When I see someone blast by on a bike wearing no gear at all I can’t help but wonder: what is he thinking? Is it too hot? Or just not cool? Especially with all the moto-gear options available. Case in point: Fulmer’s AFD4 helmet. It’s a solid lid with all the features of a helmet twice its price.

The AFD4 is available in a bunch of different colors and cool graphic options, but first things first. The padding inside fits nicely, even with sunglasses on; plus it’s removable and washable, so you can get rid of that head funk. The AC (Air Channel) works okay. It does the job with a minimal amount of wind noise, and cools off the noggin. The breath spoiler was the only real negative. It’s always popping out and needs to be pushed back into place, but that’s not a big deal.

I was impressed with the visor. I tend to ride with my visor up if I’m wearing glasses; the AFD4 visor never moves around, no matter what level it’s opened up to. The optional tinted visor was nice — I liked not needing to wear sunglasses while riding on a sunny day, although one evening I was caught off guard. As the sun started to set, it became extremely difficult to see, and putting the visor up wasn’t an option. I learned my lesson: how long you plan to be on the road is something to keep in mind when starting a ride using a tinted visor. Changing it up is easy: it requires no tools and takes all of two minutes to do. Just lift the visor, pull the tabs on both sides, and pop it off.

The silver-fade tribal graphics are well done and are sure to turn some heads.

Now the best part of this helmet, to me, is definitely the look. I went with the higher-priced black and gray helmet with tribal graphics. One feature that stands out is the way the shiny silver (almost chrome) paint fades as it wraps around, and the dark, primitive graphics that stand out so well on the front of the helmet blend into a nice matte black by the time they reach the back. Very cool.

To sum up, I’d say the Fulmer AFD4 is a good helmet at a great price, with high-quality styling. RB

Sources

Fulmer
AFD4 Black Chrome Apache Helmet
$109.95
800/489-2300
www.FulmerHelmets.com