. Shoei understood that just ventilating the top of your head as other full-face competition lids do, means your face will cook even though there is air being rammed through the top of the helmet. So, it redesigned the whole venting system for the X-SPR Pro.
The X-SPR Pro has seven air inlets and six air outlets, and all of them can be closed or open. Compare that to other lids and you’ll find they have between three to five and two to four respectively. With an X-SPR Pro your flushed and rosy cheeks are being washed in air, not just the top of your head. That’s the kind of sorcery that has been missing from race-helmets (well, all full-face helmets) until now. And it’s precisely the kind of sorcery that for me, mitigates the vague claustrophobia full-face lids give me.
But there’s more. Of course there is. This is a top-shelf Shoei. And it doesn’t get any more top-shelf than this.
Most amazing thing I have ever put on my head.Thanks to its extensive wind-tunnel testing, the X-SPR Pro’s shape actually creates a viable exhaust system at the back of the helmet that is pressure-optimised. At speed, negative air-pressure occurs behind the helmet, and this creates an exhaust effect that sucks air out of the lid.
It’s a thing. You know how I know it’s a thing? Because Shoei understands aerodynamics better than most, and it designs its lids accordingly.
I have actually felt the J-Cruise helmet I normally wear “suck” itself onto my head when I lower the visor. You can truly feel it tighten itself. And if Shoei can make a good-for-more-than 240-km/h open-face do that, it can certainly perform all kinds of aerodynamic-physics voodoo on its top-of-the-line, 300-kmh-plus race lid.
Fogging is a thing of the past. Yes, you will fit a Pinlock (and it comes with one), and the X-SPR Pro’s chin-ventilation will make that Pinlock even more efficient at not-fogging. You can now hyper-ventilate in speed-terror to your heart’s content.
Here’s some more good news. Firstly, understand FIM-approved racing helmets are all a bit heavier than normal road-biased lids. This is because they need extra reinforcing to comply with FIM and ECE 22.06 standards. You’ll be therefore pleased to know the X-SPR Pro is probably the lightest of them all and feels even lighter thanks to the way its weight has been evenly distributed throughout the construction. Let us compare, yes?
In a size M, the X-SPR Pro comes in at 1330gm. The AGV Pista RR is 1440gm. Arai’s RX-7V is 1600gm. HJC’s RPHA is 1480gm, and Sharks’ Race-R Pro GP is 1400gm. And every gram counts. You know this.
As you’d expect, the lid comes in an array of shell-sizes and you can customise the fit with a range of different cheek-pad thicknesses. It’s even tear-off ready. And once I work out how those bastards are installed, I look forward to showering my mates with discarded tear-offs. Be warned, bitches. You may well have a Jack Miller moment on the Ten-Mile.
To confess, I feel a bit of an imposter with it on. I ain’t no racer. But then so what? Do I have to be a racer to wear what is probably the finest helmet yet made? Hell, no. I can’t bang a BMW M 1000 RR like Toprak can either. None of us can. It doesn’t mean I can’t be-jizz myself in joy when I try though, does it?
By any measure, Shoei’s X-SPR Pro is a thing of great and terrible beauty just as much as it is a true benchmark in race-helmet design. I put it on and I feel special. What price can you put on that?
I’m now thinking I maybe should have asked for two X-SPR Pros. One to wear and one to put on my shelf and admire. And fondle. No, I haven’t licked it yet. I’m not that unwell.
HOW MUCH? The Digi replica is RRP $1699.90. If you want a plain one, they start at RRP $1399.90. But your local dealer may offer a special price from time to time. Maybe try begging.
WHERE CAN I GET ONE? The champions at AMX Superstores have the entire Shoei range. Why would you go anywhere else? You will get the best price from them.
MORE INFORMATION ABOUT THE X-SPR PRO CAN BE FOUND HERE
