[Yellow Submarine]

I just picked up the helmet above from eBay seller forzasbk out of York, PA. Price was great at $139 deliver to my doorstep. The dark smoke shield was only another $28 delivered.

Background:
I’m a rabid race fan and have seen KYT helmets on a number of Moto2 and Moto3 racers. In MotoGP Aleix Espargaro wears one and as he’s been consistently in the front 3 this year KYT’s logo has been splashed all over my TV.

Not that this hasn’t been the case before. Leopard Moto3 riders have worn KYT helmets for the last several seasons. Lorenzo Dallaporta and now Dennis Foggia both wear/wore KYTs.

I’d had my eye on a Dallaporta replica from a European helmet outlet but didn’t want to drop a few hundred bucks on a helmet I had no real info on. Finding forzasbk made a difference as they’re US based and accept returns.

The purchase:
I ordered late on a Friday, paid through PayPal, received a confirmation and an expected delivery date. Then on Monday I got a shipping confirmation and a tracking number. The helmet was on my doorstep on Friday.

Easy. Never needed to contact forzasbk but it seems they are professional and execute well. I highly recommend them based on my trouble free experience with them.

The helmet:
When I unboxed the helmet, the first impression was it is quite light. If I had to compare I’d guess it is with in 2-300 grams of my lightest X-Lite.

That helmet is nearly a full pound lighter than my Arai Corsair for a real gold standard comparison. One of my oldest riding buddies was similarly impressed with how light it is.

Finish and matériels seems of fairly high quality, at least as good as you’d expect for a sub $200 helmet. Better really, If I’m honest. Certainly doesn’t feel or look cheap.

Fit is very comfortable with my only issue being the ear cups are very small. It felt like the bottom of the ear cup was pressing on my ear lobes. This has gone away over the last couple of weeks of use.

I normally wear a medium except in Arai, in which I can wear a small and AGV. They make a Med/Small and a Med/Large. I fit the Med/Small the best. The KYT is medium.

The strap system is a conventional double D ring affair with a pull tab to loosen the strap for removal and a snap on the end to secure it.

The shield:
This is my only real knock for this helmet. The shield itself is excellent and is optically clear without distortion. It has several ratchet positions when opened but below the lowest position

it has a seamless positioning so it can be cracked open in any desired position. There is also a shield lock to keep it closed when you do a head check when changing lanes at speed. The shield can also rest on top of the latch to demist without a blast of air in the face. Also, the dark shield at least has both tear off posts on the outside as well as pin lock posts inside.

Where it absolutely sucks is when it comes time to install a new shield. It took me probably 20 minutes to get it changed. Removal was not a big deal. Installation, even reading the instructions was monumental.

After fighting with it for 10 minutes, my wife fought with it for another 10. She even read the instructions while I was fighting with the shield. She gave up and handed it back to me.

Literally walked out and got a beer and sat down in front of my TV to fiddle with it. After another 10 minutes I finally got one side on. It took another couple of minutes before I got the other side on.

If you live where you have frequent need to swap your shield, I recommend another helmet. During the summer here, it isn’t an issue but from September to May I have to ride to work with a clear shield and swap to a dark smoke for my afternoon ride home.

So what’s it like on the bike? On the Yellow Submarine it’s excellent. It’s quiet, super quiet even. It’s aerodynamically stable and doesn’t buffet. No wind noise. Doing a head check doesn’t feel like it’s gonna get ripped off my head.

Venting is great. No hot spots nor a stuffy feeling with the shield down. I didn’t use the lock yet and didn’t have the shield flip open doing a head check.

The experience aboard my Aprilia Mille R was slightly different as one might expect. There was a little more turbulence but it didn’t affect the helmet. There was a bit of wind noise when I turned my head changing lanes or just looking in a mirror. Overall though, much the same.

All I can think of for now. I’ll update as I get more experience with this helmet.

 

[Newyork]

I am yet to see someone with one of these helmets so good on you for taking the plunge. Looks and sounds like it’s alright (minus the shield change) especially for the $$.

 

[Yellow Submarine]

I am yet to see someone with one of these helmets so good on you for taking the plunge.

Full disclosure, I’m kind of a gear whore. 😂

 

[Spyder13]

It sounds like a great lid. However, I have a "long oval" melon, and most of them do not fit me comfortably. Few brands even MAKE a helmet that fit my head right. I also like to have the built in sun screen, as I tend to ride out during the day, and end up riding home in the dark quite often. Carrying around an extra shield (no matter how easy it is to change out) just sucks. I don't like to carry a bag, or backpack. Always have a bungie strap over the back seat for those "just in case" scenario's. Still going to go check them out, as I do need a new lid after last years superman impression into a cornfield. Thanks for the review ! ! !

 

[Yellow Submarine]

I dunno if these will be good for someone who fits a long oval helmet. I have to guess not.

The only companies that make a long oval helmet, at least as they themselves describe them as such are Arai and LS2.

Arai Signet is a long oval fit. Probably 90% of LS2 helmets are long oval fit. I dunno why they went that route and don’t make more round or intermediate oval models.

Also as you’re well aware, Arai means big $$$ and they don’t make an internal sun visor helmet.

For anyone else in the same predicament or simply for reference I’m an intermediate oval fit. The KYT TT Course helmet this thread reviews fits my intermediate oval dome pretty much perfectly.

 

[Spyder13]

Yeah, I still have an old Speed & Strength that fits pretty good. Will likely be using that for a little while once I get my bike back together. Just need to wash the old sweat out of the pads in it, LOL.

 

[Yellow Submarine]

UPDATE

Thought it time to update this review after riding with this helmet all summer, we’re now into what I call “2 shield season”

That is, it is still more dark than light when I leave for work at 6:00 AM. Here is a recent pic from this past week:

This is the point where I gotta have a clear shield. Leaving a bit later has bought me a little time for wearing lighter smoked or iridium shields without swapping.

From here until we “Fall back” for daylight savings time it’s only going to be a bit darker every day. Leaving in the afternoon though, the sun is blindingly bright. Smoke shield required really.

Back to the KYT. I’d say based on my initial impressions I’d rate it at 4.5 stars. Mainly due to the difficulty of swapping out the shield. Mainly for the reasons discussed above.

Not much has changed in my opinion of this helmet since the initial post. However; as indicated I’m now at that point where shield changes are required. Clear shield on before departing my drive, tinted shield on before leaving work.

Unless KYT comes up with a photochromic “transitions” type shield then frequent shield changes it is. That stated, I’m getting more proficient with this and can make the swap repeatedly at around 2 minutes.

For reference, I can accomplish the same swap with my Kabuto in under 10 seconds. Probably more like 5 seconds. The same task on either of my X-Lites takes around 10-15 seconds, and the same on my Scorpion EXO-R.

Occasionally everything will just pop right into place and I can make the swap in around 30 seconds which is way quicker. However, more often than not one side will refuse to come off and then refuse to go back on with the changed shield.

Never the same side twice and when one is a pain the opposite one will pop on or off with next to no effort. At any rate, because the shield is so frustrating I’m still at 4.5 stars.

 

[Yellow Submarine]

In relation to my first post above, I really wanted a Leopard replica. The Foggia/Dallaporta replica to be exact. Yesterday I was surfing around on eBay and found ForzaSBK now has them in stock!!

Expected delivery between Friday and Tuesday!

 

[Yellow Submarine]

Shield change…Gaaaah!

The helmet pictured above arrived last month the day we left on our epic New England/Canada vacation. I did not ride a motorcycle for my entire vacation. Thus, the first opportunity to wear the new lid, apart from around the house (naked to entertain my wife!) 😂 was my first day back to work this week.

As I’ve previously written, the shield change is a royal PITA. Even when it goes well, it’s still a bigger ordeal than any other helmet I have ever owned, Arai included. Even my old Bieffe KB8 Rebel was easier and that required the removal of 4 screws!

First day with the new helmet went fine. Rode to work with the clear shield on, swapped to the tinted one at work for the ride home. Then just now, I removed the dark tinted shield to take to work and fit to my “old” KYT when I ride home tomorrow. Removal went quite well. Then came time to reinstall the clear shield on the new KYT.

One side, the right one went on as easy as you please. The left…struggle bus. I fought with the damned thing for 20 minutes. Finally, after a bunch of swearing I went and got a bottle of Arai pivot lube. One drop on either side of the pivot flanges and less than 30 seconds later, a satisfying “pop” as the spring loaded retainer snapped into place.

Who knew it would take Arai lube to make fitting a KYT shield easy? Certainly never made refitting an Arai shield easier.

 

[Yellow Submarine]

After dealing with the absolute PITA that is swapping shields on this helmet, I coincidently found a way forward. A little while back I ordered a new iridium shield from an aftermarket company. That is, a shield made by someone other than KYT.

I got the shield from eBay seller Motorlife1949. It got to me roughly a week & a half after I ordered. It was quite well packed too. I decided to buy an additional shield simply because they’re not crazy expensive.

I fit the new shield to the new helmet this afternoon and was astonished to find it snapped right on. No fuss, no muss. Completely opposite my experience with the original shield. I took it back off and put the original clear one back on so it was ready to go on my next ride….and it again took forever to get the shield back on.

Accidentally it would seem, I’ve found a solution to the absolute pfaff of swapping shields with this helmet. The new shield went on so easily, I’m tempted to order a clear one to make the swaps go much more smoothly.

 

[Yellow Submarine]

See an audiologist. Fluid in the hearing canal is not normal and may be an indication of an infection elsewhere (tear ducts, sinus and heating canal all connected).

Doubtful the plug reached your ear drum. You’d have to get waaay back to reach your ear drum. So far you’d not be able to reach the end of the ear plug without tweezers to remove it.

 

[Chuckster]

FWIW, California Superbike School uses the KYT helmets and can hook students up with deals. They used to use Schuberth helmets, which are arguably some of the best out there. They allowed students to try before you buy, so my buddy did exaclty that last year. Can't remember what model, but he said it was one of the most comfortable helmets he's ever tried (and he has the experience to back up that statement). I think the deal was like 15-20% off, and he ended up ordering one. My Shoei X14 is now 4 years old, so I'll be shopping. If they offer that again in August, I'll be trying one. If it's not for me, I'll see if the Shark situation in the US has gotten any better (loved my RSR-2 and Race-R). If not, another Shoei....

But from the input I've gotten so far, KYT is at the top of my list.

 

[Yellow Submarine]

Okay so, that was really weird. I was not in this thread but was responding to @QRO and his ear plug issue…..and somehow my response to that thread ended up here. 🤷‍♂️

 

[Yellow Submarine]

That’s really cool to know @Chuckster. I had no idea any organization outside of several race teams were using KYT.

On another note, I may have finally figured out the shield swap. I’ve got it down to under 30 seconds “most of the time”. Probably 85% of the time I can make the swap easily now. It’s the 15% of the time that it still takes me way longer than it should that still irritates me.

I found a technique where I get the “slot” protrusion started first and keep pressure on it while I get the rear of the pivot started. Seems to work without fail about 85% of the time.

Then it just doesn’t. I haven’t sorted out a rhyme or reason why which is frustrating. I can fight with it for minutes on end and then for no particular reason that I can discern it just gently clicks into place while I’m fiddling with the release lever. Or not….and it just clicks into place with a positive “snap” sound.

I’ve literally fought with the dark smoke shield for 20 minutes having gotten one side on, only to have to abandon the swap and go back to the clear shield which snaps on without issue. Then the same scenario but in reverse; where the clear shield will not snap back on but after a 15 minute fight it suddenly clicks into place.

It’s not an issue enough of the time that I bring along the dark tint anyway. If it swaps, it swaps and if after 10 minutes it doesn’t, I go back to the clear shield. 🤷🏻‍♂️

 

[alexei]

KYT bought Suomy, and went into premier class racing.
I've not seen one in person, but I reckon the visor attaches like Shoei - hook, rotate, press to clip.

The spoiler is a common accessory to add.

 

[Yellow Submarine]

Nope. Not even close. I’ve had Shoeis, even sold them for a time. The KYT mechanism is far and away more difficult to fit.

I have 2, and both are difficult. I dropped a dab of Arai shield pivot oil on my Foggia replica and it seemed to help….until it didn’t.

That’s the rub. As soon as you think you have it figured out….you’re stuck with a shield that won’t fully install.