Amateur Motorcycle Helmet Review: Scorpion EXO-400

Coming in at a surprisingly low price-the Scorpion EXO-400 is a bargain at $150, giving riders features, quality and function you would only expect from a more expensive helmet. Now that I've been wearing one for about a month, I thought I'd write up a little review to give my impressions.

Appearance
The first thing to notice about the helmet is its a very attractive design. I ended up getting the silver-mirrored face shield to go with it-and I have to say when I look at the helmet two words come to mind: "bad ass". The helmet basically looks very cool and has a kind of space-age appearance, brought about by what I would describe as somewhat sharp or angular lines toward the front end. If I was going to make a B-movie with astronauts from the future, I think I might put them in Scorpion helmets.

Besides the attractive appearance, the quality of manufacture is very impressive. I also own an HJC helmet and a cheapo Pep-boys helmet, and I have to say that the Scorpion helmet-while not costing all that much more than the HJC-is on a whole other level. In other words this is a major league helmet-despite the minor league price. Color and paint job are excellent.

The Face Shield
One of the best features of the Scorpion helmet is the face shield. First of all, its very easy to remove and reinstall the visor. The helmet came with a clear shield, but I went ahead and spent the extra $27 to get a mirrored shield as well. The mirrored shield improves the look of the helmet which was already outstanding. But where the shield really shines is while riding. Its extremely clear and bright-it almost seems like you aren't wearing a shield at all-much less one that's silver mirrored. Add to that the excellent built-in anti-fog capability of the shield. Its never fogged up on me one bit. I could compare this to the HJC helmet, which fogs up so much in moderately cool weather I don't even put the shield down.

Vision
The view from the perspective of the helmet wearer is outstanding. I have no complaints at all. I can see very well looking straight ahead, and peripheral vision is excellent.

Comfort
The first thing I noticed about Scorpion helmets is they fit a little tight. I don't know if this is because of the particular shape of my head or if this is something to expect from Scorpion helmets in general. It is especially tight around the cheeks compared with other helmets. When I'm riding I haven't noticed it too much, but when I take the helmet off all of the sudden my cheeks seem to be kind of throbbing. Its not the size of helmet, I've tried other sizes of the EXO-400-its just the way it fits my head. Its just a tight fitting helmet that leaves some room for improvement in design.

Noise and Ventilation
The Scorpion EXO-400 makes for a very quiet ride. It is well ventilated, but very quiet. Compared with the HJC helmet I own, the Scorpion helmet is very quiet.

Safety
The Scorpion EXO-400 happens to be one of the helmets that was tested in the now famed motorcyclist magazine article. The helmet is both DOT and Snell certified. Here are the results (g forces imparted to the head) as they reported them:

Scorpion EXO-400 (P)

Average: 187 Gs

LF: 185 gs

RF: 212 gs

LR: 193 gs

RR: 158 gs

The average of 187 g's was more toward the upper range among helmets tested, but surprisingly its better than the 211 g's they found for the more expensive Scorpion EXO-700 helmet. But this is much higher than the 152 g's for the champion ZR-1 "Strike" helmet (which strangely, despite becoming known as the safest motorcycle helmet is no longer available as far as I can tell). That being said, these values are well within acceptable safety limits for motorcycle helmets. I'm sure it gives basically as good a protection as any, and the way the padding around the cheeks and jaw feels, I think this helmet might be particularly beneficial for face/jaw injuries (which happen to account for about 35% of injuries to the head in motorcycle accidents). I have to say the cheapo Pep Boys helmet I have seems to have a thicker liner for absorbing impacts.

Conclusion
Priced at around $150, the Scorpion EXO-400 is an excellent compromise between style, quality, and price. The low-price gives people unable or unwilling to spend $500 or more on a motorcycle helmet a low cost alternative that gives them a top tier constructed helmet. The best feature is the anti-fog face shield which is easily interchanged, the worst feature is a slightly tight fit and maybe safety not as good as it could be. Although Scorpion is an American company, the helmets are actually manufactured in China. I got mine with free shipping from Helmet City.

Here's a look at the back of the helmet.










Here's a shot of the interior of the helmet.