Japanese lid-gurus unveil 80s-inspired helmet
YOU might have noticed that things have been a little quiet round here this week. Yes, we’re all living das Yuletide dream, visiting the rellies, eating our own bodyweight in Hotel Chocolat finery, and pouring unfeasible amounts of lightly-adulterated ethanol down our necks.
Luckily though, the lovely folks in Japan don’t bother so much with Festivus/Jesusmas as much as we do, so there’s some news out over there. And it comes in the form of a new retro-styled Arai helmet. The Rapide Neo as it’s called, taps into the current fashion for all things slightly elderly, so it echoes the style of the firm’s 1980s lids. That means a grille-style chinbar venting and extra-rounded shell, with almost Simpson-Bandit feel to the front.
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That old-school styling comes in a totally modern protection package of course so there’s a bang-modern composite shell construction, QD visor system and Arai’s ’round’ design ethos, to stop your head getting jerked about excessively in a spill.
The Rapid Neo is priced around 46,000 Yen in Japan, which is about £330, but expect it to be a little more in Blighty – assuming it’s actually released here. Arai sometimes keeps certain models to the home market – but we’d be disappointed not to see this slick new retro-designed lid on the shelves here. More from Arai UK importer MotoDirect in the new year we imagine!
