HJC i71 - Viz Fluorescent Yellow

Very comfy , not noisy and great colour scheme

A bit noisy but nothing major. Pin lock & Anti foger visor included what is a plus.

This is a reasonably lightweight helmet but does come with quite a bit of road noise. Not an issue for me as I wear earplugs all the time. The vent at the top does not completely seal so there's always a slight draft of cold air coming over the top of your head. Not ideal for a bald man! Still, it's reasonably priced and comfortable otherwise.

Bought this to replace my old HJC helmet, so I knew the quality would be good. (This is my 3rd HJC helmet!) I bought the same size as my 2 previous HJC helmets, which is S or 55-56. The helmet is a good fit and the M was too loose, however my first couple of outings have shown that the cheek pads are slightly too tight to be comfortable on long rides. I've attempted to purchase thinner cheek pads as interchangeable pads are mentioned as a highlight of this helmet in the instructions, however these are proving impossible to get hold of in the UK, so bear this in mind if like me you're planning on swapping out the pads for a comfier fit.
The visor lift has moved to the side rather than being in the middle and this works well. The sun visor lever has also moved from being on top to being at the side of the chin. I have found this a little fiddly to use, especially when you're riding in cold weather and are wearing a neck buff and hooded top! Would recommend practicing operating the sun visor lever while stationery so that it becomes easier to use when riding.
The pinlock was easy to install and I've also installed the HJC comms system, which fits very neatly into the spaces provided.
I really like the look of this helmet. I wanted something a bit pretty and girly but most of the ladies helmets use bright pink and crazy patterns, this is much more subtle and stylish in my opinion! The chin strap is also really good quality and very comfortable. Definitely recommend this helmet.

Helmet is amazing, it was bought as a gift and the recipient can't wait. The helmet seems like great quality, and has plenty of features you'd want and has the added bonus of being 22.06 rated. Sportsbikeshop service was flawless as ever!

I was more excited actually that this actually exists as I looked everywhere for a stitch helmet and never found one and when I saw it I immediately bought it and it fits amazing it's beautiful and perfect
Sturdy, soft and its great quality and very reliable and trusty brand itself

Nice comfortable lid, a bit of low frequency noise but nothing major.
Had better helmets, had worse.

Perfect size I've got a medium helmet. Comfortable in liner and straps . Pin lock & Anti foger visor included what is a plus in my books. It is one of the quietest helmets I've had and
I can't wait to try it with the hjc 21b smart intercom when I get it.

Probably one of the best quality helmets I've bought, sun visor is always an added bonus.

For the money, this is definitely one of the best helmets you can buy. My previous 2 helmets were the HJC IS-17 and the HCJ C70, so much of my experience will be in the context of those helmets.

Price:
£158 price-matched during black Friday sales. Even at full price, this helmet is worth it, especially if you're upgrading from an ECE 22.05.

Safety: ECE 22.06 basically makes SHARP redundant, as all 30 of 22.06 helmets that have been SHARP rated so far have been 5*. While this helmet hasn't been SHARP rated, it seems extremely likely that it would get 5*, given the performance of every other 22.06 helmet thus far, and HJCs track record for good SHARP safety ratings.

Visors:
Really good field of view out of the visor, good vertically, and excellent horizontally. Both axes seem to be improved over the C70 and IS-17. Pinlock insert is included! Always nice to have. The visor only has 1 intermediate position, about 3 finger widths, which is a bit too open for me. Having said that, it's not something that has bothered me. The helmet allows plenty of air in without needing the visor open anyway. The visor opening/locking mechanism is new to me, it's okay, not really better or worse than what they've had before, once you get used to it.

The sun visor actuation mechanism is great, very slick, and the visor comes down very low for great coverage. It also feels substantially more robust than the spring-based mechanism of the IS-17. HOWEVER the sun visor is NOT dark enough for me. I do have little delicate baby eyes that are sensitive to light, but the IS-17 and C70 sun visors were perfect, while with the i71 sun visor, I am squinting when in direct sunlight. I will probably attempt to apply some kind of tinted film onto the sun visor to resolve this. I haven't been able to find any darker sun visors available, sadly

Airflow: great, too much if anything! I found that my eyes were getting absolutely blasted above 20 mph from the front internal vents, which is not abated by closing the chin vent externally. I solved this by blocking off the two internal vents either side of the middle vent, just inside of the visor, in front of your nose, using some black blue tac. Works perfectly, still have plenty of airflow, and looks fine, unnoticeable. The external vents are very nice to use, really easy to find with gloves on, and lovely tactile feedback when they are switched and snap into position.

Noise: This was the main complaint that I had read about the i71. I ride with the chin curtain removed, and I use ear plugs for any long or high speed journey. Under these conditions, it's the same as the C70 and IS-17. However, I do notice much greater wind noise when not using earplugs, above 30 mph or so. If you use earplugs (and you really should), there's nothing outrageous or even noticeably abnormal about the noise level.

Fit: the fit is definitely different from the IS-17 and C70, and in general the helmet seems to be a bit broader left to right (externally and internally). This helmet, for my particular head shape, is a better fit than previous ones. My usual size is still correct with this helmet.

Misc: the helmet comes with fitments for some fancy comms systems. It's really not very intrusive, you're unlikely to be bothered by then. I've got no plans to make use of them, but it's there if you want it.
The chin curtain seems much thicker than previous chin curtains I've had, it may have an impact on wind noise and airflow... I wouldn't know, I immediately removed it.
Build quality seems nice, there's some nice leather (or maybe it's fake leather, I have no idea) on the underside of the helmet.
There is very minor rattling on the plastic covers that protect the comms mount and the sun visor setup switches, but unnoticeable unless you're messing around with the helmet like a child.
Comparable weight to the C70 and IS-17, I haven't experienced any fatigue in my regular hour-long sessions, so if it is any heavier than the previous helmets, it's negligible.
The colours really pop in the design, the red looks great! And pretty sparkles in the greys and blacks too!

Overall, this is a good helmet, with a couple of minor letdowns. Even knowing what I know now, this is still the helmet I would buy, and I would have bought it even if it wasn't on sale (that's right SportsBikeShop, you've been swindled!). The two major shortcomings for me are the excessive wind blasting, which I have fully solved, and the sun visor, which I intend to solve with some cheap tinted film and possibly some more black blue tac...

4.5/5

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The lid fits and does what a skid lid is supposed to do but I found being caught in very heavy rain and water was getting into the lid from the visor. That's really not good for safety by this point I'm to late to send back the lid so I'm stuck with it. Delivery was sharp and on time, happy with that.