Lifestyle Cycles Meet the Guy: Scott dealer development manager at Arai Helmets

 "Hi everyone, Kevin with Lifestyle Psycho here today. And today, I've got Scott with Arai Helmets. He's the Dealer Development Manager for the great products that Arai is coming out with. We wanted to bring him on today and get to know him a little bit, get some of your backstory. Now, can you tell me about how you got into the helmet business, into the Motorsport industry?"

"Yeah, I started at a dealership, uncrating bikes just because I wanted to be around them really bad. That turned into a career where I started turning wrenches and then started working in the apparel department. I found out that a lot of people aren't enjoying their helmet as much as I am. I was wearing Arai helmets at the time, and I decided to try to make that my focus of what I did day in and day out. I started to try to fit everybody to a helmet and give them the same experience with their helmet that I was getting with my own. I just really had a passion for seeing people enjoy their bike as much as I did and to not be distracted by a helmet that made their ride less enjoyable than it could be."

"What I really enjoyed about sharing Arai helmets with people is that I knew I was putting them in a helmet that was made by a company started by motorcyclists, run by motorcyclists. Their goal is to make the most protection possible in a helmet, and they keep that same focus year in and year out. So, I felt really good that I was putting customers in a helmet that was made by a company that really put their protection as the number one priority, rather than chasing each new styling trend or feature trend. If it makes protection, they add it to the helmet. If it takes away from it, they don't add it, even if it's at the cost of sales. So, that kind of integrity in the company really drew me to Arai. I learned everything I could about them and eventually, one day, was able to actually meet Mr. Arai when I got to work for the company. He's the son of Hiraki Arai, who created the very first motorcycle helmet in Japan. Even today in his 80s, he's still a motorcyclist. He still enjoys wearing his Arai helmet. He gets an off-the-line production helmet just like you or I would. His thinking is that everybody's head is worth just as much as anyone else's. So, if it's one of our sponsored road racers or just us guys riding on the street, we all get that same level of protection from every Arai helmet. That kind of company ethos is something that I was extremely drawn to because I like to represent things that I can feel proud of, things that I can stand behind. So, that's what really drew me to Arai and what keeps me going even today."

"That is such an awesome story. I share a lot with you in that. Is that, you know, I've been able to, for over 20 years, be in an industry of the things that I'm passionate around, around the motorcycles. And it's no bad day going to work when you love what you do and you get to play around with all the stuff that, you know, other people wish they could do this kind of stuff for a living. It's absolutely great."

"So with that, you know, tell me a little bit about the Arai line. You know, what are some of the quality characteristics, some of the key features that Arai brings to the table? I see this great painted one right here, nice and flashy, but you know, also down to the matte black for the guy that wants to be a little bit more subtle."

"Everything that Arai does starts with the idea that the purpose of a helmet is to protect your head. So, everything is focused on what generates more protection in that helmet. And so, that's what we try to do with every aspect of the helmet, is to keep adding generation after generation more and more protection to a design that we know works, but we can always make it better. So, what you see in front of you is the new XD5. The original DS, which dual-sport helmet, came out in the mid-90s, and then we moved on to the XD series in the late '90s. So now we're here at the XD5 series. So, we've got just generations of development that have gone into this helmet. And that's something that you find with a lot of helmets. We have a number of legacy models that have been in development for decades."

"One of the things that you find with an Arai helmet is that we've got a lot of features that are new to some other helmets these days, but it's things that we've been doing all along, like plenty of room for your glasses in a helmet. That's a feature that we recognized as important decades ago because these helmets are made by people who wear what they make and they want the best for themselves. And that trickles down to us getting the best for us as well."

"The main key feature that you see in every Arai helmet is a smooth, round, strong shell. Everything on the outside of the helmet is made to break away. Think of it like a race car; you've got that roll cage. It's extraordinarily strong. All those pieces you see flying off in the crash, they take energy with it and they don't contribute to more energy being put into the car. So, that's the way we think about the shell and all the pieces on the outside of the helmet. The reason we stay with a round, smooth shape is in the real world of crashing, you never know which direction the energy is going to come from. And if you have angular, flat planes, exaggerated shapes, and that impact is coming at that wrong angle, it can catch that projection on the helmet and create more rotational force or even a stop moment. Anything that makes the helmet hesitate when it impacts is going to allow more energy into the helmet. So, having a very smooth, hard, round surface means there's less friction between the helmet and the impact surface. So, as long as you can keep the helmet moving forward in a crash, you're keeping energy out of it. Our main goal is to make the strongest helmet we can possibly make so that it doesn't conform to the impact surface, and that comes at the cost of a lot of expensive materials, a lot of time-consuming handmade labor. Every single Arai helmet is handmade by one of our 15 Shell Masters there in Japan, and all their work is incredibly heavily scrutinized by their peers. Every one of our Shell Masters that makes a helmet knows that two other Shell Masters are going to inspect his work and sign their name to his work. So, it keeps a lot of accountability, but it also makes sure that we keep the quality level that we expect out of every helmet."

"Something that's completely unique about Arai is we make three different shapes. So, if you have a round oval head, a long oval head, or in between, we have three different shaped helmets here in the North American market. And I'm referring to the hat line of your head. So, some people always have that classic hot spot on their forehead; they probably need our long oval helmet, and that will help relieve that hot spot. With Arai, since we make so many different shaped helmets and there's so much adjustability available through the different liners, the peel-away pads, the buckle system, you can almost always get one or two sizes smaller in an Arai helmet and actually be more comfortable than you would in another brand. So, that's a key component of Arai as well. You want to be able to wear it for a long time and be comfortable. So, having all those different shaped helmets, all the different adjustable pads, allows us to tailor the helmet to you, so we can take care of a particular hot spot instead of just putting you in a bigger helmet. That'll make your ride so much more comfortable; you'll be able to see out of the helmet so much better, your center of gravity will be closer to your own natural center of gravity. You won't get that big bob weight effect, and it just makes your overall riding experience that much better."

"Wow, Scott, you're certainly knowledgeable with helmets. You know, I just know that I need them to work, but you guys have definitely put the work in to make it comfortable. You know, certainly a well-built product. I'm looking at these two; I'm guessing this is going to be more for the street market, this is more of the dual-sport off-road market?"

"Well, actually, these are the same helmet, believe it or not. This is the way the helmet comes in the box with the peak and the clear shield. These side pods that you see here on the side, you can remove those from the helmet and then reinstall your shield with those same side pods and have this completely different appearance. Wow."

"You can also, and I'll just demonstrate here, remove your peak, remove your shield, and then reinstall the peak here, and now you're ready to go motocross style. Very cool."

"You guys have certainly done your homework on the product line. Well, Scott, I really want to thank you for coming out today. We just became an Arai dealer today, so look for this stuff on our website. As always, you know, smash that like button if you see something out there in the industry that we haven't covered in an update yet or a new product review. Hit us up, let us know; let's see if we can get that product in here and make it happen for you. Till next time, thanks for coming out, Scott."

"Thank you."