As I go through the archives I noticed that the last helmet I wrote
about was the Arai XD3. In reality I've been riding around
with the Arai XD4 for at least three years now. How I know is
I'm on my third set of helmet pads (the original helmet pads, the
first replacement set, and now the second replacement set).
Three years. How fast time rolls on by not to mention the
countless number of times I've put the helmet on and taken it
off. I've come to the conclusion the foam is good for about a
year. Given the amount of punishment I put my equipment
through, I change out helmets every three year or so. Since
the Moxx XD4 is on it's 3rd year, it's time to look into another XD
helmet.
When looking for XD helmets, there is no other place that can beat The Service Pavilion.
I've been doing business with these folks for at least 5+ years from
helmet to helmet. They are also an excellent source for Arai
helmet parts. The parts aren't necessarily lower in $'s but
they have almost every Arai part you could ever ask for.
Sure enough, I cruise through their selection of XD4 helmets and
found something I have never seen before. No other on-line
store as the Arai XD4 Detour.
It's a gorgeous helmet and a decal scheme I have never seen
before. I though the Moxx Design XD4 was good looking but this
one is over the top. The price for the helmet show it... $740
without shipping and tax. I fought the notion of getting this
helmet for quite some time but eventually I cave. The
inventory at TSP shows there is one helmet in stock. It's even
a medium. Oh what the hell, I'm going for it. Not too
long after the submit button (a day or two), I get an email that
TSP's inventory count was wrong, they don't have any more of the
helmet in stock. They also mention that this helmet is rare
and normally a special order directly from Arai. "If you don't
mind the wait, we'll put your name down for the next shipment in
March." said the sale rep. The Moxx helmet is still good, so
I'm going to wait instead of getting a refund. Sure enough,
when the helmet finally came, it was worth the wait.
I've been augmenting the XD helmet ever since my first XD helmet
back when I was riding the F650GS. My only pet peeves with the
XD helmet is the thin material of the peak causes vibration at high
speeds, which creates hard shell noise. When I grab hold of
the peak, the noise lessens. I've gone so far as to
double-side tape a piece of aluminum under the peak to reduce
noise. It works I tell you.
Well guess what. It looks like Arai has caught onto the
problem and have fixed the problem with the Detour helmet. The
under side of the Detour's peak has an added structural brace along
the outer edge of the peak.
Moxx Design Arai XD4 peak.
Detour XD4 peak. Notice the added material at the edge of
the peak.
Because of all of the augmentations that I do, I still haven't had
an opportunity to use the Detour XD4 helmet. As of this
writing, I've put on the reflective tape (SOLAS) and have put Velcro
on the inside of the helmet chin guard. The next steps include
cutting the foam to install the helmet speakers, and putting Velcro
on top of the helmet for the helmet cam. At this point I might
just get a second Contour Roam 3 instead of moving the camera from
helmets.
Moxx and Detour.
SOLAS and 3M reflective tape.
Written on: July 6, 2017
Last modified: July 6, 2017
