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Well I noticed a few posts on HJC Helmets and such, and when I was going to buy mine, didn't find a review here on it. I got to ride about 120 miles this weekend with my new lid, so here goes.
I really wanted a flip up face shield helmet this year. I have heard all the talk about how they aren't Snell approved, they aren't as safe and what not, but I don't care- it's worth it to me to have the luxury of the flip up face shield. I find that anything that makes my riding more comfortable also in turn makes me a safer rider, and having the ability to flip up the face shield and shake some of my claustriphobia is a good thing.
Anyway, on to the helmet itself. I got it from a small Harley shop down the road. The guy does lots of stuff for me for my snowmobile and he gives me great deals. Even though he had to order it, he only charged me $229. That is with the silver paint. It took him an entire day to get it, I had to wait a whole 24 hours!! The quality looks great. The finish is fantasic, all the trim is fastened really well and the face shield is solid. I put it on and evaluated the fit. I've been using HJC helmets for the snowmobile for years, so I knew it would fit me well. The liner is really nice, it's that DuPont Cool Max mesh and looks like it will be comfortable in the summer. The face shiled is actuated by a single clip in the front, and makes audiable clicks ot wide open or closed. After 3 times of opening and closing the chin bar, it has become like second nature. The face shiled can be removed with out any tools, and I can actually do it while it's on my head- it's that easy. I will be getting a yellow tint sheild for overcast days and a dk smoke shield for sunny days. I never got other shields for my Shoei helmet becasue I couldn't see myself changing the shield often, it was too much of a pain. With the helmet came a couple of extra ear pads to lessen the noise level if desired and a really nice helmet bag with a cinch cord. I will be carrying that with me all the time as I don't want this helmet to end up looking like my old, chipped, beat up Shoei.
On to the road test, as that was what I was most concerned with. I had heard people say they are noisy at speed and seem to catch the air and casue neck pain. I experienced none of that. It was quieter than my Shoei and seemed very areodynamic. A few runs at 90mph with no fairing proved all I needed to know- it was fine at speed. Very quiet and comfortable. I was able to wear my regular sunglasses no problems whatsoever and even found that I could use my cell phone ear bud and boom mic with no discomfort at all. Very cool.
The biggest surprise was the lack of fogging. I bought this model partly becasue I know HJC makes a breath deflector for it. The guy I bought it from had one in stock, so I told him to hold onto it while I test out the helmet. I've had fogging problems like you wouldn't believe on every helmet I've owned- generally if it is cooler than 60 degrees, I'll have to either use a breath deflector or keep the shield open, and I have very sensitive eyes, so the latter is not good for me. Anyone who has used a breath deflector knows how much they are annoying, they take some getting used to and even then aren't ever comfortable (I'm a little claustriphobic, can you tell?). This weekend I left the house and it was 40 degrees out. I experienced virtually no fogging of the face shield. The helmet seems really well designed in this way, the vents on the chin bar are directed to ports just underneath the visor and pointing straight up. My Shoei, a $400 helmet, wasn't this well thought out- the vents just point straight to your mouth, and don't do anything to prevent fogging. There is also a vent on the top of the helmet that controls two ports that vent the upper cavity of the helmet. Both vents were really easy to use even while riding and with my gloves on- my Shoei vents are hard to use while the helmet is off and you don't have gloves on!
Overall I would give the HJC Sy-Max two huge thumbs up. Fit, finish and function are all better than expected for a sub $300 helmet, and the engineering behind the venting system is perfect. I love it. I agonized over this decision for quite some time, as I was so unhappy with my $400 Shoei that I was afraid of the same thing happening this time. I tried on the following models of flip up chin bar helmets- Shoei, Nolan, Bell and a few others I don't remember becasue they were cheap and didn't fit right. This one fit me the best and I liked all the features.
One last note to anyone shopping around for these- HJC now makes a less expensive version of the Sy-Max called the CL-Max. It just came out this year and retails for around $179. The difference seems to be that the CL-Max is a thremoplastic shell helmet, the Sy-Max is a fiberglass shell. The weight is a little less on the Sy-Max. I feel better with the fiberglass anyway, and the fit and finish of the Sy-Max seemed better.
I love my new brain bucket!
I really wanted a flip up face shield helmet this year. I have heard all the talk about how they aren't Snell approved, they aren't as safe and what not, but I don't care- it's worth it to me to have the luxury of the flip up face shield. I find that anything that makes my riding more comfortable also in turn makes me a safer rider, and having the ability to flip up the face shield and shake some of my claustriphobia is a good thing.
Anyway, on to the helmet itself. I got it from a small Harley shop down the road. The guy does lots of stuff for me for my snowmobile and he gives me great deals. Even though he had to order it, he only charged me $229. That is with the silver paint. It took him an entire day to get it, I had to wait a whole 24 hours!! The quality looks great. The finish is fantasic, all the trim is fastened really well and the face shield is solid. I put it on and evaluated the fit. I've been using HJC helmets for the snowmobile for years, so I knew it would fit me well. The liner is really nice, it's that DuPont Cool Max mesh and looks like it will be comfortable in the summer. The face shiled is actuated by a single clip in the front, and makes audiable clicks ot wide open or closed. After 3 times of opening and closing the chin bar, it has become like second nature. The face shiled can be removed with out any tools, and I can actually do it while it's on my head- it's that easy. I will be getting a yellow tint sheild for overcast days and a dk smoke shield for sunny days. I never got other shields for my Shoei helmet becasue I couldn't see myself changing the shield often, it was too much of a pain. With the helmet came a couple of extra ear pads to lessen the noise level if desired and a really nice helmet bag with a cinch cord. I will be carrying that with me all the time as I don't want this helmet to end up looking like my old, chipped, beat up Shoei.
On to the road test, as that was what I was most concerned with. I had heard people say they are noisy at speed and seem to catch the air and casue neck pain. I experienced none of that. It was quieter than my Shoei and seemed very areodynamic. A few runs at 90mph with no fairing proved all I needed to know- it was fine at speed. Very quiet and comfortable. I was able to wear my regular sunglasses no problems whatsoever and even found that I could use my cell phone ear bud and boom mic with no discomfort at all. Very cool.
The biggest surprise was the lack of fogging. I bought this model partly becasue I know HJC makes a breath deflector for it. The guy I bought it from had one in stock, so I told him to hold onto it while I test out the helmet. I've had fogging problems like you wouldn't believe on every helmet I've owned- generally if it is cooler than 60 degrees, I'll have to either use a breath deflector or keep the shield open, and I have very sensitive eyes, so the latter is not good for me. Anyone who has used a breath deflector knows how much they are annoying, they take some getting used to and even then aren't ever comfortable (I'm a little claustriphobic, can you tell?). This weekend I left the house and it was 40 degrees out. I experienced virtually no fogging of the face shield. The helmet seems really well designed in this way, the vents on the chin bar are directed to ports just underneath the visor and pointing straight up. My Shoei, a $400 helmet, wasn't this well thought out- the vents just point straight to your mouth, and don't do anything to prevent fogging. There is also a vent on the top of the helmet that controls two ports that vent the upper cavity of the helmet. Both vents were really easy to use even while riding and with my gloves on- my Shoei vents are hard to use while the helmet is off and you don't have gloves on!
Overall I would give the HJC Sy-Max two huge thumbs up. Fit, finish and function are all better than expected for a sub $300 helmet, and the engineering behind the venting system is perfect. I love it. I agonized over this decision for quite some time, as I was so unhappy with my $400 Shoei that I was afraid of the same thing happening this time. I tried on the following models of flip up chin bar helmets- Shoei, Nolan, Bell and a few others I don't remember becasue they were cheap and didn't fit right. This one fit me the best and I liked all the features.
One last note to anyone shopping around for these- HJC now makes a less expensive version of the Sy-Max called the CL-Max. It just came out this year and retails for around $179. The difference seems to be that the CL-Max is a thremoplastic shell helmet, the Sy-Max is a fiberglass shell. The weight is a little less on the Sy-Max. I feel better with the fiberglass anyway, and the fit and finish of the Sy-Max seemed better.
I love my new brain bucket!
The HJC Sy-Max rocks 
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