Arai Helmet
Ask any experienced racer, especially those who've already suffered a concussion, about helmets and they'll all agree you cannot economize on your helmet. The helmet has got to perform and it has got to perform well. Arai helmets are largely regarded as one of, if not, the safest helmet on the market. Arai continues to remain a family business with the same goal, the same mission through three generations: to protect the rider. Arai doesn't focus on being fashionable or pleasing shareholders or making the news or paying big money for popular riders to wear the Arai helmet. All Arai helmets are handmade and built to one standard, there are no high-end or low-end Arai helmets. Every single helmet is the very best helmet.
Hirotake Arai founded Arai Helmets over 67 years ago in the Japanese countryside just outside Tokyo. Arai's father has a hat maker and young Arai liked to tinker around in the shop making things, gradually becoming an inventor in his own right. As an adult, Arai was approached by the Japanese army, which needed some heat-resistant headgear. Arai spent a few years making this headgear and was approached by construction companies looking for a helmet for their workers. Thus, Arai invented the fiberglass helmet.
During his off-time, Hirotake Arai enjoyed riding his motorcycle. Motorcycle helmets didn't exist yet and in 1949, Arai modified one of his construction helmets to wear while he was riding his motorcycle, a simple fiberglass shell with a styrofoam liner. The helmets caught on and soon Arai was making and selling many helmets while keeping his life simple and the company small.
In the mid '70's, Arai's son Michio, having recently graduated college, suggested that his father invest in enlarging the company to compete with Bell Helmets, which had followed Arai's initiative in the helmet market, but aggressively expanded and had become the number one helmet company. Hirotake Arai was happy with life as it was and he eagerly handed the company over to his son, Michio Arai. Michio had passion and a vision. Michio wanted to change the culture of the people who work at Arai. "People here do not just make helmets," Michio told Donn Maeda of Transworld Motocross in a private factory tour, "They are providing safety, comfort, and protection. Every Arai worker knows that a rider is depending on them to do their best." Every helmet goes through stringent testing and development. Arai maintains a standard model with a soft liner and stiff shell. An Arai helmet is smooth and round in shape, so that it doesn't grab the ground in a crash. A round helmet slides when it hits the ground while sharp edges and corners on helmets can snag the ground and stop the helmet.
While maintaining the vital basics in helmet design and rider protection that has created a conservative and strict image for Arai, the company simultaneously boasts a list of rider-driven innovations: the first modern ventilated helmets; the first helmets with washable interiors; first to offer different interior shapes; first quick-change shield systems; first with removable, custom-sized cheek pads and head liners; first with helmet exhaust ventilation; first diffuser ventilation, and more. Arai's EPS liner is comprised of several material densities molded into a single piece, technology Arai pioneered more than 20 years ago.
Arai. There is a difference.
