BMW Helmets GS Carbon, Dual Sport Helmet
Well no I normally don’t do product reviews on my blog but decided this was a bit
different, as I didn’t have to lay out any hard earned cash for this particular
product…
It started with an email from BMW Financial Services asking
me for a telephone number. Thinking naturally it was some sort of scam or a
sales pitch, I ignored it as you might expect. A short while later I received a
follow up email telling me they needed my number because I’d won a crash helmet
for completing a survey.
Well for a start I didn’t remember the survey but thought it
might just be real. So I googled the sender and sure enough established he
worked at BMW, so I responded.
And yes it was true! Ben from BMW informed me I had won a BMW
System 7 Carbon helmet after my name had been pulled out of the hat from
participants in a survey I had completed last year (I still didn’t remember the
survey but who cares).
But hang on a second… so why isn’t this a review of the
System 7 Carbon?
Because the first thing I did was hot foot it down to my
local BMW dealer to try one on as Ben had said I could pick another helmet if I
didn’t like it or it didn’t fit…. and yes you guessed, it didn’t fit, I seemed
to fall between two sizes.
But also I have a fairly new Schuberth E1 helmet which is a very similar flip front style and to be honest didn’t need another, very similar helmet. But having recently retired my Shoei DS Hornet (DS standing for Dual Sport) I did want one of those, so tried on the GS Carbon instead and it fitted perfectly!
But also I have a fairly new Schuberth E1 helmet which is a very similar flip front style and to be honest didn’t need another, very similar helmet. But having recently retired my Shoei DS Hornet (DS standing for Dual Sport) I did want one of those, so tried on the GS Carbon instead and it fitted perfectly!
So one was ordered and I was presented with it at the
London Bike Show.
So what’s it like? First impressions when you take it out of
the box are how light it is, at 1400 grams it doesn’t sound much lighter than
my Schuberth at 1800 grams but it is in reality. The next thing you
notice is the very luxurious paint finish and very plush lining but I guess
you’d expect that from a helmet normally costing £475, all good so far. The
shape also shows it is designed to work with a neck brace so appears to have
genuine off road credentials.
When you put it on, that feeling of luxury is confirmed although
I did find when trying the helmet on, that the 56/57cm (the size I always wear
in crash helmets) was too small and had to go up a size to 58/59cm. I had been
advised by the salesman that they came up small and this was obviously true.
The visor mechanism is nice and positive, shutting with a
reassuringly solid “clunk” and does an excellent job of keeping both wind and rain. The double D ring strap is nice and long. Out of
the box the helmet is fitted with a substantial wind guard under the chin piece
which has to be struggled past to put it on but it is worth it. A thinner wind guard is also
included, presumably for warmer weather. The front plastic guard opens slightly
for ventilation or can be removed altogether for maximum venting i.e. if used
off road.
On the road the first impression is how quiet it is
especially for this style of helmet, I deliberately didn’t use ear plugs on the
first ride to assess this and it was very good. With earplugs in you get a
really nice calmness with no excessive wind noise. Indeed the aerodynamics are
good, with virtually no buffeting caused by the peak and the peak itself is
reassuringly solid, staying very still even at speed.
The ventilation is good, using the helmet for the first time
on a cold day, I could feel a gentle breeze around my forehead and temples but
it never felt cold. There is a vent on top of the helmet that can be closed but I found
that leaving it open was fine. The wind guard makes it very cosy (and no doubt
assists the low noise level). Despite
this these was no misting, the visor is fitted with a pinlock insert that is
almost as large as the visor itself. On previous helmets, I’ve found myself
looking over the top of the insert but no such problems with the GS Carbon.
Another nice feature re the two large tags on either side of the visor for opening, these are really easy to use even in thick gloves and having two is an advantage. Often visors only have one on the left, fine when you’re riding and need to keep your right hand on the throttle but not so good if you’re stopped in gear holding the clutch in with your left hand. On this helmet you can easily use either hand with no problems.
Another nice feature re the two large tags on either side of the visor for opening, these are really easy to use even in thick gloves and having two is an advantage. Often visors only have one on the left, fine when you’re riding and need to keep your right hand on the throttle but not so good if you’re stopped in gear holding the clutch in with your left hand. On this helmet you can easily use either hand with no problems.
Your field of vision is absolutely huge; in fact I can’t
really see the edges of the aperture even looking as far as you can to the
side. The visor itself is optically clear and gives a perfect view despite a
pronounced curve to it. Another advantage is that wearing the helmet in heavy
rain, none leaks down the back of the visor, a particular bugbear with my
Schuberth.
So what’s not so good? Very little to be honest, the D-Rings
on the strap seem a little small and are actually rectangular rather than D shaped so threading the strap through is a bit fiddly
but to be honest that’s it. I’ve used the helmet for a couple of months now and it’s quickly
become one of the favourite helmets I’ve ever owned… can’t say better than
that!
I was given the choice of what colour scheme I wanted and
this took a bit of thinking about. When I tried it on in the shop, I quickly
rejected the plain colours as the "Light White" just made the shell look overly large and I don't do black helmets (also available in Matt Black).
The “GS Trophy”
was nice but had “BMW” in large letters across the helmet…
After all I don't own a BMW but two
KTMs! The "One World" scheme was OK but I wasn’t convinced and "Xplore" was just boring grey so in the end I went for the “Comp”
a white base with red and blue graphics (i.e. BMWs Motorsport colours) it
features the GS logo but I decided this was subtle enough, also the red fades
into a bright orange, just perfect for a KTM owner!
So all in all, a fantastic helmet and even better as it was free!
So all in all, a fantastic helmet and even better as it was free!