Product Review: Bell Revolver Helmet

I am 37 years old and for all of those years I have never worn a full face helmet. Off road I used a helmet with a chin bar. As a kid I had an old open face helmet that was my fathers (one of those metallic gold flake things that I painted flat black). On my Sporty I wore a half helm. My Sportster had a full wind shield so for under 60 m/h a half helm was fine. Over 60 the helmet would pull up and back, but the 883 motor is rigid mounted and the suspension of the Sportster made over 60 less pleasant. It was a good bike for cruising around town, but it really wasn't a high performance machine so it didn't matter what helmet, if any I wore on it.

Riding the VRSC with a half shield and a half helmet, I would not recommend much. It is fine for cross town riding, but the bike is made for speed and a half helmet is not. The bike launches from 0 to 60 in seconds. You can hit 75 m/h in second gear with out red lining it, so when I say it is made for quick take offs, I'm not exaggerating.

For Christmas I was looking around for a full face helmet to ask Santa for. I know Santa has a lot of children to pay for so I didn't want to go very expensive and I really have no experience with full face helmets so I didn't want to spend money on something I wouldn't use. I started by looking at halmets at the local dealers. I tried on at least 20 different helmets several times to see what size I liked and what functions I could afford.

After looking at the dealers I came home and looked at helmets online. I himmed and hawed for days on what to get. Eventually I ran accross a helmet on sale online that had the all the functions at $100 and it was Bell. My off road helmet was a Bell and I was satisfied with that so I asked Santa for 2, one for me and one for my side kick. http://www.bellsports.com/en_us/powersports/helmets/street/revolver

Christmas morning I was as bad as the kids. I couldn't wait to open the box that looked like a helmet was hidding inside! I had not found a Bell helmet at the local bike dealers so when I opened the box, it was the first time I had really gotten to see one in person. My first impression was "man this thing is big" but that was a comparison to my half helm and I wear a XXL, not compaired to other full face helmets I had tried on. My second impression was "this thing looks very cool".

For the price compaired to similar helmets ($100 on sale, not the $200 retail price), I give this helmet a 9 out of 10.

The helmet came in a normal helmet box and inside, it was covered in a nice red helmet bag and inside that, a foam bag. The packaging is adequate and the addition of a helmet bag was a welcome surprise. I give the packaging a 8 of 10.

The helmet comes with an instruction manual with the warranty card printed on the back. The book explains most functions properly with a few pictures for the chin strap, but I would have liked to have seen ilistrations for the other functions of the helmet. For instructions I give it a 6 of 10.

The helmet is made with a plastic shell, some moving parts are metal, and a thick padding inside. The padding is held in place with plastic snaps. For the quality of the parts I give it a 8 out of 10.

This year the weather has been warmer than usual. The snow plows had salted only once before Christmas this year and that was weeks ago. On Christma day it was in the low 40s and windy so I was able to get out and test this helmet. I didn't dress right for the weather thinking that with out chin protection, my face would be the first thing cold. After riding 30 minutes I returned home. My face was not the coldest part on me, my legs were. My overall impression on how the helmet works, I was impressed. The helmet fit nicely, I could hear my pipes with out the wind sound and it never felt like my head had a parachute attached to it like the half helm. The flip down sun shield worked easily with one hand and did not shake or rattle. I did not use the vents as it was cold out so I can not report on how well those work. I give the over all function a 8 out of 10.

For the value I am very impressed with this helmet. For $100 I can not imagine you could beat this helmet. If I had to buy it for retail price of $200, I would have to say this can compete with other helmets in that price range. Rating for the price I got mine at I give it a 9 out of 10 (if I bought it for $200 I think I would have rated it at 7 of 10 as there are a lot of helmets to choose from in that price range).

That gives a grand total of  8.00.

Here are a few more pictures of the helmet.

Removing the liner is easy.

Two levers and the lense is removed. There are other lenses that you can purchase for this helmet in other shades and colors.

A picture of the sun sgield in place.

If you would like for me to review and rate one of your products, you can contact me at budki@roadrunner.com. Please use the title "product review (product)" so I do not think it is spam.

I am very satisfied with this helmet and can not wait to put more miles on it. I would like to congradulate Bell on a fine helmet and would recomend this helmet for anyone on a budget.