Arai XD4 vs. Shoei Hornet X2 (Which Is Better?)
Let’s look at a comparison between Arai XD4 vs Shoei Hornet X2 and help you decide which is a better motorcycle helmet for you out of these two.
Let’s begin!
Arai XD4 vs. Shoei Hornet X2
Arai XD4 Wins!
Arai XD4 weighs less, and you know I like lightweight motorcycle helmets. 😅 I’d personally pick the lighter Arai XD4 over the heavier Shoei Hornet X2.
Arai XD4
“The fluorescent yellow is an awesome eye-catcher. I can’t count the number of times I’ve had people glance my way and start to pull out and then do a double take on the helmet. I’m not lost in the crowd anymore. Couple of drivers have given me a thumbs-up while pointing to their head and nodding. This color actually makes a difference. Notches on the visor are great, can get a small crack if I want one at stops or around town.”
Probably one of the most versatile helmets that Arai makes is the XD4. It is possible to remove the peak entirely on a lot of adventure helmets to turn it into more-or-less a regular helmet.
A look at it from inside the box imparts a sense of a helmet designed for use off-road, with the sun/roost peak and large shield. Arai intends a helmet to be as safe as possible, so their design goal – in addition to being as safe as possible – has also been to produce a round helmet with vents and spoilers as low as possible, to reduce airflow noise created by an accident.
The Arai XD4 is very much a continuation of what’s come before, like most of the new Arai models. We’ve discussed the XD4’s versatility previously. XD4 is incredibly useful for all of these reasons.
It is also designed to have the same shape as the R75 helmet for improved ‘glancing off’ performance, meaning that the helmet slides instead of gripping when hit, and it has a lining that is made of a single piece of polystyrene.
SHARP safety ratings do not always reflect all this careful safety design. Although Arai produces amazing, higher-end helmets, the results of its SHARP safety tests often indicate that their helmets are not always the safest. The average Arai helmet score over the years is 3.4/5.
Arai’s helmets aren’t poor by any means, but they’re also not the best – as one might expect from a high-end helmet! We can’t say at this point how well the Arai XD4 will perform in an accident because we have not yet tested it (so we’ve assigned it our default safety rating of 3 stars until we can make sure).
Shoei Hornet X2
Riders who participate in dual sports are certainly unique. Dual sport helmets are becoming increasingly popular, which explains their popularity.
To tell you the truth, we have conducted so many tests on dual sport helmets that we’re confident that we’ve come up with one of the best ones out there. In lieu of custom paint jobs, their decal customization services are durable, sharp-looking, and more reasonable than custom paint.
Manufacturers of these helmets have molds tailored to the heads of Asian or European/North American citizens. This helmet provides excellent impact absorption thanks to its dual-layer, multi-density EPS liner in key impact areas.
Rather than allowing air to enter through an open mesh system in the chin, it has a 50mm wide opening to allow air to flow through. As far as Shoei’s ventilation system goes, it was always good at striking a balance between airflow and silence, but the lower intake vent now has a long slot that air passes through.
Riders are able to stay cool with this model while maintaining aerodynamics and functionality as a visor. Using a specially-designed upper intake vent to force air to pass through, the new and finely tuned V-460 visor of the Shoei Hornet X2 helmet offers superior airflow.
Despite the fact that most riders didn’t stop long enough to adjust previous Hornet models, Shoei believed that most of them wouldn’t bother to do so anyway. Hornet X2 helmets feature a white all-over appearance, which makes judging their paint quality quite difficult.
