Everyone has their own style. Some people wear collared shirts and a tie while others wear jeans and a tee shirt. Individuality is found no where greater than in the motorcycle community as we buy different motorcycles that we’re passionate about, customize those bikes to the hill and acquire gear which not only do we think we look good in but hopefully protect us in the unfortunate case of an accident. Choosing a helmet is an important decision and shouldn’t be taken lightly as this piece of gear may save your life someday. Ideally form and function should merge together but not every manufacturer achieves such a lofty goal.  A great looking helmet doesn’t necessarily mean it’s comfortable, has sophisticated safety features and/or drains your bank account in the process. HJC’s new FS-15 Air on the other hand hits this goal with ease.

The FS-15 Air Snarl is not for those that want to keep a low profile while riding. It has a chrome like finish with what appears to be a really pissed off alien/machine on each side (think "Sentinel" machines converging on the Nebuchadnezzar in the Matrix) and a demon in the back. Future styles will hopefully be added so that if you want the “air system” you can have that functionality with a more subdued design.

Using computer-aided design (CAD) technology the FS-15 Air has an advanced fiberglass composite shell so it’s very lightweight which should reduce any neck strain while wearing it. Tipping the scales at just about 4lbs. it’s not as light as a pure carbon fiber helmet but it’s definitely not as heavy as some of its competitors. Plenty of weekend and during the week riding gave me an abundance of helmet time and I had zero issues with wearing it for hours on end, just 20 minutes to meet friends for lunch or sleeping with it on at night. OK, maybe a little hyperbole in that last part but this is one comfortable helmet. I suppose I’m lucky in the fact that the shape of my head isn’t too long, to round or oblong and once I donned the FS-15 Air it fit just right and was immediately comfortable.

One aspect of a helmet that’s truly valuable is not only the ability to change the face shield but to do so without having a PhD in engineering or physics from Caltech. It’s evident that HJC must have some of its grads on staff as their RapidFire™ shield replacement system makes removing, cleaning and re-installing the shield as easy as eating pie. This is a quick and painless process and best of off it’s a tool-less procedure.

In just a few easy steps and in less than a minute a shield change can be accomplished. The mechanism is sturdy and is clearly labeled (i.e. “Open”) so you know which position it’s in. To make things even easier the shield is marked with an arrow which when lined up with the handle-locker arrow takes the guess work out of knowing if the shield is at its maximum point or not. Once lined up and you slide both handles to the “Open” position the shield pops right off. Line up the shield guide into the plate-gear, slide the handles back and the shield is re-installed. Simple, easy and no fuss what so ever.

The FS-15 Air comes with HJC’s Pinlock®-prepared face shield which features a new design that provides 95% UV protection, anti-scratch coating and is prepared for an anti-fog insert. The shield retention button is there as added protection against the shield opening while at high speeds. Click the button down and the shield’s locked in placed, click the button up and it’s available to be re-positioned in any of three states (fully, halfway or slightly opened). The included clear shield gives a good view of the road and your peripheral vision isn’t diminished compared to other shields that are sometimes too narrowly focused on the sides.