Arai Tour-X5 helmet in Discovery blue

The Arai Tour-X5's predecessor, the Tour-X4, was on the market for nearly 12 years, so an updated version was over-due. The new ECE 22-06 safety standard provided the opportunity for Arai to go back to the drawing board, to bring the helmet up to date, and to iron out some of the old helmet's flaws.

   In essence, an adventure helmet is a helmet that looks like an off-road helmet, but that is designed for riding on the road. The distinguishing features are usually an extended chin bar and a peak. The Tour-X4 was the benchmark adventure helmet; far and away the most famous of its ilk. It pretty much owned the 'adventure' sector.

Arai make the best quality, and most protective helmets that money can buy. But the new ECE 22-06 standard almost certainly means that the new model is going to be more protective than the old one. But Arai has also taken the opportunity to update the helmet in a number of other areas.

The chin bar is now more rounded. Arai claim that they have done this to improve the helmet's 'glancing off' properties; glancing off being one of Arai's fundamental design precepts. The more rounded chin also means that the visor has a flatter profile; and this in turn means that its optical quality has been improved. The visor aperture is also larger, which is good for visibility. It is large enough to take even the largest off-road goggles.

The peak is one of the hallmarks of an adventure helmets, but it can also be a bugbear if most of your riding is on the road which, for most adventure bike riders, it is. A peak can cause buffeting and add wind noise. Which is why Arai has worked in the wind tunnel to improve the way the helmet's peak moves through the air. The most distinguishing feature here is a large cut out on the rear edge.

The old Tour-X4 was also often criticised for the complexity of its peak's fixing. It was tricky and laborious to take off, and put back on. The new visor removes far more easily, without any tools being required. But there is still some faff involved if you decide you want to ride the helmet without the peak, but with the visor, as you will need a screwdriver to replace the side plates.

One would normally expect an adventure helmet to be well vented; and the Tour-X5 is. It borrows from the Quantic its brow-mounted logo vent. There's another two-position vent on the top of the shell. You get an adjustable vent on the chin, with a switch inside the helmet that allows you to direct the incoming air over either the visor or the face. There are two, permanently-open exhaust ports at the back of the helmet. There's also an adjustable exhaust vent beneath the rear spoiler.

To make the Tour-X5 easier to get in and out of, the base of the new helmet has been widened slightly. There are now recesses to take speakers for a comms. system The Tour-X4 accrued near-iconic status in the motorcycle world. In truth, it looks as though the new helmet will be an improvement upon it in most key respects. The Arai Tour-X5 will never be the cheapest, adventure helmet, but it is almost certainly the best.

Read the Arai Tour-X5 helmet review here or watch our YouTube video on this page.