Arai Helmet

Each item optimally tested

Protection at Arai helmet is paramount, therefore the products only leave the factory when the makers are fully convinced of the quality and safety of each individually made item.

The Arai helmet protects

Important mistake often made: it's not the standard but the helmet that protects you! The standard is determined by the competent authorities. This is also the basis from which one produces. In addition, they work with their own "in-house" test standard. This ultimately results in superior quality for the products they produce.

Continuous improvement

As a result of a close collaboration with the pilots in different racing classes, the aspects of quality, safety and comfort are finally improved every time on the Arai helmet.

Customize

There is no distinction between the daily customer and the supported pilots. The helmets for F1, Nascar, Karting, MotoGP, among others, have, just like any other helmet in the range, the possibility to be "customized" according to your own taste and design.

Perfect shape

They also stick to the bike: "Smooth shape for better protection". This means that they produce each helmet with a shell as round as possible. The nice round shape is also made to "slide" on contact with the asphalt so that unnecessary revolutions are avoided.

99% handicraft

99% of the work, from the base to the finished product, is done by hand by a highly trained workforce. Ultimately, the outer shell of the Arai helmet is manufactured from no less than 27 separate parts.

Equal thickness

By placing the individual parts at important points in the helmet shell of the Arai helmet, the quality and strength of this helmet is guaranteed. In addition, each shell consists of a polyester composition that is 3 mm thick over the entire helmet.

Helmets for Motorsport

We offer you the widest range of helmets for different branches of motorsport. For both the novice racing driver and the professional are suitable Arai helmets to be found. So that you are guaranteed optimum safety and quality.

• GP6S Motorsport helmet
• GP7 FRP
• GP-7 Carbon
• GP Jet 3 Open helmet
• Helmet Accessories

Arai Helmets for the Kartsport

High quality karting helmets for adults as karting helmets for children. Because a lot of attention is paid to innovation and optimisation within the company, you are ultimately assured of a high-quality product. You also enjoy optimal safety and comfort.

• SK6 Karthelmet (indoor and outdoort)
• CK-6 Karthelmet for Children (up to 16 years)

History

As the son of a milliner, Horitake Arai started a company in 1937 in Ohmiya, Saitama that focused on the development of head protection, which was marketed under the name HA (Helmet Arai).

Producing an outer shell is a time-consuming process consisting of 27 steps. The total production time of an Arai helmet is 18 hours. As early as 1952 the production of FRP (Fibre Reinforced Plastics) helmets was started in Japan, a philosophy that is still the basic principle of every Arai car and motorcycle helmet today.

Ten years later, Horitake's first son Michio Arai joined the company, focusing on the company's export business. A year later, the first helmet was produced according to SNELL certification, with which export to the USA could be started.

In 1968 the first integral helmet R-6M was produced, which met the SNELL 1968 standard. Four years later, in 1971, the new Arai logo was launched, which has remained the same to this day. On June 14, 1986, founder Hirotake Arai dies and Michio Arai takes over from his father as the new President of Arai. That same year the company name is changed from 'Arai Hirotake, Limited' to 'Arai Helmet, Limited'.

Michio's son Akihito Arai has also joined the company; in February 2008 - the 25th anniversary of Arai Helmet Europe - Akihito became the managing director of Arai Helmet Europe. For a number of years now, Ingmar Stroeven has headed Arai Helmet Europe as managing director.

According to Arai a helmet offers the best protection when using a hard outer shell in combination with a soft outer shell. Among other things, the hard outer shell must prevent penetration and deformation, while the soft inner shell must absorb the impact energy. However, the production of a glass fibre shell is a time-consuming process, which explains the more expensive price compared to a soft shell polycarbonate helmet, the shell of which is automatically produced in a syringe mould.

In a 180° preheated steel mould the various glass fibre slats are placed, after which a resin is added, an air bellows is placed in the mould and the outer shell is 'baked' under pressure, as it were.

Outer shell

The thickness of the outer shell of a Arai helmetwhich - to cover the range from XS to XL - is made in five different sizes for each model, in the case of an Arai helmet it is exactly the same at every point, so the protective effect around the helmet will be the same. The process requires a lot of precision and is the reason why this is not done in low-wage countries such as India or China, but in Japan itself.

Double inspection

In each phase of the production process at Arai helmet, the employee checks the previous phase, so the quality is continuously monitored. As if this is not strict enough, each helmet is subjected to an intensive inspection twice after production, which can certainly be called special.

Many manufacturers opt for a random check, let alone a double check.

The double check was established after Horitake-San discovered during a walk through the factory that a driver's helmet had been checked twice, which according to the inspector in question was always done. Since Horitake's philosophy does not allow a distinction to be made between a rider's helmet and a consumer's helmet, from that day on all helmets are subject to the double inspection.