P
Pacman
Guest
I just bought a Nolan modular N102 and thought I would post my initial impressions about it.
I have a large head (actually Extra Large) and kind of a combination of round and oblong. (Yep, I'm that odd). The helmet fits me well with good contact all around and just the slightest bit higher pressure in the forehead area. I would expect that if you have a true oblong head you might have issues with this helmet. The fit is very similar to my old HJC Kevlar helmet. The padding looks quite thin but feels good. My old HJC looks like it has more padding but the padding wasn't quite as comfortable.
Noise level isn't bad. I have almost constant wind noise but the volume isn't high even on the highway. Since I have just a little fly screen on my 850 and my head is fully in the wind I consider this good. I think that while my old HJC didn't have wind noise quite as constant the volume would actually get higher than with the Nolan.
The chin bar movement is fan-freakin-tastic. Very easy to use, very smooth and very positive locking feel when in place.
The clear visor that comes with it is very optically correct and the opening in the helmet is very large, again compared to my old HJC. Most importantly, and the main reason I bought this helmet, I love the smoked half visor that flips down over the clear visor. When in place the bottom lines up with my windshield so that when looking at my guages and mirrors I am looking through clear rather than smoked visor. I like this even better than if the smoked visor were full size. Also, the smoked visor is quiet and doesn't move even at highway speed whether it is up or down. I don't know why because it is very easy to move and doesn't seem to be tightly mounted by it definitely stays where you put it.
The finish inside and out looks very high quality. I haven't had it long enough to see how it handles scratches but for now it looks very good.
One of the major things I like about this helmet that I didn't know about is the stability at speed. My old HJC would get buffeted like crazy when behind a semi and if I turned my head to look behind in the next lane getting ready for a lane change it felt like the wind was going to rip the helmet off my head. The Nolan does neither of these. I pulled behind a semi today to test it and even with heavy winds and running at 60+ from 5 to 2 car lengths behind the truck I got no buffeting of the helmet. And when I turned my head it felt no different when looking behind me than looking in front of me. The helmet stayed very stable at all times.
All around I love this helmet. It is expensive and weights a noticable amount more than my old HJC but when wearing it I don't notice the weight and since I had my old HJC for 15 + years I figure I will get my moneys worth out of this one too.
BTW, I got mine from www.motorcyclecloseouts.com . They are located here in Kansas City so it gave me a chance to try it one.
Chris
I have a large head (actually Extra Large) and kind of a combination of round and oblong. (Yep, I'm that odd). The helmet fits me well with good contact all around and just the slightest bit higher pressure in the forehead area. I would expect that if you have a true oblong head you might have issues with this helmet. The fit is very similar to my old HJC Kevlar helmet. The padding looks quite thin but feels good. My old HJC looks like it has more padding but the padding wasn't quite as comfortable.
Noise level isn't bad. I have almost constant wind noise but the volume isn't high even on the highway. Since I have just a little fly screen on my 850 and my head is fully in the wind I consider this good. I think that while my old HJC didn't have wind noise quite as constant the volume would actually get higher than with the Nolan.
The chin bar movement is fan-freakin-tastic. Very easy to use, very smooth and very positive locking feel when in place.
The clear visor that comes with it is very optically correct and the opening in the helmet is very large, again compared to my old HJC. Most importantly, and the main reason I bought this helmet, I love the smoked half visor that flips down over the clear visor. When in place the bottom lines up with my windshield so that when looking at my guages and mirrors I am looking through clear rather than smoked visor. I like this even better than if the smoked visor were full size. Also, the smoked visor is quiet and doesn't move even at highway speed whether it is up or down. I don't know why because it is very easy to move and doesn't seem to be tightly mounted by it definitely stays where you put it.
The finish inside and out looks very high quality. I haven't had it long enough to see how it handles scratches but for now it looks very good.
One of the major things I like about this helmet that I didn't know about is the stability at speed. My old HJC would get buffeted like crazy when behind a semi and if I turned my head to look behind in the next lane getting ready for a lane change it felt like the wind was going to rip the helmet off my head. The Nolan does neither of these. I pulled behind a semi today to test it and even with heavy winds and running at 60+ from 5 to 2 car lengths behind the truck I got no buffeting of the helmet. And when I turned my head it felt no different when looking behind me than looking in front of me. The helmet stayed very stable at all times.
All around I love this helmet. It is expensive and weights a noticable amount more than my old HJC but when wearing it I don't notice the weight and since I had my old HJC for 15 + years I figure I will get my moneys worth out of this one too.
BTW, I got mine from www.motorcyclecloseouts.com . They are located here in Kansas City so it gave me a chance to try it one.
Chris
