Bell Motorcycle Helmet - webBikeWorld

Have you ever wondered what happened to Bell motorcycle helmets? Bell owned the market seemingly forever, and the distinctive Bell logo was everywhere.

Bell was the Arai, Shoei and Suomy of its time, and their helmets adorned just about every motorcycle rider and racer in the U.S.A. If you were serious about motorcycle riding, you owned a Bell helmet.

Well, it's a long story, but Bell was purchased by Bieffe, the Italian helmet manufacturer, one thing led to another, and the Bell name all but disappeared from the street motorcycle scene, but it developed a strong reputation in bicycle helmets and off-road motorcycle helmet markets throughout the world.

But guess what? The Bell name was recently reacquired from Bieffe, and Bell helmets are now available again in the U.S.A. As a measure of their commitment, Bell also opened a motorcycle helmet design and testing facility in Santa Cruz, California to develop, prototyped and create the tooling necessary to manufacture the new designs.

Bell has an extensive selection of Snell M2000 and DOT approved motocross and off-road helmets, and they've recently developed a line of open-face motorcycle street helmets that offer some unique features for that market.

The Mag-8 shown here has a European style and flair that definitely makes it stand out from the crowd. We're guessing that the Mag-8's styling might fall into the "love it or hate it" category, but we really liked it right out of the box, and one thing's for sure -- it turns a lot of heads going down the street. We think it's one of the coolest open-face designs around, and the bonus is that it also offers more comfort than any other open-face helmet we've tried.

You've probably noticed that we have so far only reviewed full-face and flip-up helmets on webBikeWorld, so this is a first. We're big proponents of motorcycle safety, and full-face helmets are part of a safety strategy that works. In fact, none of us could remember the last time we wore anything but a full-face helmet.

So the Mag-8 is a revelation, and has definitely got us thinking. Its stylish good looks and very comfortable liner really add to the enjoyment of motorcycle riding -- it's wonderful to feel unencumbered by a full-face lid, especially in the hot and sticky summer months. If you're a long-distance rider, the Mag-8 would make a great touring helmet and it would also look perfect on a scooter.

The size large fit my round shaped head perfectly, but Bell also sent along a size XL liner just in case. That's right -- the Mag-8 has a removable liner! This is either a first for open-face helmets, or we've been away from that market for so long that we're clueless.

All of us here at webBikeWorld wear "skullcap" helmet liners whenever we ride anyway, which help keep our helmets "springtime fresh", and mitigates the need for a removable liner, but this is a nice feature all the same.

The Mag-8's liner is surprisingly thin, but it seems to do its job very well, with no pressure points or hard spots to be found. Bell designed the Mag-8 to have huge ear pockets; they're about 75mm (3", all inch measurements approximate) across and 40mm (1-1/2") deep. The pockets extend out to a thin plastic liner just on the inside of the helmet shell, allowing the potential fitment of all sorts of motorcycle helmet speakers favored by touring riders.

Even with the thin padding and absence of foam in the ear pockets, we found the Mag-8 to be surprisingly quiet; quieter even than many full-face helmets. This could be due to the lack of any turbulence that is sometimes caused by air coming up under the chin bar on full-face helmets.

We always wear earplugs when riding, so your experience may be different, but the Mag-8 seemed relatively quiet both behind a fairing and on a "naked" bike (Editor's Note: See the wBW Earplug and Hearing Protection page for more information on choosing and fitting earplugs).

We were concerned that the fixed painted visor would create too much lift or buffeting at speed. But it's virtually unnoticeable, with maybe a very slight sensation of helmet lift at speeds of 60mph or more. A couple of riders didn't notice it at all, and one or two mentioned that it was only very slightly noticeable, so our opinion is that it's not a problem.

The overhanging visor does serve to keep some sun out of the rider's eyes, and the air slips right through it. Unfortunately, the underside of the fixed visor isn't painted, which gives it a bit of a cheap look, but it really isn't noticeable unless the helmet is flipped over.

The rest of the paint on the Mag-8 is acceptable, it has a nice shine and the blue metalflake color is vibrant, but there are a few spots where the paint seems a bit thin and a couple of the edges have a barely noticeable paint drip or two.

The Mag-8's clear visor raises and lowers without the use of detents, so there are just about an infinite number of positioning choices. The friction mechanism that holds the visor seems to be powerful enough to resist air pressure, at least at any of the speeds we've tried.

It would be nice if the visor could be raised about another 15mm or so, because at its topmost setting it remains slightly in the rider's upper peripheral vision, but this isn't really a problem. The visor could probably also be removed completely if desired.

The visor is absolutely crystal clear, and offers a big, wide view of the road. It's kind of fun, because it's one of those rare helmets where almost 100% of the solid portion of the helmet is out of sight, and it gives a nice feeling of riding down the road without any wind blast but with full protection. The visor is very tall at 162mm (6-3/8"), so it covers the face to almost down below the chin. Depending upon the size of the rider's nose, the visor can fog up slightly, but a quick touch of FogTech or Cat Crap anti-fog coating cures this problem in a jiffy.

The Mag-8 has a wide, black bumper that covers the entire bottom of the helmet, offering decent protection when the helmet is placed on a table or the ground. The helmet is attached using the tried-and-true "D-ring" system, and Bell provides a small elastic band for tucking up the extra piece of strap. There are a couple of padded sections of material that protect the rider's chin from chafing. And finally, there are four narrow air vents at the top of the visor opening in the helmet shell that direct some air on top of the rider's head. The Mag-8 weighs 1454 grams, and it's DOT approved. See the wBW Motorcycle Helmet Weights page for a comparison of all of the helmets we've reviewed.

Conclusion
We don't often use open-face helmets, but the Mag-8 has us thinking. It's comfortable; it's cool in hot weather; we think the styling is much nicer than other types of open-face helmets and it's attractively different. This would make a great helmet for a touring bike, a scooter rider or those who feel claustrophobic when wearing a full-face helmet.

Product Review: Bell Mag-8 Motorcycle Helmet
BUY IT! Use this link to get your Motorcycle Helmets at the Motorcycle Superstore and help support webBikeWorld!
Available From: Bell Powersports	Suggested Retail Price: $129.95
Colors: Blue, Red, Graphite, Black, White Sizes: XS to XXL	Made in: Korea, designed and tooled in U.S.A.
Product Comments: Comfortable, surprisingly quiet, crystal-clear visor and unique styling. Removable liner is rare in an open-face helmet. DOT approved. Five-year warranty. Weighs 1454 grams (3 lbs., 3-1/4 oz.)
More: See below for comments from owners \| Motorcycle Helmet page \| Large photo of the Mag-8 (1024 x 872 pixels)

Note: For informational use only. All material and photographs are Copyright © webWorld International, LLC - 2001-2008. All rights reserved. Read the Terms and Conditions. See the webBikeWorld® Site Info page.

►Owner Comments

Comments? Send them to Comments are ordered from most recent to oldest.

From "D.J.": "I just bought one, I really like it."

From "H.R.": "Scanning through your pages, I decided to look again at the Bell Helmet comments. When I first bought my Mag-8, I wrote to you about the vibration noise at high speeds of the visor against the helmet. Like D.A., who had a problem with the visor, after my two messages with you I sent an email to the Bell people in Illinois.

After some exchanges in information, I sent them my helmet at their cost and they sent back a new one as a warranty. Getting the new helmet, I found some information and other items that were missing from my earlier purchase from the Helmet Shop. In use, I find that after I lower the visor, if give a gentle push upward on the visor I hear a "click" sound, and then nothing rattles during the ride. I still find it to be the greatest helmet I have ever owned. I just regret that Winter riding last January made me use a full face for warmth."

From "D.A.": "I bought two Mag-8 helmets (one for myself, another for my wife) directly from bell.com the day before I got my new bike. We chose the Mag-8 partly for the European styling but mostly for what was described as the ratcheting visor. It seemed it would tuck out of the way nicely for low-speed cruising and had deep ear wells for communications.

When we got the helmets mine had a problem right away. With the visor stowed all the way up it had a tendency to drop about 1/2" on it's own; it wouldn't stay all the way up. My wife's helmet worked like a champ, however, and she was tickled pink. I set to finding the problem, and the first thing I did was try to tighten the side screws but this had no real effect.

I took both visor assemblies apart and discovered that her helmet had a "moat" (for lack of a better term) around the little raised island where everything fits together on both sides, and that her visor had a little pawl that engaged the bumps inside the moat - this is the "ratchet" system. My helmet had no such thing; the helmet shell was smooth and there was no pawl on the visor.

I thought this was interesting, and called the service center via the 800 number on the website. In short order I was connected to an extremely helpful if somewhat befuddled lady by the name of Jan who found it odd that the helmets were different. She had one available and it was like my wife's helmet. She said she'd draw another from stock and get back with me ASAP.

The next day she called sounding very confused - the one she drew from stock was like mine - no ratchet system, and it worked fine (it was rather funny hearing her talk as she jiggled the helmet all over the place trying to make the visor drop). Between the two of us we surmised that the clear tacky stuff between the visor and the shell was apparently there to induce enough resistance to movement so that while you could raise and lower the visor it should stay in place wherever you left it. She did some more research and we discovered the "problem".

My wife's helmet was made in 2004, mine was made in 2005 and they were made in different Asian countries. At some point during this period the design of the visor retention was changed from "ratchet" to something they call "press fit" which negates the moat and visor tooth. She admitted that their website had not been changed to reflect this, nor had their documentation. Also, the visors they advertise on their site (the smoked ones) are designed for the "old" helmets and will not work on the "new" ones.

I had fabricated a work-around in the mean time by making O-rings from some suction cups I had laying around - the clear kind you use to hang stained glass things on your windows. The circumference was big enough so that the outer edge was larger than the outer edge of the little island everything bolts to, so I merely cut the inside out of the cups, put them around the island where the groove is on my wife's helmet and it worked like a champ.

I did not wish to exchange my helmet, although Jan offered to do just that. "A bird in hand..." as they say. She thought it unsatisfactory that an end-user should have to modify their product and while I agreed with that I liked my helmet too much to be without it so to ease the situation she offered to send me a nice smoked visor for my helmet (the "new" kind, which are not advertised). I accepted, and left the experience completely satisfied with Bell's commitment to customer satisfaction.

As with other users I have experienced little to no lift on the helmet at speeds up to 75mph, even with the visor up. The peripheral view is excellent, although I did experience buffeting with the ear pads removed. I ride a 2006 Yamaha Road Star Silverado - the buffeting might be worse if I had no windscreen but I don't think I'll remove it to test that.

I was initially worried that I wouldn't hear as well with the ear pads in, but after riding a few hundred miles without them I put them in and will probably leave them in due to the increased snugness of fit and quieter experience. The addition of the ear pads greatly reduced the buffeting and since we plan on wiring the helmets for communications, they'll more than likely stay in.

I would certainly recommend this helmet, and would chalk my experience up to a fluke."

From "D.": "I read the Bell Mag-8 review and due to the review decided to buy one assuming it fits me well. I researched them further and I think I found the reason some people have problems with them. The older models are different. Different ear pieces and non-removable liner.

I assume other changes were made too, and these things are probably all responsible for the vast differences in people's experience with them... (a webpage) that shows the old model at the top in silver and the rest of them are 05's. Read the silver one's descriptions compared to the rest and also note the silver one says "last year's model". They apparently listened and fixed the problems some were moaning about. Thanks for the review by the way...this helmet seems like just what I want, though of course that remains to be seen when I check them out this weekend, but it's sure looking good in all the respects of importance to me."

From "H.R.": "After reading your review on the Bell Mag-8, I tried contacting every shop within 100 miles, but no one carried it. So I finally bought it by phone from the Helmet Shop in Daytona. It is the perfect helmet -- a good sun block from painted fixed sun visor, no drag at high speeds, and comfortable with visor shield up or down. It is also the most quiet helmet I have ever used, except for one niggling distraction.

At high speeds (over 50 mph), with the face shield down, the fixed painted visor vibrates against the top of the helmet, with an annoying & distracting sound. I guess if my bike was a loud engine, or helmet was not so quiet, I wouldn't notice it, but it is distracting. I tried tightening the screws, but if they get too tight, then face shield won't go up and down easily. Any ideas on how this might be fixed?"

I wrote back, asking H.R. if the motorcycle had a fairing, which could be causing some buffeting which affects the helmet. I also suggested he might try some rubber O-rings or rubber insert under the visor. He responded:

"I've been reading your reviews and think they are a great service. This is not the first time I sought out a product based on your evaluation. I do have a Plexifairing 3. The bike is a Honda Nighthawk 750, and without the fairing I am in a chest-battering wind-rocket. The top visor has some "give" in the position, moving a bit as the shield is raised or lowered, and that is the obvious cause of the vibration -- I've played with the screws on the side, but you tighten it too much and you can't move the shield easily. The rubber insert is an idea, if I can think of how to position it.

Still, even with the vibration, it is the coolest helmet I've ever had, in both looks and comfort. The lack of wind noise is an added plus at a level that no other helmet -- open face, full face or flip-up -- has ever given me. With the ear plugs in, I could be sitting in my wife's Camry. The vibration is a minor annoyance at worst, and it will still be my number 1 helmet."

From "R.G.": "I love full-face helmets, but I had a minor accident recently because they limit my peripheral vision. I knew a visored open-face helmet would be the best answer to my problem. I just bought a Bell Mag-8 after reading your review and am VERY pleased with my new helmet. The fit and finish is EXTREMELY good with absolutely flawless paint (black) and soft, removable liner. You were right when you said it fits rounder heads better. The visor is another delight because it gives the impression of wearing a skid lid with the safety of a DOT helmet. From the view I get, I hardly realize I'm wearing a helmet at all. Thanks and no worries."

From "J.S.": "Thanks for the review on the Bell Mag-8 helmet. I purchased one based on the information you provided and am very pleased. It is easily the most comfortable helmet I have ever worn. Now, if I can just find a use for the seven other helmets hanging in the garage..."

From "T.L.": "Based upon your review, I purchased two new Bell Mag 8 helmets. I don't know what they sent you, but they are not what I got !! The ear pockets do not exist, and my ears are being CRUSHED. There is no provision or space to install radio headsets. The lining is NOT removable, it is glued in. There is absolutely no ventilation, I live in Florida, and my head is melting."

Thanks for visiting webBikeWorld and for your email, T.L. Sorry to hear about your helmet problems! I'm not sure why there are differences in your Mag 8. We report it as we see it in our reviews. We have no connection with Bell Powersports, financial or otherwise.

Our Bell Mag 8 has a removable liner - the spare liner is sitting right next to me here on the desk, and the liner in our Mag 8 snaps in and out. Check along the back of the helmet to see if there are snaps? Unless they've changed the design since we reviewed it, which is possible. Also, there's a ton of room in the ear area on the helmet we have, no lining at all. We never said that there was a provision for speakers, only that the potential exists. I have revised the wording of this sentence in the review to avoid any confusion.

There's no ventilation in the Mag 8, but the helmet is so small compared to a full-face helmet I wouldn't think that any ventilation is needed, or that any type of air vents would even work, because the air comes right over the rider's face and into the helmet. The only helmets that might allow more air through might be a half-helmet, but they offer almost no protection in a crash.

If you haven't already, I suggest you contact them to see if they can help. - wBW Editor.

From "S.F.": "Bought my wife a Bell Mag-8 helmet based on the wBW review. She had tried 4 other helmets but none was comfortable. The Bell Mag-8 was the charm - comfortable and quiet, just as in the review. She likes hers so much, I'm going to buy one for myself."