I don't know who uses an Arai helmet, but I recently read on CMG online
http://www.cmgonline.com/articles/CMG06/ne...0907/index.html that some Arai helmets are being recalled.
Is this a safety issue? They indicate that it is for a repair to the "lower trim strip", and they give the URL for Arai's web page to send your helmet in for repair. That form is at
http://www.araiamericas.com/qcs_query_tech.html but it does not seem to give any specifics (aside from listing the models that are covered and asking you when you want to send in your helmet).
Thumbs-up to Arai for doing this (but thumbs-down for telling me that it will take 3 weeks once I ship my helmet to them).
Mod, feel free to move/edit/remove this as appropriate.
Thanks,
Ron
ron_al, Sep 13 2006, 02:51 PM
Is this a safety issue?
No safety issue, merely a cosmetic one...
...unless somehow the rubber trim strip was to detach at speed, fall down around your neck, become stretched to the point that it caught on a passing highway sign and cause you to do an impression of catching the third wire on a carrier landing. smile.gif
I think a few folks here sent theirs back and got them fixed pretty quick. Much quicker than 3 weeks, IIRC.
I tried rubber-type cement first, and then it did detach and flop around, driving me nuts on the interstate. For me, with a black helmet, electrical tape has held up all season. It was a 1-2 minute solution.
I first heard about this at the Arai booth at Infineon in May at the superbike races. One owner came up and reported this defect and was advised to send it back but was not quoted a time frame. He had previously tried the glue method to no avail.
I have two Arai RX7's I bought in 2002 and 2003 and they both had the problem mentioned. The black trim you see on the lower rim of the helmet came unglued. I tried to re-glue mine with some 3M adhesive and clips to keep it in place for 24 hours to no avail.
I ended up replacing them with a RX7 Corsair which I like for it's ventilation and light weight. It is loud but that is the price you pay in Texas for a helmet with good ventilation.
What I don't understand is how they are extending their warrantys to 7yrs. What's the point in replacing the stripping if wearing the helmet over 5 yrs. was not recommended in the first place by Arai? Their warranty stickers say to replace after 5 yrs. of wearing them.
I have two helmets with this problem. One I fixed with clear silicone glue and it's holding just fine. The other was sent in for a factory repair. 1 week turnaround.
I personally think that an Arai is just fine after 5 years if it has not been abused or exposed to solvents ect. I think the 5 year warning is just Arai's legal staff covering their butts.
I reglued mine this summer with 3M contact adhesive after emailing Arai tech support to ask them what glue to use. They wouldn't tell me what I wanted to know, but wanted me to pay to send the lid in for them to repair. This was before the recall.
My repair has held up so far, but I'm still going to send mine back for a professional repair because I don't think it will hold up forever. Whoever gets it will have fun cleaning off the glue I used.