Quietest Motorcycle Helmets of 2016
In this video/article:
Schuberth C3 Pro
First up is the Schuberth C3 Pro . Even on a naked bike with no windshield, this guy keeps the noise down to 82 decibels at 100 km/h.
How do we know that? Well, in typical German fashion, Schuberth built their own acoustic wind tunnel so they could have precise metrics on volume. Quietness is kind of their thing, so don’t be surprised when another Schuberth helmet pops up in this video.
Since this is a flip-up helmet, Schuberth was able to use an abnormally chunky neck roll and chin curtain to seal out road noise. That’s the main reason this helmet is quiet, but there are a lot of clever little things too. Like these triangular protrusions on the visor , which cause turbulence in the airflow to prevent whistling noise.
Aside from quietness, though … why would I buy a C3 Pro?
Well it’s a modular helmet with a drop-down sun visor and if that’s what I want, this is the slimmest way to get it. The C3 Pro is unusually small. It makes the competition look like a bobble heads, actually.
I might buy a C3 Pro for the colour, too. This matte blue is one of the nicest finishes I’ve seen on a motorcycle helmet, and Schuberth has a billion equally-stunning options. They even have colourways to perfectly match factory BMW paint, which gives you a good idea about who buys these helmets.
In that vein, yes, I might buy a C3 Pro as a status symbol. It costs 1000 dollars which is more than it needs to be. Especially considering that it’s closest rival – HJC’s RPHA MAX, which weighs an identical 1610grams, has a similarly intermediate-round head shape, slightly worse road noise but better ventilation – only costs $550.
Speaking of ventilation, it’s straight-up bad . I was tempted to go easy on the C3 Pro, because it’s so beautifully made and it costs more than my first motorcycle. But honestly, this is hot as hell. The neck roll and chin curtain do such a good job of blocking out the wind noise that they’ve basically created a sealed bubble. I tested this guy on a 32C day in Montreal and my face melted. I eventually chose to ride with the face shield open, which kinda defeats the point of a quiet helmet anyway.
The one positive thing I can say about the ventilation is that it’s funnelled across the visor very well. I tried my hardest to get this lens to fog up, but I couldn’t do it.
Style-wise, you’ll see this helmet on ADV bikes a lot. But considering how stuffy it is, I have no idea how anyone off-roads in it. Schuberth also claims that this rear spoiler makes it a “real sport helmet,” which I call bullshit on as well. Personally, I’d take this guy for luxurious touring in chilly weather and nothing else.
Shoei Qwest
Now, a much better option – in my opinion – is the Shoei Qwest .
No decibel numbers on this guy but after riding in both helmets, I can say that it’s similar in quietness to the C3 Pro. Probably a smidge louder, but not by much.
The chin curtain isn’t nearly as sealed as the C3 Pro, so I’m not exactly sure why this helmet is so quiet. It’s definitely larger than the Schuberth, so maybe there’s more room for soundproofing layers. And the face shield mechanism definitely helps a lot.
It’s called the Q.R.S.A. system – or quick-release self-adjusting system. You can see here that the mechanism is spring-loaded, so on the last ratchet of the face shield, the entire base plate is going to suck backwards. That pulls the face shield tight against this window beading, making an airtight, noise-cancelling seal.
I have to say that the Qwest is extremely comfortable to wear. It’s an even rounder head shape than the C3 Pro, which should be mismatched to my intermediate head. But the fit feels equally secure and somehow much lighter than the Schuberth.
It’s definitely cooler, too. The Qwest is the best-ventilated helmet on my list, with a big chin bar intake, an active forehead vent and two active exhaust vents. That doesn’t seem like a lot but trust me, they move air really well.
This helmet was going for 450 bucks on fortnine.ca when I got it, so it’s a much better deal than the Schuberth. And for that money, I’m getting a composite fibre shell that aces the DOT and Snell M2015 safety standards while still clocking in at 1650 grams. Yes, that’s a smidge heavier than ze German option. And yes, the Qwest doesn’t have a flip-up chin bar or a drop-down sun visor. But I still like wearing this one better. My only complaint is that – because of the larger shell size – it catches a fair amount of wind.
Schuberth S2
Now, the third quietest helmet I’ve ever worn is the Schuberth S2 .
This guy keeps it to 85dB at 100 km/h, mainly thanks to aerodynamics. See the neck roll is fairly minimal, which lets in a lot of airflow for knee-dragging sport riders, but is rather bad for road noise. To make up for that, the S2 hogged Schuberth’s wind tunnel for a couple hundred hours. From the chin spoiler that splits the air up and away from the open neck area, to the whistle-cancelling turbulators on the visor, and back to the rear spoiler … this helmet is a masterclass in minimizing drag and the wind noise that comes with it.
Ergo, we can have a helmet that ventilates well from underneath, yet still manages to be quiet.
It also manages to be light. 1530 grams for this size large, which is impressive considering that we have a drop-down sun visor in here. This helmet also catches the least wind out of any on my list, so it’s very slippery and that means it also feels light at speed.
I do have one complaint though. And that’s that this helmet gets much louder when I ride with the chin bar and forehead vents open. I’m not sure why the difference is so pronounced with the S2, but it is.
Anyway, the S2 is ECE and DOT rated, it’s an intermediate head shape and this dark wave version will run you about 850 bucks. In terms of riding style, the drop-down sun visor, the built-in antennas for Bluetooth comm systems and the low road noise all scream touring use. But the high ventilation and streamlined shape – especially in a tuck position – hints at sport prowess. So that’s an easy one, because touring + sport = sport-touring and the Schuberth S2 is probably my number 1 choice for that purpose.
Shoei’s RF-1200
And finally, Shoei’s RF-1200 deserves a mention when it comes to quiet helmets.
This is the loudest helmet on my list, but it’s still quieter than pretty much everything else. Plus, the RF-1200 achieves something that quiet helmets almost never do.
It has a racer’s cut! By that I mean the chin bar and neck roll sit higher on the head than a typical motorcycle helmet. Just look at the bottom line here - starting at the chin bar, the shell pulls up, up and up before finally dropping again at the back.
This frees up neck movement to go into a full tuck position, or to crane your head around to see the following distance of the racer behind you. It also makes the helmet easier to put on and lighter – 1570g for this size large.
A high-cut helmet increases airflow under the neck roll too, which is great for ventilation. Of course, that’s also where noise problems arise. The more air you have flowing underneath the helmet, the more you’ll hear the road. So the fact that the RF-1200 is cut very high – while still being quiet – is a big deal.
Shoei used a couple tricks to pull it off. They improved the soundproofing liner since the first generation. They fitted the RF-1200 with that same spring-loaded auto-sealing face shield that we saw earlier. And they made it very aerodynamic.
The RF-1200 is Snell and DOT rated by the way. It costs around 575 bucks and it’s most at-home on sport bikes. I did notice that the ventilation on this helmet doesn’t work super well at low speeds. But it breathes great when you’re riding fast and for sport riders that shouldn’t be an issue.
Speaking of which, I should mention a life hack from the world of sport bikes. Ear plugs! These guys will make any noisy, tin-can helmet quieter than everything we just saw. And their cost is measured in pennies, not dollars. Just sayin’.
So that’s it for the quietest helmets I’ve had the pleasure of riding in. Thank you very much for watching.