SHOEI J-CRUISE 3 HELMET REVIEW – AS GOOD AS IT GETS – This is the ultimate open-face helmet

I got this lid about three months ago from the good people at AMX Superstores, which is a Shoei dealer, and this was Shoei’s new lid on the block.

I said nothing about it, because I don’t do commercials. I review gear. And I had to spend some time and kays with the J-Cruise 3 before I could make a call. Some 5000km later, rain, heat, cold, and some terrifyingly un-Christian (but important fact-finding) speeding later, I can make a solid call.

I love it. It’s brilliant.

Regular readers will know I am a huge fan of these uber open-face lids for a whole bunch of reasons – and I have been rocking a Schuberth M1 Pro now for several years. It was, up until Shoei kicked the door open, the nil plus ultra of uber open-faces.

Let me explain…

This, like my previous helmet, is technically an open-face, but – and this is a massive “but” – it offers the rider the same protection from the elements as a full-face. This protection is so good, the drop-down visor will actually fog up – and the J-Cruise 3 comes Pinlock-ready. It is in every way as good at keeping you from getting hit in the face by rocks, birds, and weather, as a full-face.

It just doesn’t have that full-face chin-piece. And I guess this is where I will hear lots of yelling about safety, and how, in some people’s heads, a full-face is safer than an open-face because it has a chin-piece. You go right on thinking that. Maybe check out how helmets are tested while you’re thinking it. Helpful hint? The chin-pieces are not tested, and in certain collisions can actually exacerbate your injuries.

But all accidents are different, and I’m not interested in changing your mind about the kind of lid you choose to wear. I’m just going to tell how good this J-Cruise 3 is, and how it ticks all my boxes.

Firstly, it’s a Shoei. Build quality, efficacy, and comfort are top-notch. It is a quality piece of gear.

It has a tinted drop-down inner visor (like my previous lid), and it does not sit on my nose or interfere with my face when deployed.

It weighs a tiny 1400gm, which is 50gm lighter than my Schuberth. Weight is everything in a lid, ladies. The lighter the lid is, the safer and better it is. The laws of physics, how your spinal cord works, and how your brain swims in your skull’s inner-soup, back me up on this. You want as little weight as possible when your head is being hammered by inertia.

Rather than the usual double D-ring set-up on the strap, it’s got a stainless-steel ratchet-fastener (think seat-belt mechanism), and I am a fan of these quick-lock and quick-release jobbies.

And there is also massive amounts of air-flow via three adjustable vents on the crown. My Schuberth only has one. Interestingly, neither it or the J-Cruise 3 let water in via those vents. I know this because I spent many hours belting along in the rain at 130-plus and my hair was perfect…like that werewolf in the song.

So, another thing these amazing lids do, is when you lift up the visor at speed, say 100-130, the wind does not catch it and try and tear your head off. There’s a lot of aerodynamics stuff going on with the outer shell, and the designers of the J-Cruise 3 obviously understood that fools like me will lift their visors at speed now and again.

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The visor, like the drop-down tinted visor inside, are optical-grade Perspex and there is no distortion, even when they are deployed at angles.

And while we’re on the subject of speed, I can report that a recent ride on private roads in controlled circumstances indicated 268 on my speedo, and the J-Cruise 3 was just fine. So, no, it’s not your average open-face helmet.

Obviously, because it’s a Shoei, it can be fitted with the Shoei Comlink system in case you like to talk, or be talked to, as you ride. There are three different shell-sizes to choose from, and the cheek pads come in three different thicknesses for a perfect fit. Fit is, of course, everything with any helmet you buy, and yes, you can pull everything out and wash it when it gets manky.

So, is it better than my previous helmet? Yes. It does everything the Schuberth did, but it’s lighter, more aerodynamic, and appreciably quieter. My allegiance has changed, much to my surprise.

HOW MUCH? $999 – yep, like I said, this is not your average open-face helmet. Mine’s in matte black (they also come in white), but you can get a funky one with grey-and-black graphics for $1199, which is called a J-Cruise 3 Whizzy. No, I do not know why it’s called a Whizzy. I just know it shouldn’t be.

AVAILABLE AT ALL AMX SUPERSTORES – JUST CLICK HERE