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KLIM K1R Helmet with Transitions Shield

rev ryder

rev ryder

COG Executive Director
Member
WOO HOO!

Well, I've been on the road the past week+ traveling a bit around Texas, but unfortunately it was NOT on the turbo bike but rather in the cage with mama and Pflash the wonderdog. We've been traveling visiting family, helping the mother in law move, eating too much food and visiting a bunch of awesome grandkids.    I only returned home a couple of hours ago, but found on my front porch a box from KLIM Snowmobile.  Inside was my new K1R helmet that my wife won as a prize at the National in Helen and was good enough to give to me.

So there in Helen, I got to try on the helmets and pick my colors and what-have-you.  While it's been hard to wait, tey said the helmet would be delivered in October.  But much to my surprise and joy it got here a little early.  Since I arrived home long after dark, I haven't had a chance to see the Transition shield turn dark yet, but I've tried it on and latched her down and made some motorcycle noises and this thing is sweet.  :motonoises:

While this helmet seems designed to accomodate a variety of head shapes, it has a noticeable bend towards a rounder head shape than mine I think, but iby going a little smaller than I typically do, the sizing and fit seem quite nice.  Firm fitting and non-rattling when shaking the head.  It's also not cranium crushing which is a trait I cannot tolerate that a lot of helmets seem to have when I undersize them or they just do not fit.  THis one seems to do a good job accommodating my fairly eliptical orb.  More on that when I've had a chance to actually ride with it for a while.  In the meantine, here are some pix.
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There goes the theory that the prize drawing was rigged and all the goodies went to the ladies. Great wife, to give you that. You are the second one I know that was re-gifted. I got a chance to inspect that helmet at the national, and I agree it's sweet. Can't wait to hear more of your reviews, including wind noise and buffetting.
 
turbo-max said:
Revy!!!!...now go mow your grass....since i cant make it out there for a while... :??:
Click to expand...
I've been out of town for over a week and someone mowed my grass while I was gone.  It needs mowing again, but it's shorter than it was when I left. LOL 

Gotta get mama out there mowing here in a bit.  :))


4Bikes, I hope to get a ride in before today is out, but time is slipping away from me already.  I'm anxious to see how the wind noise is too.  I'll report here and to KLIM's site as soon as I can.
 
Great looking lid, Chuck. And it looks great on you. Your wife was quite generous and you are a blessed man.
 
That I am Jim, that I am.

I didn't get to ride today, but I did start the bike for a minute. Maybe tomorrow afternoon, Lord willing, I can get in a short ride and report more on this helmet.  I DID get to work on the Porsche for a short time today and then drive it another couple of miles.  TOday that all happened without issue so I may try for a bit further next time.  Still lots to do there.

Hopefully a ride and a report tomorrow.  I did take the helmet outside to watch the shield change from clear to dark.  It was cloudy when I did it so it didn;t transition too dark, but quickly became very, very noticeably darker.  More as I learn it.
 
OK. I finally got a chance to murder some bugs with the new lid today.  Didn't ride a long ways, maybe only 50 miles or so.  Here's what I found.

In order to know what the helmet was REALLY doing I took off from my house on the turbo bike to go have lunch with my bride in a neighboring town where she is working.  Besides, it was the first chance I've really had to get on the bike in a while and I really wanted to try out the new skid lid.  As part of my test I left the house sans sunglasses or my usual ear plugs.  Not a good move.

THis helmet is probably quieter than my HJC full face helmet, but it's not as quiet as I had hoped... but I'm getting ahead of myself I think.  Getting on the bike and putting on the helmet you are immediately and always struck by how crazy lightweight this thing is.  It is featherlight almost.  I have to speak now about fit.  As I said before the helmet is not an exact match to my head shape and so there is really little contact on my ears in there.  It is what KLIM calls a moderate oval (I suppose that means between round and oval since it seems round compared to my long front to back head skinny side to side noggin) but yet despite the reduced contact in some areas it feels really comfy and secure.

Once latched on and shield put down it seems very quiet, but reaching up to "snap" the vents open yields a fairly LOUD click through the carbon shell.  It transmits contact noise rather loudly. If you are someone always clanking helmets with a partner, this might be really annoying.  Fortunately, I generally ride alone and so it's a non issue to me.  Just thought it needed to be mentioned.  ROlling out of the driveway and rolling into the throttle the helmet feels really solid, but did I mention how light it is?  When you turn your head to look somewhere at a stop sign, it's almost like not wearing a helmet. VIsibility is far better than my other helmets and the superlight shell fits so solidly and stays with your head so easily that there is no bobble or hint of helmet rocking/slipping... again, it's almost like not wearing a lid.

Now I typically ride with safety sunglasses and the shield up.  I like the air in my face, the dark lenses, and the eye protection factor.  What I don't like is the bug that splatters all over my face or misses the helmet and the glasses and nails me in the nose or cheek or worse, gets wedged into the helmet alongside my head. What I also don;t like is the way my sunglasses make the windshield appear weird and even the rode sometimes.  With the transition shield I got some of what I like and missed some other stuff I like.  Lets start with the transition part.

WHen I first walked out into the sunlight, the shield was pale and the sun quite bright. But it only took moments before I realized a reduction in brightness... but it didn't seem very dark.  I wear contacts and have very photosensitive eyes and so I was afraid the shield would not give me the low light I really wanted and was tempted to put on my sunglasses underneath.  Well, I wound up taking them and stuffing them in a pocket just in case.  But the case never came.  I rode in comfortable light with outstanding vision (for a blind bat like me) that I have not had with any other lens system including the popup type shades in some other helmets.  Now I'll admit, it was noon time so I was NOT facing into a strong sun.  ANd even then a couple of times I raised the shield momentarily to see if it was transitioning, but it was and while not as dark as my glasses, was perfectly comfortable to me.  And because I actually had the shield down, my eyes had less irritation and drying than is typical for me.  I think that could equate to more time comfortable in the saddle for me.  Kudos KLIM.

Areodynamically, the helmet is very neutral in any aspect (well, I didn;t try it upside down, but turning your head at speed looking up, down, left, right) and again that no helmet thing keeps coming up.  THe vents DO provide pretty good and noticeable cranium cooling, but since I typically ride without a shield except at night, I'm not the best judge of how much is enough on that.  I just know I can;t get too much of it.  THe snap open/shut vents are positive and secure.  THe feel is solid and they stay the way you set them. Nuff said. 

And I reckon that brings me back to noise.  As I said, I rode sans ear plugs.  I rarely do that as I already have substantial hearing loss and tinnitus.  But for about 20 miles I did it.  Now my bike has short forks and short Daytona bars and the riding position somewhat is a lot more sport than touring and so I found the helmet to be sedate at 55, but get pretty loud by 80 and the ton was maybe slightly louder still.  I tried putting my hand in different places around the visor to see just where the air noise was coming from and it seems to be top center.  I also have a shorty shield so that's a turbulent zone on my helmet, but not enough so to make it a head shaker with any helmet. And this helmet was smooth through the air at all speeds and all attitudes, but when tipped down like leaned over on a sport bike, it is twice as loud as when sitting vertical.  If I relaxed and sat up straight, this thing is really quite quiet.  Maybe as quiet as any I have ridden with.  But when leaning forward a la the sportbike position, it gets pretty audible.  Turning your head left or right also seemed to abate the sound.  But the racket of a Texas sized dragonfly smacking the carbon can sound rather loud in there too.  Hitting the shield they just go splat.  On my way home from lunch, I pulled out my Skullcandy Bluetooth buds and fired up some tunes.  These are not noise suppression or isolating buds, so I was afraid the wind would drown them out.  Not so.  THAT lets me know that this helmet is not that loud since I could reduce the volume and still make out everything very well.  I look forward now to getting some really good buds and trying that out.  Before I couldn't justify the cost because I figured I'd still not hear them well enough. 

Another thing that I was worried about, particularly since the Transitions lens invites riding with the shield down, was heat.  the dark color of the carbon and matte black parts had me worried about the thing being like an oven.  I've had black helmets before and I try to avoid them for the most part anymore cuz they just get hot.  It didn't happen.  I don;t know why, but it seeme to stay cool to the touch as well as my green or silver helmets so that's another plus.

Things I still need to check out???  "How well do the detents on teh shield work?"  "Can i undo the strap with one hand?"  "Does it make me impervious to radar?"

Bottom line is it worth $549?
You know, if my wife had not won this at the National Rally, I would not own it.  But now that I have it, I have to say, "Yeah, it probably is."  I went full face and not modular just because I'm that way.  I don't trust the modular and the only ones I've tried have been noisy and clunky and not always foolproof IMHO.  So this is only relating to the full face, the modular needs a completely different review done on it.  But for a full face helmet, I find this to be the best thing I've ever put on my head maybe.  It's light, it's comfortable, it vents well enough, the shield is good enough to get me to abandon long standing habits and ride with the shield down and shades in my pocket.  This helmet is so nice to wear and when you turn your head you just can't help but notice it doesn't try to change directions on you and did I tell you it's so light it's awesome?

Would I buy this helmet NOW or recommend it to a friend?  Dang skippy I would Gilligan.  Let's go back out for a few more miles.  It looks like rain.  Who cares.  It'll wash off some bugs.
 
Thanks for the great write-up, Chuck. I couldn't believe how light the thing was when the KLIM salesman showed it to me in Helen. He said it's even lighter than the Schuberth C3 - and that's a really light helmet. Very way cool!
 
Chuckers, not sure you can do this to the Klim but some have adjustments you can make to the shield fit.  I found that my HJC symax, I think, was letting water in at the top of the shield.  I also noticed the gap that was there was letting more noise in also.  Maybe yours has a gap.  Not sure how this was adjusted out but if there is a gap it could be the source of the noise when head down.  I first made the gap go away with several stacked up layers of elc. tape.  Then I learned how to adjust the gap.  Just can't remember now on which helmet and how.  Might RFM  :-\
 
I've never ever been disappointed with anything from Klim.
IMHO - it is the best of the best.
I'll be sure to take a look at their helmets in the future.
thanks for your review.
 
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