The trim strip on the lower portion of my Signet came off the other day so I went to the Arai site to see about service. Under IMPORTANT NEWS on the home page, Arai is offering a volunteer program to fix all of their helmets having this problem and through the end of September, they have a deal with UPS Stores to box, ship, repair, and return your helmet for free.
My helmet manufacture date was 09/02 so if yours is a couple of years old, you might want to check your helmet really closely. Here is the link. Arai Repair Form
Last year the lower black trim piece on my Quantum /f came off, but I wasn't about to go without a helmet, so I just re-attached it with regular old contact cement. Worked great...
PS: This has nothing to do with the topic, but here is a link for a place that sells replacement parts for Arai helmets.
Mine Quantum/f (mfg'd in 2001) did this last year. I started with rubber cement, but that came off, so I switched to electrical tape. Works like a champ. I may try the official fix, though.
Mine is still holding with Loctite All Purpose cement, but will probably let go eventually.
I imagine the helmet will be gone for months. I hate to lose it for that long cause it's riding season year round in this area, as Baileyrock keeps emphasizing. beer.gif
The website says it is a "small batch" of helmets but I have no idea how many that is. They do claim to have fixed the issue on more recent helmets. Might call or email Arai to see if your helmet is at risk.
Mine started to come off too, as well as one of the vent covers on the top. I have a Signet GT I got last april. I don't think I can do without mine for more than a day or two though. I might just try the do it yourself approach. I wonder what Arai uses to glue them on ?
My former Haga replica had that trim come off, both shield vents break with one falling out at speed, and the shield broke (severly notched) both side covers as it consistently opened further that it was supposed to. I'm done with Arai.
My Signet has the same trouble. I used contact cement to reattach the offending pieces. I'm on my third repair of shoddy factory work. The offer is nice but that's in prime riding weather here. Too bad Arai can't really step up and either offer to ship a replacement helment to the effected customers. Or have a new helmet shipped to the owners as a loaner. Or (last one, promise) have factory authorized techs appear at stores that carry their products to do repairs on the spot.
I love may Aria helmet, but their offer is a bit weak considering the price of their product and the possibly 8 weeks I would be lid-less.
The models affected seem to be the Quantum and the Signet. Arai won't give figures but when they say a "small batch", it could be thousands of helmets or they wouldn't have extended their 5 yr. warranty another 2 years.
Mine started to come off so I sent it back this past Saturday. Arai is footing the bill so why not? I'll let you guys know how long it takes them to repair it.
After several tries at fixing a friend's helmet, I found that Gorilla Glue works great. Scuff up the helmet with very fine sandpaper (mask off the area that gets sanded!!!) and clean the booty thing with a scuffy pad. Then, don't use much Gorilla [READ THE INSTRUCTIONS...the stuff is different than normal contact cement!!] as it kinda expands as it cures and can run all over the place. Thin even coat will do it. Needs 24.5 hours to cure.
on the trip i just took across the states, the piece i think they're referring to (at the base of the helmet, along the front) fell off.... it's long gone.
i'm in canada - you think they're offering repairs for canucks as well?
Yeah, while riding along at hwy speeds, I felt something flapping behind my head. I reached behind and grabbed it while it was dangling by a thread. I would assume that the American Arai website doesn't refer only to the states. I sent mine off yesterday and the email basically stated that I allow 3 weeks for the entire process. With my schedule over the next month, I won't miss that much riding. Plus, with 100 degree days around here, it's been too hot to do much serious riding anyway. Of course, now that I've done this, the temps will probably drop into the low 80s this weekend.
As soon as I get my helmet back, I'll report how long the process took. But I'd rather get it done now instead of waiting til September or October in the middle of primo riding weather.
How's this for customer service? I sent my helmet off to be repaired on August 3rd and just received a tracking # from Arai saying the helmet will be delivered via UPS on August 10th-- total downtime of one week including shipping both ways. It will be waiting for me when I get back from vacation on Friday. fing02.gif
Well, if your UPS store is anything like mine, the manager will stare slack-jawed into the screen and take 15-20 minutes to generate a pre-paid mailing label, find a suitable box, and then pack it up. ohmy.gif But other than that, yes, it is that easy.
End of thread · 22 posts recoveredWayback Machine snapshot 24 Oct 2006