Shoei RF-SR vs RF-1400 Helmet Review at SpeedAddicts.com

hey Chad here with speed addicts the fastest growing gear site on the web and today we have another speedix test ride for you that's where we hand over gear to our team test pilot to put it through its paces and give you that real world in the saddle feedback now in today's video we're going to be comparing two helmets from Shoei on my left we have the RF 1400 and on my right we'll be checking out its little brother the less expensive rfsr now we know we have a lot of riders stuck between these two helmets not sure if it's worth the extra spend to go with the 1400 or if they could get by quite nicely with the less expensive rfsr hopefully this video helps you to decide and remember speed addicts.com is always your source for showy helmets we have links in the description below where you can go and shop for both of these helmets or any other parts or gear you might need for your next two-wheel adventure and of course remember speed addicts got you covered with no cost returns now sit back and enjoy the test ride [Music] [Applause] hey what's up speed addicts TV family look what we have here today shoei's rfsr helmet on the left and the RF 1400 helmet on the right both of these helmets are full face street bike helmets from Shoei out of Japan the rfsr was introduced for the 2017 calendar year it effectively replaced the quest helmet which was a tried and true budget helmet and the rfsr is still for Budget minded Riders but it punches well above its price tag the RF 1400 on the right is the successor to the RF 1200 it was released for the 2021 calendar year Dara 1400 is designed for Riders looking for aerodynamic and sporty helmet it's it's perfect for someone who is riding a Harley Davidson but really it's for someone who's riding an mt-09 and wants to do a track day as well it has a much more aerodynamically optimized shape it looked faster it has added ventilation and this just designed for the general Road motorcyclist who wants to ride on the street and track and cares about performance the RF Sr on the other hand this is a more traditional street bike rider helmet it's for someone who's less concerned with flash they want a more traditional shape and aren't concerned with the full set of features and aren't planning on using it at the track or during really hot days the RF 1400 has greater ventilation it has one extra vent Port up top and the chin vent can be opened and closed in different increments where the rfsr is All or Nothing ventilation is definitely a step up in the RF 1400 now for 2021 Shoei updated its face shield mechanism the RF 1400 now employs shoei's cwr F2 face shield design that incorporates Vortex generators here on the side like the x14 and now X15 that helps reduce turbulence and the helmet has this questionable Center lock mechanism while we like the seal around the face shield that keeps things nice and quiet the center opening mechanism is just kind of funky kind of quirky we'd like the offset detint the more traditional offset Deaton of the rfsr that works way better in our opinion all right looking inside the helmet the interior of these helmets is it's similar it's not exactly the same both helmets come with the excellent chin curtain that helps quiet the interior of the helmet it also reduces turbulence inside the face shield area we love riding with the chin curtain you can always take it out if you want now the interior of the RF 1400 that's one of the big differences of this helmet the interior of that helmet is more premium feeling the actual interior Fabrics a little bit nicer a little softer it fits together a little bit more intricately of course either helmet you have the ability to swap out for thicker or thinner cheek pads in a top liner so you can really nail the fit of this helmet both helmets are compatible with bluetooth enabled communication devices they have generous sized ear cutouts but the rfsr with its slightly flatter shape is a little bit more Bluetooth Communicator friendly it's almost six of this half and a dozen of the other now the RF 1400 on the right is fitted with shoei's accessory dark smoke Shield it is pin lock ready the pin lock insert acts like a double pane window it completely mitigates fog and condensation from obstructing your view on a humid or damp morning or afternoon or anytime you're riding in inclement weather the rfsr on the left is equipped with showis accessory transition space Shield this is a 200 face shield that allows you to ride day or night and have excellent Optical Clarity the face shield automatically tints when faced with the Sun's UV rays and then it automatically untints at night when there is no sun UV it's certainly expensive but it's absolutely worth every dollar of its MSRP that face shield is extremely handy for us motorcycle riders who ride day or night this rfsr is also set up with cardo's pack talk bold that is the old generation cargo systems Bluetooth Communicator it's been replaced by the pack talk Edge and the pack talk Neo which we recently did a versus comparison here at the speed addicts tv YouTube channel alright folks enough talking about these helmets let's get inside them and see what they're like to ride hey what's up speed addicts TV family here we are in Shoei helmets rfsr now the frfsr debuted for the 2017 calendar year it is positioned below the RF 1400 which was released recently just a few years ago now a lot of you are wondering which helmet should I get should I get the rfsr or the RF 1400 there's about a 200 dollar price difference between these helmets and while these helmets are very similar there's a couple key differences first off the shape of the helmet the rfsr has a real traditional real minimalist type shape this is the shape and the aesthetic of a classic motorcycle helmet we really like it a lot if you're the kind of Rider who doesn't want to stand out on the road you don't want to draw a lot of attention you just want to ride under the radar you're gonna like this rfsr the stylings tasteful but it is a little bit more bulky feeling and not as aerodynamic as the RF 1400 if you are a rider who is riding a high performance Naked Bike or a super bike we could totally understand why you'd want that extra Arrow of the RF 1400 but if you're you're just a normal street bike rider who's really not going to visit the racetrack and doesn't need more effective Aero and doesn't want the flashy design the rfsr is the helmet now both helmets weigh right at three and a half pounds in a size medium both helmets also use unique shell sizes extra small and smaller one shell medium is one shell large is one shell and extra large and two extra large is one shell the ventilation is also very different this rfsr has more rudimentary ventilation you have two top vents here and one chin vent and there are two exhaust vents that are always open the RF 1400 takes things to the next level it has these two top vents here another forehead vent here and a bigger chin vent and the chin vent and the forehead vent you can actually adjust in three increments where this rfsr is either open or closed the RF 1400 definitely flows more air than this rfsr but you'd still be surprised how effective the airflow is on this rfsr for only having two top Vents and a chin vent it actually moves quite a bit of air but if you're riding on the racetrack you're riding in really warm weather then and the rf14 is a no-brainer now the motorcycles the helmets also have different face Shields the rfsr has showys tried and true c w r one face shield this face shield has a Deaton here on the left hand side it's super easy to open and close and the seal is pretty good but the rf14 seal is even better but the cwrf2 face shield is now a center face shield and we don't really like that Center function face shield it's just hard to operate when you're riding and it's too easy it's too close to the chin vent we prefer the traditional CW R1 face shield of this rfsr it's worth mentioning both the rfsr and the RF 1400 both include pin lock inserts the pin lock insert goes inside of the face shield and it basically functions like a dual pane window it can completely mitigates any condensation or fogging inside the face shield or outside when you're riding in cold weather or humid conditions if you haven't ridden in pin lock you haven't lived it is a game changer and a feature that you absolutely need in a motorcycle helmet Shield insert in the RF 1400 has grown a little bit so you have a little bit bigger field of view but it isn't it isn't that big of a deal for us to go RF 1400 over rfsr now the interior of these helmets they're both very plush they're both modular you can remove the cheek pads and then fit thinner or thicker cheek pads as well as a top ladder based on prep Preference they also both come with chin curtains we love these chin curtains they do a great job of reducing noise and adding Comfort when you're riding and both helmets have this Nifty removable nose guard so the interior components are the same but the RF 1400s interior is a little bit more plush it fits together a little bit more intricately and it feels more well engineered not to say that the RF SRS isn't nice but the rf-1400s is that much better of course the ability to remove all the pads including even the chin strap pads is awesome these helmets have a microbial coating so they don't get funky even when you ride multiple types in hot weather but it's really easy to remove the pads and throw them in the washing machine in a warm or hot water and let them air dry you do that every time when you feel like you have a brand new motorcycle helmet now aside from those changes the the side area where you mount a Bluetooth communicator on the rfsr it's a little bit easier to get these clip style Bluetooth communicators we're wearing a cardo free comp 4X it is a lower price Bluetooth Communicator from cargo systems but it offers a whole lot of function and these Bluetooth communicators are slightly easier to mount on rfsrs versus an RF 1400 they both showy helmets have generous cutouts inside the helmets so you can fit the Bluetooth speakers we just like doing it with the rfsr a little bit more than the rf-1400 now the fit of the helmets we're wearing a size medium rfsr and that's another difference the x14 fits a little bit more snugly size for size than the rfsr that's really one of the reasons why we really like the FR for Street use because it's it it fits well and it fits snugly but it's not too snug of a fit I we associate the rfsr with traditional motorcycle riders who are going to ride only on the street it has a little bit looser feel and when I say looser I mean that in a two percent increment this is not a loose fitting helmet but it is a little bit more generous fit fitting than a RF 1400 it's not so generous we're gonna have to if you get a size medium rfsr you're going to get a size large RF 1400 the size remain the same but it's a small fractional difference between the rfsr this is a little bit loose looser fitting and we like that for Street use now both helmets come equipped with a five year warranty both helmets are made in Japan and that's for sure it really elevates itself from its competition it offers its motorcycle helmets are extremely well made the fit and finish on these helmets is second to none there is no other motorcycle helmet that is well as well put together than these Shoei helmets and if you're looking for a very high quality motorcycle helmet for the price the rfsr the RF 1400 and the x14 and now the X15 are definitely those helmets now in terms of quietness d r f s r is slightly more quiet than the RF 1400 yes we know that the RF 1400 is more aerodynamic and yes we know that the CW rf2 face shield has those nice wingtip vortices that are said to improve airflow it's the same type of Technology at the x14 and now the X15 has but this helmet is marginally quieter than the RF 1400 at the end of the day you can't go wrong with either helmet from Shoei is for more traditional motorcycle riders seeking a street only helmet where the rf-1400 is for for motorcycle riders that are looking for sharper styling they want more effective aerodynamics for those who ride high performance naked or Superbikes and for those who ride at the racing track the RF 1400s enhanced ventilation will also do very well for Riders who ride in hot weather but for our money at the end of the day for street bike riding we would go with the rfsr we like it traditional styling we like how quiet it is we either like how easy it is to mount a bluetooth enabled communicator and we like these simple use of this left side mount visor deep you wouldn't think that that would be a big deal moving the visor detent from the center to the left and yes while the RF 1400s does offer a superior seal it's just not worth the hassle so for our money we would go with the rfsr it's worth mentioning when you're going with the rfsr that approximately 200 MSRP savings you're gonna have you're going to be able to spend that on a transitions advisor and a 200 transitions visor is money well spent that's what we're riding with right now this transition visor automatically tints based on the level of UV coming from the Sun so during rides in the daylight the the Pfizer automatically tints and then at night when there's no sun UV it is clear show is really done its homework with this transitions visors early transition advisors used to actually wear out they wear out after a couple years but now fast forward today today and showing in transitions have done a marvelous job these advisors are excellent and they go the distance and yeah 200 is expensive for a pin lock ready transition sealed but these visors just work that good and we would absolutely Pony up the extra 200 for these visors it's a no-brainer well folks that wraps up on versus comparison between showi's rfsr helmet and it's rf14 100 helmet we hope this video helps you folks at home make the right purchasing decision when it comes time to shopping for your next full face motorcycle helmet of course sure to subscribe to the speed addicts tv YouTube channel that's for all of our video content lives give this video a thumbs up if you liked it sound off in the comment section let us know what you think of Shoei helmets helmets and what let us know what you think of the rfsr if you have one at home or the RF 1400 thanks for riding with us today and we'll see you in the next episode of speed addicts TV [Music] thank you

Channel: Speed Addicts

Views: 14,272

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Id: 3HaP0lJM4aU

Length: 20min 27sec (1227 seconds)

Published: Fri Apr 21 2023