Replacing a Caberg Tourmax adventure motorcycle helmet

The Carberg Tourmax motorcycle helmet is just shy of perfect for adventure motorcycle touring.

I had started out with a Shoei Multitec in 2003 and stuck with that model until 2017. I was in Melbourne, Australia when I recalled the voice of an adventure biker I'd met in Ushuia 2013.

"Get a peak Tim, that'll save your face from sun damage"

I had a lot of sun damage from Africa, South America and now Australia.

As luck would have it there was a full face, flip with interior sun visor and a peak that had just come onto the market, the Caberg Tourmax. What's more there was a shop nearby that stocked one.

First impressions were that it was not as quiet as the Shoei, nor was it as comfortable, but it had the peak and that sold it for me.

Later down the line I came to have misgivings about the Tourmax's flip function. First off, it's a real b*tch to flip it while driving, an ability that you come to expect of such a feature, and one that I had become very accustomed to having, which had made all sorts of drive by exchanges possible, for the better or the worst. Any adventure tourer worth their salt knows how important first glances count. In the end I almost never bothered using the flip whilst driving, perhaps only in emergencies for ejecting something revolting from my throat or sinuses, but the flip action was far too unforgiving for a casual chat with another biker or to catch the attention of a bystander. In the end I only use the flip function when I can place one hand on the back of the helmet whilst using the other to press the button on the chin. Yeah, you guessed it, I don't do that whilst driving, just for taking the helmet off when I've stopped driving.

Minus 1.5 stars for poor flip action.

Another related feature is the rock hard flip lock. If you thought it was hard enough to get the flip to flip, how about when you want to pull it down again only to discover that the flip lock has engaged! For crying out loud, the flip is already locked in place, this extra locking device is almost completely redundant, unless of course you want to spend another minute struggling to unlock it for fun. The switch action is really stiff and annoys the hell out of me. Some might think I must be a bit of a weakling, which might be true, but when you're gliding through life on a beautiful motorcycle journey, it looks pretty uncool to be scratching about the side of your helmet when all you want to do is flip up or down.

Minus 0.5 stars for useless switch.

After 1 light head landing during a crash in Vietnam, it was time to think about replacing the helmet. It was now getting close to 3 years old anyway. The clinching factor for pushing me to make a purchase was the crack developing down the left side of the chin guard. Soon there would be nothing to lock it shut to. Oh and now that I look at it there is a similar crack developing on the right side. Probably down to age and the amount of times I use the helmet, but still, this never happened on the Shoei after 5 years usage.

Minus 0.5 for inferior but vital chin structure longevity.

Darn I thought I would leave it at that, but I just remembered another thing that was lacking on this helmet. The interior liner and foam were lovely on purchase, and you can't expect it to stay like that, even if they are washable, but after about 2 years the interior shape was changing a lot more than anticipated, it felt like a size larger, really I should have changed it back then.

Minus 0.5 for poor interior structure longevity.

So what, after all that complaining, why did I just buy another one !?

There are a few other adventure flip peak helmets on the market, but they are either too clumsy, LS2, or more than I want to pay to try out, Shuberth. So for now I'm spending less but replacing the helmet more often, until someone convinces me otherwise.

With any luck the 2020 model will have some improvements.