‘It’s textbook Arai’
Tested by Michael Neeves for three years
I’ve been wearing this Tour-X4 on adventure bike launches and group tests in Greece, Spain, Portugal, Sicily and the UK. It’s been superseded by the new Tour-X5, but that means there are some great deals to be had.
From the way it cossets your head, to its sumptuous interior and even the way it smells, it’s textbook Arai. It’s easy to slip on and it feels like a conventional road helmet, which is the biggest compliment I can give. It has the same rounded R75 shell shape as the Japanese firm’s road lids (for ‘glance-off’ impact protection) and it fits perfectly out of the box. The 5mm layers of foam in the removable cheek pads and skull cap can be peeled away if it’s too tight, and cheek pads can be replaced with slimmer/thicker accessory versions. Weighing 1670g the Tour-X4 is quite heavy, especially at the front, due to the peak and off-road chin bar. It’s slightly more tiring to wear as a result, but I’ve worn it on day-long rides without a problem.
The visor has a widescreen field of vision (although you can always see the peak, which I’m not keen on), moves smoothly and is easy to crack open for extra ventilation. It’s a faff to change the visor, though, with its fiddly plastic screws and fixing plates. The new Tour-X5 gets around that with a quick-release system.
For sweaty off-road rides, or sun-baked road trips a lid like this needs good ventilation. The Tour-X4 has seven well-placed intake and five exhaust vents that do the job superbly. I’ve worn it as much in the cold and rain, too and it’s nice and snug with no draughts or leaks.
I’ve only used the Tour-X4 on adventure bikes, which have notoriously noisy screens, but it manages to be surprisingly quiet, although the peak can cause some buffeting and catch in the wind. I wear earplugs, so it’s never a problem.
It’s hard to fault the Tour-X4’s first class build quality, from its plush interior fabrics to the deep, durable paintwork and the way the vents and trims fit perfectly. It’ll protect you from flying rocks, dust and dirt from other bikes off-road and keep the sun out of your eyes, too. But wearing an adventure helmet is part of my road tester’s ‘dressing-up box’ and while it’s useful on the dirt, I wouldn’t choose to wear one purely for its looks. I’d always go for a road lid.