The ventilation found in most motorcycle helmets these days is about as cooling as having an asthmatic wheeze on you. Try to tame the tail of the dragon on a hot day, and you’ll soon learn how mom’s limp veggies feel before they land on the Thanksgiving Day table. To keep you cool, dry, safe and sound, BMW Motorrad developed the AirFlow 2 Helmet (~$618). Utilizing multiple large vents optimally placed around the ten-and-two spots in the carbon reinforced aeordynamic shell, the AirFlow 2 improves upon its predecessor by quietly providing a breath of fresh air when you need it most, or staying shut when the weather turns foul.
Though it’s not a full-face helmet (the top tier in rider safety), its three-quarter shell design protects nearly as well, and features an impact-absorbing EPS inner shell with vent channels of its own. A permanent air discharge system at the nape of your neck takes advantage of the negative-pressure principal to make things feel even lighter, while a scratch-resistant visor and the ability to integrate BMW’s own Motorrad Communication System minimizes your need for optometrist visits and silly hand signals, respectively. An interior liner, designed specifically with air flow in mind, fills out a package that weighs in at a mere 2.75 pounds, making hitting the trails for hours on end literally no sweat.
Now that we’ve got you drooling over this Red Dot Design “Best of the Best” award winner, we’ll let you down hard: it’s only available in Europe, where it will most likely be worn by Parisian scooter riders.
Learn More: ~$618
