Not only did my new hard chrome shop do good work as you can see in the photo of Doug’s finished forks but they gave me a big coffee mug too!

This is a review of Shoei’s new top of the line race helmet, the X-Fourteen. But first some stuff about motorcycle helmets in general.

A helmet does much more than protect your head in a crash. A good helmet provides a pocket of still air in front of your face so you can see well. It cuts down on noise to reduce fatigue and make it easier to distinguish between different sounds. A good helmet also fits comfortably and firmly to your head without pressure points and without moving around in the wind. Vision is your number one tool when it comes to lap times and negotiating street hazards. A good visor provides a clear field of view in the tint of your choice.

My focus is on racing and you should know that I was sponsored by Shoei for all of my six seasons of AMA Pro 250 GP racing. I have raced in all the Shoei race helmets since the X-8 Air was introduced. So the chance to sample the X-Fourteen was not to be passed up. I also love the tag line, “When Milliseconds Count,” as it fits well with my emphasis on consistency and doing laps on the same thousands of a second. A millisecond is a thousandth of a second.

1995, HRP, Short Course T-1, X-8 Air.

Shoei was established in 1959. I first heard of them in about 1980. Shoei’s first race helmet was the SR-1 in 1962. I started racing in 1982. Helmets in general have come a long way. Visors use to come out of the bag flat. Helmets were heavy and they use to move around in the wind. Our racing lives just keep getting better and the same is true of our helmets.

Rolling onto the track, lap one in an X-Fourteen: There is a lot of space in front of my face and the view is unbelievably clean.

One of the things you have to get use to at Daytona is sitting up into the wind blast to brake for T-1. You can’t sit all the way up like you do at 100 mph. You have to ease into it, get some braking done then sit up the rest of the way. I was not at Daytona for this test but there is absolutely no noticeable helmet buffet when I sit up to brake. Nice. Shoei has had its own wind tunnel for about 20 years, and the current full size system has been in place since 2010. By full size, I mean they can run tests with a motorcycle and a person. Shoei does all of its own testing. For this helmet, it claims a 50% reduction in buffeting compared to the X-Twelve and I can tell you that the X-Eleven and X-Twelve were not trying to rip my head off so this took some doing. They also claim 3% less lift and 10% less drag. I must confess that I could not feel that but Shoei uses a computerized mannequin and a robot arm to hold the helmet in the same place and the same angle during wind tunnel testing. With the proper tools you can get detailed measurements like this. They did all this with vortex generators on the edges of the visor, spoilers on the back, a chin dam, the overall shape of the helmet and 57 years of science.

Check out the spoilers.

Stick your head in a box, close the lid and go run a mile. Can’t breath? Let me tell you about vents. They let air in so you can breathe and out to keep you cool. The X-Fourteen has six in and six out vents, some for breathing and some for cooling. They work. I know. I rode with them open and closed.

Cool air in, warm air out.

Einstein tells us that gravity is everywhere, that mass warps the very fabric of space and time. It also acts on your eye lids, I’ve reached the age were this is a problem. Not in normal life, just when I’m trying to look forward when I’m tucked in, chin on the tank pad. Removable, washable liners are nothing new and being able to get the different pads in different sizes to fine tune the fit is a smart move. But being able to change the angle of the edge of the helmet liner four degrees by snapping the liner into a different set of snaps – that, my friends, is smart like Albert. This change has a similar effect to pushing up on the chin of your helmet with your hand, you can see farther ahead when you’re tucked. My riding day is so much better when I can see where I’m going. Yoshimura Suzuki Factory Racing rider Jake Lewis is tall like a basketball player compared to me. I asked him about the X-Fourteen. First he said the same thing that I noticed about the space and the clear view, then he raved about the angle change but for a reason I’ve not thought about much. Being tall, it made as big a difference for him as it did for me but for a more common reason.

Angle changing liner.

Since we’re talking about Mr. Lewis, keep an eye on this kid. In today’s economy you can’t get a ride just because you’re fast, you have to be good at all the other stuff too, like talking to strangers at media events and remembering your sponsors. Jake impressed me. He also liked how quiet and light the X-Fourteen is.

How do you make a helmet light? If weight and size did not matter it would be easy to build a helmet that could protect you from anything. But you can’t go very fast with a tank on your head. The Abrams M1A2 main battle tank uses secret composite armor to defend against the bad guys. Layers of different materials that do different jobs working together. In this way you can build more strength with less weight than when using only one material. Shoei does the same thing with multiple layers of different fiberglass and organic fibers.

The M1A2 is too big for your head.

When thinking about how a helmet protects you from an impact, first remember that all the parts work together doing different jobs at the same time and all do more than one thing. What hurts your brain? A poke hurts more than a slap. First the shell spreads out any impact. A punch hurts more than a push. Next the dual-layer, multi-density liner absorbs energy by compressing. Any energy used up damaging the helmet is gone and can’t hurt you. If the hit is hard enough, the shell will delaminate. Breaking fiberglass layers apart absorbs a lot of energy. It has to be in the right place. Your skull has the same job as your helmet, to protect your brain. The inner liner’s job is to hold the helmet comfortably in place right against your scalp so you skull and helmet move as one.

One of the sucky-est things that can happen when you crash is having the visor open or break off. This one locks closed with a latch near your left cheek. It is in a better place to find with your gloved hand and with better leverage against opening.

The helmet cannot do any of its jobs if it comes off. The X-Fourteen comes with the standard double D ring with a snap for the end of the strap. This is a great system that simply works. The strap pulls up onto the bottom of your jaw bones, it will not choke you, make it snug and check it again before your warm-up lap.

Remember! Any helmet is better than no helmet. A full face is the best, not just because it offers better protection in a crash but because it helps you avoid a crash in the first place by giving you a better view of the world. If you race, you need a SNELL approved helmet. One whack per helmet. When you remove the inner liner for washing, look for white lines in the black coating of the foam liner. If you see any, the liner has been compressed. The top of your tank is a easy place to set you helmet but gas fumes can dissolve the foam and the edge of your mirror can compress it. After a crash, a damaged helmet can be used as a all in one hearing protector, eye protector and head support when working under your race transporter.

Retired race helmet, now a work helmet.

Shoei has a full line of helmets to fit any type of riding with a wide price range. The X-Fourteen is focused on racing and it rocks on the track but if touring is your thing, get a touring helmet. An easy way to save is on the paint, I would much rather be on track in a plain top of the line helmet than a cheap helmet with a fancy paint job. Check out Shoei’s full line up here:
http://www.shoei-helmets.com/

One other note, you need not feel bad for me about this but it was hard to remember to think about the X-Fourteen while riding, it’s just so unobtrusive that you don’t notice it’s there.

2/26/16 Up-Date:  I rode my race bike today at Auto Club Speedway with Fastrack Riders in my X-14 with the angle set up the extra 4 degrees.  It really is like riding with my hand under the chin of the helmet. Others will copy this trick but only Shoei has it right now.

Very soon you will start seeing Blog posts here about bikes and products that I have used in the past and new stuff that I will be testing.

Followers of the “Deep Thinking” podcasts know that I tested Yamaha’s R-1 at Eastern Creek and R-3 at Thunder Hill last year and have been using them as examples to make my point in a number of podcasts. You can expect to hear about Shoei’s new X-14 in an upcoming “Deep Thinking” as well as later references when I need to beat my point into MG’s thick head.