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Motorcycling Lifestyles
BIKES: Shark Evoline Series 2 Modular Helmet
Ken Glassman reviews the Shark Evoline Series 2 Modular Helmet.
Shark Evoline Series 2 Modular Helmet
Shark is a French helmet manufacturer which has been making helmets for over 20 years, and is widely popular in Europe with street riders and professional racers alike. If you follow Moto GP and World Superbike racing, you’ll notice that many of the top riders wear Shark helmets.
Two years ago, Shark introduced a revolutionary modular helmet, The Evoline, which was the first helmet to be homogulated for both open and closed face, and it quickly became one of my favorite helmets for everyday use. What made the Evoline so unique was the fact that the chinbar lifted and rotated 170-degrees backward and past the crown of the helmet, resting completely out of the windblast, and creating no aerodynamic drag. Previous modular helmets didn’t recommend you ride with the chinbar in the up position at all, or at least, not above speeds of 35 miles per hour, where the drag would feel like it wanted to rip your head off or choke you to death.
Additionally, the Evoline visor operates separately from the chinbar assembly, so you could have the visor in the down position, even when the chinbar was resting at the back of the helmet. And a separate smoke colored “Jet Fighter” UV rated sun visor could be slid down to shield the rider’s eyes from the low sun in the early morning, or late afternoon . . . a great feature. The Evoline was also a fairly quiet helmet, with comfortable soft-touch fabric throughout (easily removable for washing) and it had a comfortable plush neck roll.
Now for 2012, the Evoline Series 2 is available, and Shark has made several improvements, making the helmet even better. First, the visor has a “soft” 9-position ratchet system that makes it easier to use and adjust between the full up or down position It also seals out wind and rain better when it seats into the chinbar when lowered. It has a scratch resistant coating on the outside, as does the “Jet Fighter” sun shield, and an anti-fog coating on the inside.
The neck roll gains almost an inch in width, which helps to reduce noise and offers even better weather protection and comfort. Cosmetically, the Evoline Series 2 looks like the previous model, and it maintained the same fresh air intake on the top of the helmet, and the other one at mouth level. Both work to effectively circulate air through the helmet for comfort and to keep the helmet from fogging in humid conditions.
The Evoline Series also was upgraded to accommodate Shark’s new Sharktooth wireless Bluetooth System. This allows the rider to sync your telephone, MP3 Player, GPS device, and to another Sharktooth for intercom and limited bike to bike communication. I say limited bike to bike, because the range is only 500 meters, or just about one-third of a mile.
The unit features VOX technology, so you can place or receive phone calls without having to touch any buttons on the unit. The same goes for passenger to rider intercom or bike to bike communication. Now since I have always been a staunch critic of drivers who yak on their cell phones while driving inattentively, and endangering me as a rider, I can’t in good conscience condone the use of a cell phone for a motorcycle rider, even if a device like the Sharktooth makes it easy to use. So I choose not to use that feature while moving. Each rider must make his own decision on that, but I can say that it is easy to use, and the clarity of calls from both ends makes it easy to carry on a conversation. And the Sharktooth is also equipped with Auto-Volume Level Adjusting, so that the volume increases with the ambient noise, and decreases when you come to a stop. So it’s perfect for listening to music or the voice commands from your GPS unit, without having to constantly fiddle with the volume.
The guts of the system is about the size of three AAA batteries held together, and fits into a slot between the hard foam liner and the soft liner at the back of the helmet. Simply removing the neckband allows for easy routing of the wires for the left and right speaker, and the boom microphone, which is routed through the left cheek pad from inside the helmet. Both speakers fit into a recess behind each ear pocket, and the Evoline Series 2 helmet comes with a removable soft patch of fabric that fits over the plastic speaker, so nothing hard touches your ears.
Once the speakers and microphone are placed inside the helmet, there is a small wire that is routed out the back of the helmet and is used to plug into a charging unit to recharge the internal batteries. And then the compact control unit is applied to the side of the helmet with two sided tape. The control unit is waterproof, and is easily operated with gloved hands, but after turning the unit on, and adjusting the volume, you seldom have to touch it until you turn it off.
My GPS unit has stored music on it, so I paired it to the system and use that to listen to both my music and GPS commands. The GPS commands will break into the music whenever a command is given, and then return to the music when finished. A phone call will also override the system to take priority.
The sound quality is excellent, for music, GPS or telephone operation, and pairing the devices to the unit is also a snap. The battery will last 700 hours in Standby mode, and you’ll get up to 10 hours of continuous mobile phone, intercom, or streaming music use before recharging, which takes only 3 hours.
Both the helmet and the Sharktooth are outstanding products and make an excellent combination.
The Evoline Series 2 helmet retails for $449.95, and the Sharktooth unit retails for $249.95. You can find your closest dealer by going to the distributor’s web site at www.pacificpowersports.info or by calling Pacific Powersports at 951-698-7878.
Two years ago, Shark introduced a revolutionary modular helmet, The Evoline, which was the first helmet to be homogulated for both open and closed face, and it quickly became one of my favorite helmets for everyday use. What made the Evoline so unique was the fact that the chinbar lifted and rotated 170-degrees backward and past the crown of the helmet, resting completely out of the windblast, and creating no aerodynamic drag. Previous modular helmets didn’t recommend you ride with the chinbar in the up position at all, or at least, not above speeds of 35 miles per hour, where the drag would feel like it wanted to rip your head off or choke you to death.
Additionally, the Evoline visor operates separately from the chinbar assembly, so you could have the visor in the down position, even when the chinbar was resting at the back of the helmet. And a separate smoke colored “Jet Fighter” UV rated sun visor could be slid down to shield the rider’s eyes from the low sun in the early morning, or late afternoon . . . a great feature. The Evoline was also a fairly quiet helmet, with comfortable soft-touch fabric throughout (easily removable for washing) and it had a comfortable plush neck roll.
Now for 2012, the Evoline Series 2 is available, and Shark has made several improvements, making the helmet even better. First, the visor has a “soft” 9-position ratchet system that makes it easier to use and adjust between the full up or down position It also seals out wind and rain better when it seats into the chinbar when lowered. It has a scratch resistant coating on the outside, as does the “Jet Fighter” sun shield, and an anti-fog coating on the inside.
The neck roll gains almost an inch in width, which helps to reduce noise and offers even better weather protection and comfort. Cosmetically, the Evoline Series 2 looks like the previous model, and it maintained the same fresh air intake on the top of the helmet, and the other one at mouth level. Both work to effectively circulate air through the helmet for comfort and to keep the helmet from fogging in humid conditions.
The Evoline Series also was upgraded to accommodate Shark’s new Sharktooth wireless Bluetooth System. This allows the rider to sync your telephone, MP3 Player, GPS device, and to another Sharktooth for intercom and limited bike to bike communication. I say limited bike to bike, because the range is only 500 meters, or just about one-third of a mile.
The unit features VOX technology, so you can place or receive phone calls without having to touch any buttons on the unit. The same goes for passenger to rider intercom or bike to bike communication. Now since I have always been a staunch critic of drivers who yak on their cell phones while driving inattentively, and endangering me as a rider, I can’t in good conscience condone the use of a cell phone for a motorcycle rider, even if a device like the Sharktooth makes it easy to use. So I choose not to use that feature while moving. Each rider must make his own decision on that, but I can say that it is easy to use, and the clarity of calls from both ends makes it easy to carry on a conversation. And the Sharktooth is also equipped with Auto-Volume Level Adjusting, so that the volume increases with the ambient noise, and decreases when you come to a stop. So it’s perfect for listening to music or the voice commands from your GPS unit, without having to constantly fiddle with the volume.
The guts of the system is about the size of three AAA batteries held together, and fits into a slot between the hard foam liner and the soft liner at the back of the helmet. Simply removing the neckband allows for easy routing of the wires for the left and right speaker, and the boom microphone, which is routed through the left cheek pad from inside the helmet. Both speakers fit into a recess behind each ear pocket, and the Evoline Series 2 helmet comes with a removable soft patch of fabric that fits over the plastic speaker, so nothing hard touches your ears.
Once the speakers and microphone are placed inside the helmet, there is a small wire that is routed out the back of the helmet and is used to plug into a charging unit to recharge the internal batteries. And then the compact control unit is applied to the side of the helmet with two sided tape. The control unit is waterproof, and is easily operated with gloved hands, but after turning the unit on, and adjusting the volume, you seldom have to touch it until you turn it off.
My GPS unit has stored music on it, so I paired it to the system and use that to listen to both my music and GPS commands. The GPS commands will break into the music whenever a command is given, and then return to the music when finished. A phone call will also override the system to take priority.
The sound quality is excellent, for music, GPS or telephone operation, and pairing the devices to the unit is also a snap. The battery will last 700 hours in Standby mode, and you’ll get up to 10 hours of continuous mobile phone, intercom, or streaming music use before recharging, which takes only 3 hours.
Both the helmet and the Sharktooth are outstanding products and make an excellent combination.
The Evoline Series 2 helmet retails for $449.95, and the Sharktooth unit retails for $249.95. You can find your closest dealer by going to the distributor’s web site at www.pacificpowersports.info or by calling Pacific Powersports at 951-698-7878.
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