I've got a Shoei X-11 that I've been wearing the past couple of months, and it's a great helmet.  It moves a ton of air, resists fogging, and is light and comfy (though a bit noisy at speed).  My question, though, is this:  How do I know if the helmet is too tight on my ears?  Around town, I tend to not wear earplugs, so the fit of the helmet seems fine, but when I'm going to be out on the real road or commuting (I ride an S4RS), I wear a set of SureFire SP-3 earplugs (which I highly recommend by the way), and the helmet seems to press against my ears in such a way that the plugs keep unseating.  So I wonder:  Does this mean that the X-11 is just a bit too narrow for my head shape?  And if so, would a different helmet (like the Arai RX-7) be a better fit?  Thanks for your help.  Cheers.

Let me suggest different ear plugs.  I've noticed that different brands/styles fit with the helmet differently.

One type I wore the helmet kept constant pressure on them (imaging how comfy that was )

I now wear a custom set from Big Ear and they're the bomb!

I wear an earplug in my left ear (radar) and feel a bit of pressure from my X-11. Nothing bothersome for me tho.
You might try getting diff pads for the earhole. They have replaceable components inside the helmet and a diff size might do what you need...

Quote from: hypurone on July 02, 2008, 07:21:22 AM
I wear an earplug in my left ear (radar) and feel a bit of pressure from my X-11. Nothing bothersome for me tho.
You might try getting diff pads for the earhole. They have replaceable components inside the helmet and a diff size might do what you need...

That's a great suggestion.  Do you (or anyone) by chance know if it's the center pad or the cheek pad that regulates the specific fit on the ears?

I think it is the center.  You should be able to check.  Remove one of the cheekpad and wear your helmet sans 1 cheek pad.  I believe the cheek pad ends right below the ear.  Also, for what' its worth, the RF-1000 is slightly more rounded in fit than the X-11.

http://www.shoei-helmets.com/store/product_info.php?cPath=36_31_79&products_id=95

Also, you can try the roll-up ear plugs that are like 50 cents a piece.  They work well for me.

+1 on the Big Ear.  I have their headphone version and it's pretty incredible.

Quote from: ArabicaMan on July 02, 2008, 08:42:08 AM
That's a great suggestion.  Do you (or anyone) by chance know if it's the center pad or the cheek pad that regulates the specific fit on the ears?

Yeah, it should be the center pad that you would want to change... I would have to go and look at mine to refresh my memory tho.