- Nolan N70-2 X Helmet Review - April 27, 2025
- Highland and Gippsland - April 22, 2025
- A Fast Bike to North Cape - April 7, 2025
After my accident in New Zealand I decided to bring forward the retirement of my Nolan N70-2 GT helmet.
The N70-2 GT has been a fine helmet and it was relatively unscathed with just a couple of scratches but besides the accident it was already approaching the age for replacement of the main visor due to fine scratches and that costs half as much as a new helmet.
The N70-2 X is a revised version of the N70-2 GT. It is convertible to a jet or open face same as the previous helmets in Nolan’s N series of which I also owned the N-44 EVO and N-43 AIR.
This is the first colour helmet I have purchased in a long time. I prefer plain white helmets because they don’t show scratches or fade. They reflect heat more than black helmets and are more visible. But best of all they are usually significantly cheaper than colour helmets. However I could not find a white in my size anywhere.
Actually I ordered a white from Race and Road who showed the helmet in stock in their warehouse but it never shipped and I made three calls in three weeks getting told it will be on its way soon before I demanded a refund.
I ended up ordering from FC Moto in Germany who I have used a few times and found to be excellent. Even with shipping I saved $110 over the Aussie price and that included GST.
The difference to my N70 GT model besides the optional peak visor is the chin bar has been redesigned and the main visor is now shorter. I often used to ride with the N70 GT full length visor open to it’s first notch to scoop air from below. While this new visor can be opened similar to a normal full face visor I am not convinced it flows air as well as the N70 GT yet.
The chin bar has a vent now Vs previously that was in the actual visor. This chin bar vent works moderately well, it flows more air than the visor vent in the N70 GT but more airflow would be better.
Looking around it is otherwise similar to the N70-2 GT. I can convert it to a regular style helmet should I choose to. The peak visor is easy to remove in seconds needing no tools. I remove it before placing into my helmet carry case which is packed into my luggage when flying.
The peak sun visor works well, I did not experience any buffeting and I found the extra shade from the sun very welcome on many days. Actually I would go so far as to say I doubt I would go back to a helmet lacking this additional sun protection.
The main visor releases also in seconds and the way it clips on has seen a slight improvement from the N70-2 GT not that it was difficult previously but the small press latches are now even easier.
The main visor came fitted with a Pinlock however I removed that as the lower edge was in my line of sight and I find 3 layers of plastic one too many to look through when using the inner flip down sun visor and outer visor and a pinlock.
Operation of the inner tinted visor is same as the N70-2 GT but it does seem to flip up better than my older helmet. That may just be because it is brand new or Nolan may have tweaked the mechanism.
The rachet buckle also appears to have had a slight refinement or redesign. The venting on top of the helmet remains same as the N70 GT.
I removed my Nolan N-Com B601 Bluetooth headset from my N70-2 GT and it fits exactly the same in this model X. I appreciate how Nolan designs their helmets with dedicated space to integrate their bluetooth headsets. The speakers reside in dedicated recessed spots as does the battery and the controls are almost flush on side of helmet.
Being my 4th Nolan it goes without saying I like their helmets. Besides great comfort one thing I like very much is Nolan’s extra large viewport which provides much better vision than other brands.
I also have a fair bit of confidence in their helmets which are constructed in Lexan. This material allows more flex than laminated fiberglass or carbon fibre helmets. The harder a helmet shell the more G-force it transfers to the riders head. The most important feature of a helmet is to deform in a crash without breaking thus absorbing G-force and reducing what is transferred to the rider’s skull. Something lost on YouTubers “testing” helmets with baseball bats.
I also like the air flow Nolan has achieved with their N series. I ride often in hot weather and good ventilation to my head makes a big difference to how comfortable I am. I don’t get swamp hair with Nolan helmets thanks to the good venting and quality liner that wicks away moisture.
Of course get into the tropics and things can really heat up but that’s where I can use the N series party trick. If I am riding somewhere very humid and slow speed like say Philippines then I remove the chin bar and convert to full open face helmet which if you have never worn flows so much more air than any full face helmet. Same is possible with this new X model and if I get back to SE Asia next year then I will surely be using it in that configuration.
Now don’t expect good venting to be quiet, that’s not possible but please if you are not wearing ear plugs then read my post about this and try a few pairs to find ones that work for you. Anyone not wearing ear plugs who rides at highways speed is causing irreparable damage to their hearing. Even worse is how silly you feel once you find right plugs and realise you can still hear your engine and everything around you and in fact even better than without plugs because they remove the wind roar but not the other sounds.
My only criticism with this new model X is the rear of the helmet is plain black which was not shown in the photos when I ordered and I would have preferred it to be more yellow however I probably will add a sticker or two over time to brighten it up.
It performed very well on my recent East Victoria Autumn tour.
