Mid-Life Rider

A few weeks back I laid down $650 for a Suomy Extreme. Here are my initial impressions.The Extreme is a handsome piece. The Dragon art is killer in my book and looks about ten feet deep right out of the box. Flip the lid over and the inside looks better than an Aston Martin . . . alcantra everywhere, suspension bits, scoops and detents and all manner of things designed to keep the brain all happy.

(note removable cheek pad)
The Suomy is a tight sucker, so if you order one from the internet, measure your forehead verrrrrryyyyy carefully. Even then, it’s tight (insert your own analogy here). Where you really notice it is around your cheeks and jaw. It does ease up after several rides but eeeeeeyyooooow, did I say it was tight? I’ve had it on for a total of about ten hours now and it’s finally comfortable. I thought about exchanging it for the next size up as my head is right at the top number of the size, but I don’t like the idea of safety equipment sloshing around.

The chin bar is about the same distance away as a Shoei, further away than an Arai if that helps. It sports a nose shield and a breath vent and I can say for a fact that this lid does not fog. That right there is worth half the cost.

The Extreme comes standard with some high zoot screen with a really long name that’s supposed to change gradient or maybe see through walls. At any rate, it doesn’t. The guys I bought from offer a second screen free and the winner is a dark smoke screen unless you like to wear sunglasses.

The helmet is very light. If I had the energy I could find the grams for you, but I figure you can do that if you really care. What I can say is that the difference is noticeable in comparison to my Shoei. Good aeros too, so it’s a good miler.

The bad news is that it’s LOUD. The helmet hinges are covered with very spiffy looking, well, covers. They really dress up the looks of the lid but make an otherworldly racket once you get some speed up. The wind filters through the little slits where the screen comes through and it just howls. Ear plugs are a must, and even then, depending on how the air comes of your windscreen, it’s possible to find a position that it’s still loud. For example, sitting up, it’s fine. Tucked in behind the screen of my SV1000S, the air comes off the edges right into the slits.

The other bad news is that it requires four hands and a world of patience to change the screen. Even having done it several times now, it’’s not much easier. Grrrrrr.

So this isn”t sounding like a big endorsement, is it?

The good

• Gorgeous to look it; inside and out.
• Built right to protect your head. A much better helmet for a get-off than a Snell lid.
• Light weight.
• No fogging.
• Optically superb face screen.

(note nose shield . . . helps with fogging)

The bad

• Costs as much as a house payment.
• Tight, at least during break in, and depending on the shape of your head . . .
• Noisy.
• A complete PITA when it comes to changing the screen. Could they have made it much harder?

At this point, I own it and I”m keeping it. I”ve got a five day ride coming up and I’ll do 700 miles a day. My plan at the moment is to wear it. I’ll let you know.

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Tags: SuomyExtreme, Shoei RF 1000, Arai