Arai helmets are regarded by many as The Best. Now there are certainly some worthy challengers out there and it wouldn't be appropriate for me to comment one way or another. But I will say that, when it's come down to spending my own money on something to protect my bonce, my money has always gone to the man from Saitama, Japan.

Having said that, there are certain points where I've often felt Mr Arai could make improvements. One of those is addressed here, though funnily enough I hadn't really seen it as an issue until the solution came along.

Mr Arai doesn't believe in integrated sun shields (like Caberg or Shuberth) because he believes that they force unacceptable compromises in the shell design. He may well have a point, certainly he knows more about helmet design than most. But at the same time, he recognises that there's a potential need for something a bit more substantial than a photochromic Fog City Shield or Pinlock. Now we could just stick with the solution we used a few years ago - pop on a dark visor and carry a clear one in a pouch for when it gets dark or you get pulled over - but there has to be a better way, right?

Right.

And this is it. The Arai Pro Shade is a visor with an integrated flip-up sun shield. All the benefits of an integrated design with none of the disadvantages. Plus it's portable, so you can use one shade on more than one helmet, as long as it's an Arai of course. The system consists of a Max View visor, which has a recess and some interesting locking pins to secure the new style Pinlock insert (which comes with the system) and a dark tinted outer shield which is hinged so can be flipped out of the way when necessary.

And it works brilliantly. Up to considerably over the legal limit, the shield doesn't add to the ambient noise at all when it's flipped up. The clever design means that it locks in place and somehow the addition of a large curved wing to the front of the helmet doesn't cause any odd buffeting - something which, frankly, was a concern. I don't know how they've done it, but there's some witchcraft going on there I think.

Flip the shield down, easily achieved with one hand in a second or so, and the world becomes a much more restful place on the eye. The tint is about the same as a proper dark visor, meaning that you're getting roughly the same level of shading as a decent pair of sunglasses. There is absolutely no distortion whatsoever, there's still no extra noise, even at track speeds, and the cutoff at the bottom of the tinted section is just about perfect to see your clocks. It's also outside your field of view normally, so there's no distraction or glare.

When it gets cloudy, it rains or you've been out riding so long that it's now dark, the shield flips up and automatically locks. It stays locked at silly speeds, even when you turn your head.

I've tried to find something, anything, that I don't like about this system. And I've failed. It's not cheap - perhaps that's a criticism - at around £90, but when you realise that includes a pinlock and essentially provides two proper visors then actually it's not expensive. It's not desperately pretty, but it is a source of comment wherever I go.

Because it's a bloody good idea. And one that I absolutely, wholeheartedly endorse.

SB