To answer that question Bell Helmets, a company rooted in American racing and motorcycling history sent us one of their new Revolver modular helmets.

To be fair I wanted to test this helmet because, quite frankly, I never understood the purpose of modular helmets.

Are Europeans that lazy that they can't be bothered to remove their glasses for a moment to put on a full-face helmet? Is their need to smoke a cigarette so great that they must design a helmet to facilitate them doing so at every stoplight? Is Europe just a bunch of small countries filled with people who share a collective desire to reenact the dark ages replete with suits of armor and helms?

As investigative journalists we dove into these hard hitting questions and came up with some answers: Europeans are NOT lazy at all; Yes they do smoke more if you count the Eastern European countries - but you can't really count them because every time you turn around 1 country becomes 3 countries and their names are always changing; and the jury is still out on the medieval reenactment question.

Since the why of the helmet eluded us we decided to concentrate on the how. How does the Revolver work as a helmet?

Overall

Our Bell Revolver came to us in the Matte Black color which had a very nice, smooth finish.

The overall shape of the Revolver fits in well with the rest of Bell's new helmets; a nice blend of creases and curves. The Revolver has Bell's “Velocity Flow Ventilation” system and, like the rest of Bell's lineup, it flows a decent amount of air – although it doesn't have any brow vents which cuts down somewhat on the total volume of air moved through the helmet.

The Revolver weighs in at a portly 1750 grams (manufacturer's published weight) which is about 100 – 200 grams heavier than the rest of the new Bell helmet, full-face line-up. Of course the front half of those helmets aren't able to do a Mercedes 300SL impersonation either so there you go.

Besides being able to go all Transformerish the Revolver also has another converting trick up it's proverbial sleeve; a hidden sunshade. Unlike the one fitted to the Nolan helmet we tested a couple years back, this one actually comes down far enough to allow you to look through the middle of it and not through the distorted lower edge.

Of course the Revolver also comes with Bell's proprietary “ClickRelease” shield system as well. This allows shields to be swapped out in under 30 seconds. I practiced a few times and then timed myself and was able to remove one shield, put it down, pick-up another shield and put it on in under 10 seconds. Of course I can't think of any realistic reason why you'd need to change a shield that quickly but, like driving a car that goes over 200mph, it's nice to know you can.

Fit

I have found that Bell builds all their helmets biased towards an oval to long-oval shape and the Revolver is no different. If your head shape is more rounded then you are probably going to have a fitment issue. If, however, you're melon is an oval/long-oval shape the Revolver will coddle it in typical Bell fashion. One thing to be aware of is that the Bell Revolver is a bit shorter front to back than some other helmets which
means that, when the rest of the helmet is properly fitted, the front of the helmet sits closer to your face (chin especially) than you may be used to.

Pre-curved cheekpads (not flat ones bent to fit), a soft, removable/washable, microbe and bacterial battling interior, and a host of smaller niceties make all the new Bell helmets, including the Revolver, a nice place to stick your noggin into.

On the Road

The one question I had about the Revolver was; would it be as quiet as my daily-wear Star? Would I be able to flip the front of the helmet up at a light while wearing gloves? Would the deeper chin profile cause buffeting at speed on my FJR? …........ The three questions I had about the Revolver were........

Seeing as how I live in a small city with low speed limits and more traffic lights than people, the first question I was able to answer was the convertible button and glove issue. Or non-issue I should say. The
front flips up easily with just a nice push on a gray button bejeweled with a reddish-pink translucent dot on it that sits smack-dab in the middle of the chin bar. Very easy to find and operate. To close just slide down the whole thing until you hear a click; locked and ready to ride (you could also ride, I guess, with it open if your bike had lots of wind protection – far more than a sport-touring bike with a standard screen).

Once I broke free of the bright lights, small city I was able to twist the throttle and throw some wind at the Revolver.

Which was pretty anti-climatic. No more wind noise than any other Bell helmet we've tested; which is to say it is pretty quiet. You'd still want earplugs for a long ride, just like every other helmet I've ever worn, but,
unlike a convertible car, the modular Revolver was no noisier than it's solid-face brethren.

I also noticed no significant buffeting from the deeper chin bar nor any other part of the helmet; as long as the front was flipped down. I tried riding with the front in the “Up” position and it was like someone put a barn door on top my helmet – I may have given myself whiplash. “Good afternoon passengers. We are about to take-off. Please put the front of your helmet in the fully down and locked position. If there is an emergency you can find the exit point all around you; literally”.

Conclusion

All modular helmets legally sold in the USA are DOT certified but not SNELL certified. This is because SNELL believes that in certain types of accidents the front of the helmet can pop-up and allow the rider's face to become overly well acquainted with the ground. I'm not sure there have been any actual studies done of this phenomenon but, seeing as how Europe isn't populated by motorcycle riders who've had their faces ripped-off, I'd say modular helmets are pretty safe.

If you are one of those American's who love to look as European as possible while you ride (and yes I'm looking at you Beemer riders) then add the Bell Revolver to your “must look at” helmets.

With it's style, price point (like all Bell helmets you can find great deals on them) and an American-style interior (read: plush) you really can't go wrong......

.........Although the urge to grab a broom handle and joust with other motorcyclists while wearing the Revolver was a bit worrying.

The Bell Revolver retails for $199.95 to $209.95

You can read more about the Bell Revolver and all the other Bell helmets at: http://www.bellsports.com/powersports/

---

Add this page to your favorite Social Bookmarking websites

TrackBack URI for this entry

Comments (4)

Subscribe to this comment's feed

AndrewF said:

Purpose Let me explain the purpose of modular helmet... for me, it's the glasses! Or rather, combination of glasses and need to take my helmet on and off repeatedly. If I just went for a day-long fun rides it wouldn't be so bad (although it is annoying, time consuming, bad for the glasses and every time you take them off and put them down somewhere like the tank you risk them falling and breaking - and you'd be really stuffed then!). But I use my bike for lots of short trips around the city and I hop on and off my bike sometimes dozen of times in a space of couple of hours. Going through the glasses routine every time would drive me up the wall in no time at all. So it's not so much that Europeans are lazy, it's more that riding is more a part of their everyday life than it is for largely recreational American riders.

report abuse vote down vote up

January 21, 2012
Votes: +0

Editor said:

Purpose - response Hi Andrew! First let me say thank you for reading our humble motorcycle website. We truly do appreciate it. Of course if you haven't referred at least 3 of your friends to us then we take back all the nice things we just said and stick out our collective tongues in your general direction instead. Onto your comment then: I was all ready to call you a lazy whiner, what with all the "glasses on and off and they might break and waa-waa-waa" stuff but then you made perfect sense by your closing statement (for the record we didn't call Europeans lazy...we said they weren't):"So it's not so much that Europeans are lazy, it's more that riding is more a part of their everyday life than it is for largely recreational American riders". See that makes perfect sense and now I can't make fun of you. You sir have ruined my day. Great comment though and well thought out. Maybe you should have my job.

report abuse vote down vote up

January 24, 2012
Votes: +0

Ducwad said:

This is not a quiet helmet! I purchased one of the Revolvers recently. My previous helmet was an Arai Quantum 2. Now I have only ever owned one other Bell helmet before this one - a dual-sport. So your statement that it is as quiet as other Bell helmets is true in my limited experience with Bell. But compared to every other helmet I have owned (Shoei, Arai) this one is significantly louder. I have ridden bikes without ear plugs wearing my Arai that are loud with earplugs in wearing the Revolver. It is actually the one thing I do not like about this helmet that will eventually cause me to replace it. Why am I still wearing it then? The visor is great! After several months of winter riding it still sheds water from the outside and is almost totally fog resistant on the inside. A huge plus in the Seattle area. My Arai fogs at any hint of humidity or low temperatures which means I have to ride with it cracked open almost constantly allowing water to run down the inside of the visor. A safety issue at night in the rain.

report abuse vote down vote up

January 27, 2012
Votes: +0

Editor said:

"This is not a quiet helmet" Hey Ducwad, first thanks for reading and taking the time to comment. Means a lot to us here at 2WF. Now on to your comment. First, in the absence of a decibel tester, "quiet" is strictly a relative term. I personally think the Bell helmets are quiet. Of course I do wear earplugs which can affect one's perception. I've worn quite a few helmets and my usual lid (a Bell Star) is as quiet as my (now) old Arai Profile - plus it flows mucho grande amounts of air. The Revolver may be a bit noisier at some speeds than the Star but not enough to say "this helmet is noisier". Thanks again for reading and commenting (even if you don't agree with me). - Kenn

report abuse vote down vote up

January 27, 2012
Votes: +0

Name

Email

Title

Comment

smaller | bigger

Subscribe via email (registered users only)

I have read and agree to the Terms of Usage.

Add Comment