April 2011 - CityBike

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Continued from page 9
you can bet we’re not going to pay to have a
wrench extracted from some idiot’s colon,
even if we did tell him to swallow it. We’ll
see if the Whitworth versions are easier to
digest, as soon as we can find the intern,
last seen hiding under a pile of helmets in
the hall closet.
Aerostich: aerostich.com or 800/222-1994
NOLAN N-43
I’ve been wearing modular (flip-front)
Nolans for years and pretty
much worn out two of
them, with nary a
complaint. The
helmet functions
as I imagine it
should and
that modular
model
always fit
me fine.
I wear
sunglasses
when I
ride and seldom
ride at night. A
flip-front helmet
makes putting
on and taking
off sunglasses
easy. When
riding in town,
I sometimes
(foolishly) flip
the front of the
helmet up: the front
of a Nolan modular
swivels up close to
the top of the helmet,
creating a minimum
wind dam. Another modular
Nolan would have suited me
fine, but the $300 N43 was available so I
said sure, I’ll write something about it.
When the helmet arrived, I saw
immediately that it was a nice, deep blue
with white trim, very close to the colors
of my DR650 Suzuki. The shape is fun,
kind of a ducktail look. Controllable front
vents provide what seems to me to be good
ventilation, but honestly I can’t tell one
helmet from another by how much breeze
blows through. I confess I can’t always tell
if the vents are open or closed.
The N43 looks like an open-face helmet,
but a new-style one: The lower sides reach
further forward in front of your ears than
older helmets. A sturdy black plastic chin
bar snaps into place in those lower sides.
With the bar locked in place, the Nolan
feels like a full face helmet. Solid.
You can wear the Nolan with or without
the chin bar and with or without the big,
distortion-free face shield. The face shield
extends down over the chin bar. If you
remove the face shield, you can install a
visor peak included with the helmet.
I remove the chin bar, easy with the shield
raised, to put the helmet on or take it off.
I suspect Nolan intended the wearer to
do just that. Makes putting their helmet
on and taking it off much easier. The N43
uses the same fastening method I’m used
to with my modular Nolans: It’s like the
clasps on motocross riding boots, a plastic
or nylon ratchet strap. Works great.
The N43 can also be equipped with
Nolan’s communications devices for about
an extra $250 for hard-wired systems,
$350 for Bluetooth. A microphone on a
flexible stalk extends from the left lower
of the helmet and control switches are
mounted on the left side below the shield
pivots. I’ve never used any of those items.
A slide control for the swing-down inner
sunshade is also on the left side. The shade
doesn’t come down quite far enough for
me and is an answer to a
question I never
asked. (I
happen to
think
it’s
brilliant.
It doesn’t
add much
weight to the helmet
and saves you from having
to change visors or stop to put on
sunglasses. --ed.)
I like the versatility of this helmet and have
actually ridden with it as a full and openface
unit. I don’t know that I’ve ever seen
another one. It’s a fine helmet.
—Maynard Hershon
Nolan Helmets: Cima International
(nolan-usa.com or 866-2HELMET)
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