Scorpion EXO-GT SP Air helmet in matt black / red

The Scorpion EXO-GT SP Air is a classic, full-face, sports-touring helmet.

 

The benchmark helmet in the sport-touring arena is obviously the Shoei GT Air 3. Now Shoei is a more premium brand than Scorpion, and has decades of experience at the highest level in motorsport. Their quality can be matched only by that of Arai. The ability to custom fit the GT Air, either through a PFS appointment, or by changing the cheekpads and headliners, is unmatched by any other brand. The helmet also features the ability to fit totally integrated comms..

 

Now every other manufacturer is a pretender to this particular crown. None of them is going to be able to match the GT Air, but what all the other brands hope is that, by undercutting the Shoei on price, they can persuade motorcyclists to forgo some of the things that Shoei offers in order to make a saving.

 

And that's fine by us. That's how the free market operates.

 

The Scorpion we have here hopes to do just that. And so what we are going to talk about is what the helmet offers, and where perhaps it falls short. It's then up to you to work out whether the saving you will make on the Scorpion makes going for the Korean brand worthwhile.

 

In fact, let's start with the price. In a plain colour without any graphics, the Scorpion currently costs £360. The GT Air in a plain colour is going to set you back £570. And even we would have to admit that that's a saving of a fair old chunk of cash. A premium that represents an uplift of almost 60%.

 

So let's look at the Scorpion in a bit more detail, so that you can perhaps make a better informed decision.

 

When talking about their wares, very few manufacturers talk in plain English. Many fall back on pseudo-technical terminology as a way of creating confusion, and perhaps of sewing seeds of doubt in their favour. 

 

So what we learn from Scorpion about the EXO-GT SP Air is that the helmet has a 'Prepreg shell that combines chopped and 3k twill carbon'. Well, we do this for a living; and we have absolutely no idea what this means. But by asking the right people what we have ascertained is that the helmet has a 'composite' shell , just like the Shoei's. That is to say a mix of carbon and other fibres. But, at 1450 g. the Scorpion in size Medium weighs 200 grammes less than the Shoei, so that's first blood to the Scorpion, and a box ticked for all those with perennially weak necks. But to put it into context, 200 g. is the weight of a not very large apple!

 

The helmet comes in three shell sizes, which is the same as the Shoei.

 

Not letting up on the rhetoric front, Scorpion tell us that we can 'step into the future with the world's first helmet to feature aspherical surface design on both the sun-visor and the face-shield'. Translating this into 'plain-speak'  tells us that both visors are Optical Class 1 quality. Don't know why they couldn't just tells us that, but anyway this is a good thing. The Shoei's visors are Class 1 too.

 

On both helmets, the visors have a central locking mechanism. And both come equipped with a Pinlock 120 in the box. But the Scorpion also comes with a dark visor in the box. And that's pretty cool, we have to admit. The system for removing the visor is pretty similar on both helmets, and is easy to use.

 

The detente mechanism on the Scorpion is pretty average, though. You get just one 'half-way' position. And no 'crack' position. On the Shoei you get four distinct positions, and a crack position of sorts. It's still not the best, though.

 

On both helmets you get a chin curtain, a breath guard and some hi-vis banding.

 

Without delving too deep into the bowels of the Scorpion, and without access to a wind tunnel, I would suggest that there probably isn't that much to choose between the quality of the venting on both helmets. They both have a chin vent and a brow vent. The brow vent on the Shoei looks a bit larger, and technically has two positions as opposed to the Scorpion's one. But if the Shoei is better vented, it's not worth paying an extra £200 for!

 

The strap fastens on the Scorpion by means of a double-D ring, the strap on the Shoei uses a micrometric adjuster. Now, as an old-school biker, I still have a fondness for double-D rings. I can fasten and unfasten one in my sleep. But the emergency services prefer micrometric. Would I be incorrect in suggesting that D-rings can be more comfortable? That may well be just a personal thing.

 

Anyway, in terms of the basic features, it kind of has to be acknowledged that the Scorpion matches the Shoei punch for punch. There's not much  in it. In fact, the score cards might well suggest that the Scorpion is ahead on points.

 

I would suspect that the GT-Air is going to be the quieter helmet, but only because I know how much Shoei has done to mitigate noise, but turn the helmets upside down, and the aperture is about the same on both helmets. Clearly neither is going to be as quiet as a Shoei Neotec 3.

 

But from here on in, a lot of what we are going to talk about potentially comes down on the side of the Japanese helmet. Let's get into it.

 

In terms of comms., the GT Air will take a totally integrated Sena comms. unit. it's an excellent bit of kit. There are no protuberances on the side of the helmet, meaning less wind noise, and as it's integrated it means that the helmet passes 22-06 even when the comms. is fitted.

 

But the comms. unit is expensive, and for some the problem is that it's Sena and not Cardo. The Scorpion comes with a twist-in plate on the left that will allow you to mount any comms. on to the helmet. Okay there will be some wind noise, but I know that some people get very upset at being forced to use Sena comms.. (I personally suspect that Shoei will announce a Cardo option quite soon).

 

So that the Shoei's smoother, more sophisticated comms. facility is a plus for everybody is debatable. But for those who are agnostic on the brand-loyalty front, the Shoei integration is better.

 

Which brings us to comfort and fit.

 

Now I have no issue with the level of comfort once your head is inside the Scorpion. Yes, the Shoei is a bit more luxurious perhaps, but you're riding a bike in it, not going to bed in it, so I think both are going to be very pleasant to ride in.

 

In terms of the internal shape of the Scorpion, it's similar to the Shoei's. And that means the shape is quite oval. This will be a problem for some people because there simply isn't a lot one can do to alter the fit of the Scorpion if it's too tight at the sides.

 

You cannot get different thicknesses of headliner for the Scorpion, so you can't create a bit more room at the side of the head if the fit is too snug. By the same token you cannot make the fit tighter if the helmet moves around too much.

 

Nor do you get the option to fit different thicknesses of cheekpad? Although the Scorpion does have the next best thing, perhaps. And that's a pump system for the cheeks. It doesn't work as well as having different cheekpads, but it's better than having no adjustment.

 

But, of course, what Shoei offers that no other brand does is PFS. With PFS your head is measured, the numbers are typed into an App., and that App. then tells us what pads to fit where into the helmet's headliner. And there are 20 different pads that are available for every Shoei helmet. The bottom line is usually an almost perfect fit. It's a brilliant system; and everybody should try it, if only to get to experience how a helmet should fit.

 

Scorpion doesn't offer PFS, but then again neither does Arai, Schuberth, Shark, Nolan; or a indeed anybody else.

 

In conclusion, it seems to us that the engineers and designers at Scorpion have taken a GT Air apart, and just copied it. And they have done a great job. On the surface it's a very similar helmet. It's got nearly all the same features. It's lighter. You get a second visor in the box. And it costs a whole heap less.

 

What the Shoei offers over the Scorpion is perhaps a bit more subjective, and therefore harder to have a tick box for.

 

The Shoei just feels more substantial and solid. It's made, we feel, from better quality componentry. The comms. capability is next level, if that's what you want: but it's in the fitting of the helmet that there's the largest expanse of clear blue water.

 

If the Scorpion's fit is too oval for you, then there's almost nothing you can do about it. And the size up will probabably be too big, front to back. So if it doesn't fit, put it back on the shelf, and move on. But these days it's almost unheard of for us not to be able to get a good fit with the GT Air. And, of course, a good fit is crucially important. Riding in an uncomfortable helmet is horrid; and in some ways an accident waiting to happen.

 

So this is where we get to.

 

The Shoei GT Air, overall, is a better, classier and more sophisticated helmet on a number of levels. But if the fit of the Scorpion out of the box is good, then you should go for it. It's a really good helmet. Quality is not an issue. And it really does offer excellent value.