Bell Revolver Flip-up helmet

[Stephen]

First of all, here's a review by Revzilla.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F4xAa_5yyQI

My Nolan 102 Flip-up helmet is about 4.5 lbs. The Revolver is 1750 grams= 3.86 lbs. My price for the Bell Revolver 'Rally' model was just over $200. Here's a few pictures.

I have a Bell Star Viper helmet that I absolutely love. It's extremely lightweight, functional & has a cool factor. I wear a size small in the Star. I was advised to get a size larger for the Revolver. Good thing. It fits tight (a good thing). One thing that I noticed right away... as I pulled down the front to lock it down, the pressure increased a bit around the jaw area. The Revolver uses the same shield as the my Bell Star, but it doesn't have the micro-adjust nor locking ability as the Star does. The flip-down sunglasses are a nice feature... not as dark as I like it, but I normally wear a dark or iridium shield anyway. The new auto-tint shield is available, too. I don't know how the helmet functions with sound, but the Star is noisy with all the vents open, & very quiet with them closed. I will install helmet speakers in the Revolver (like my Nolan 102). There's cutouts behind a mesh material. My Star Viper came with a beautiful bag with spare parts, etc. The Revolver comes with only a nice soft bag/cover (as shown).

I'll update this post when I can get out & ride. Friggin' winter!

 

[TC'sFJR]

Is this helmet designed to accept speakers? I have an old Nolan N100 that speakers will not fit in properly.

 

[Stephen]

Yes. If you watch the video, it shows you the cutouts.

 

[JamesK]

Thanks for the post, this helmet looks pretty good, especially given the price. One thing I am interested in hearing about for your direct experience is the ventilation. Notice in the video they mention that the venting is designed for a 3/4 sport bike tuck position, so I'm curious how the venting will work in the more up right riding position of the FJR. A related concern is when the liner is out you can clearly see the ventura air holes, they are quite large which would be great in hot weather but I'm wondering if they will make the helmet too cold in winter since you can't close them off, other than using some ductape (which would be yet another great application for this superbly versatile product

 

[zip]

Stephen, thanks for the share. How are you finding it noise-wise? Do you use headphones or Bluetooth at all?

Tremendous looking helmet and a truly excellent video review. That guy is very good at his job. Working in media myself, that ain't easy.

Wish this helmet came in blue, but thinking about it anyhow. Very sharp.

 

[dcarver]

I'm old skool enough to recall the original Bell Star helmets..

..keep us posted with your findings after Spring and riding weather hits?

 

[Stephen]

Stephen, thanks for the share. How are you finding it noise-wise? Do you use headphones or Bluetooth at all?

Tremendous looking helmet and a truly excellent video review. That guy is very good at his job. Working in media myself, that ain't easy.

Wish this helmet came in blue, but thinking about it anyhow. Very sharp.

I didn't want to spend a fortune for a touring helmet AND I didn't want to buy more shields..... thus, the Revolver. And I REALLY like my Star Viper.

I don't use Bluetooth, but I'm installing speakers (wired to a mixer -> Radar detector -> Satellite radio -> GPS).

 

[Stephen]

Went out riding today on the ZX-14 on country roads as well the freeway. Let me say that this helmet fits tight. It's very snug at the point below the temples. I'm hoping it wears in a bit. I've installed my smoked visor. Optics are very good. Because it was cold today, I had all the vents shut. Seems to be fairly quiet, although I might contribute that to the tightness of the padding. Unlike my Nolan 102, you can easily wear this helmet on a sportbike.

I always wear a thin 'skull cap' to keep the helmet clean inside. I think if I wear a thin balaclava (vs. a thick winter one), the helmet fit will be fine. There are different size helmet pads available for my Star. I'm not sure about the Revolver.

 

[escapefjrtist]

Not a bad looking lid Stephen. Looking forward to a report on noise levels and further overall impressions.

Bring it to Tech Day so we can check it out. And what's this about winter...it was almost 60 today and sunny, of course tomorrow will be another story. :blink:

--G

 

[Stephen]

Not a bad looking lid Stephen. Looking forward to a report on noise levels and further overall impressions.

Bring it to Tech Day so we can check it out. And what's this about winter...it was almost 60 today and sunny, of course tomorrow will be another story. :blink:

--G

Didn't get quite that warm up this way... at least not in the late morning. I had the heat on low for cruisin' through the back country. Once I got on the freeway, it went on medium. Of course, it did warm up AFTER I got home.

 

[DesignFlaw06]

I bought a Revolver, size XL, using the sizing chart on Bell's website. I was right at the limit between L and XL according to the chart, so I went with the XL. It felt OK at the dealer, but I think my excitement for a new lid got the best of me. After a 10 minute ride, I couldn't get it off fast enough. It was incredibly tight and uncomfortable.

I may be brave enough to try an XXL later, but I returned the XL the next day. Everything else about the helmet seemed to be fine. Noise wasn't bad for a modular. The one thing I was concerned with is the placement of the sun visor flip mechanism. It's on the left side on the bottom of the helmet. Right about where a boom mic would go. I still think I could get my J&M on there, but not sure on the others.

To be honest, my real appeal to the Revolver was the availability of a transition shield (sold separately). I have yet to find any other modular helmet that offers that kind of shield. Why there's not a bigger market for these shields, I don't know. But I haven't found a helmet with a flip down sun visor that comes down far enough to cover my eyes. Modular is a must, since I wear glasses. But transition lenses rely on UV rays to get darker, so my glasses do me no good under a shield. Not meaning to thread jack, but if anyone knows of a helmet that I'm missing, I'd be interested in hearing about it.

 

[stoggy]

supposedly SHIELD tech makes the transition lense visors for shoei arai bell and agv (i think it was agv)

but i cant find them anywhere. Not even their website. I wonder if bell bought them or they went out of business.

https://www.shieldtechllc.com/products_powersports-visors.php

This domain name expired on Jun 26 2011 04:19AM DOH!!!

I was at the local honda shop, /cough /spit I like them better then the local yamaha shop though /cough /spit, They had a bell display with the transition lenses. They were really neat, I don't where glasses so no experience with the transition eye glasses. But the visor looked perfectly clear. Then the display guy shined a led flash light through the shield for a couple seconds and it made little dark circles in the shield where each led light was shining through. It was really cool. They weren't as dark as a normal "DARK" visor is but still pretty dark. Probably about a medium tint.

 

[Bungie]

I tried on a Bell Revolver yesterday. I have two issues with the helmet. I'm between a Med and Large. This isn't the fault of the helmet. Just the way it is. The other is a bigger problem, I CANNOT wear my glasses with this helmet. Their are no 'notches' in the liner for the frame anywhere near where they should be (their is high up on the temple).

Odd, you'd think that the biggest market for a flip up helmet would be those of us who wear glasses and find taking them on and off every time we on/off the helmet a pia.

That being said, I tried on a Large RS-1.

OH MY! That fit is perfect. I've never found a helmet that fit me that well. No internal sun shade, which I've seen grown to love on my HJC, though. Think I might bite the bullet and place an order.