NZI Helmets

Published: 09:38AM Sep 21st, 2011
By: Mau Spencer

Scooterists are a unique breed; they spend more time and money on customising their machines than any other segment of society. The ultimate finishing touch to complement any scooter has to be a customised crash helmet. A one-off lid design can cost upwards of £350. So how about an ‘off the shelf’ custom helmet, or unique design for a lot less money?

Sample of designs from NZI Helmets

NZI Helmets recently secured a new UK distributor, VE UK, which we’re sure you’ll all have heard of (better known for Malossi etc.). NZI is a well-known and established European helmet brand, designed and produced in Spain. The quality is superb and the helmets come with useful in-built features like an internal sun visor, as well as a strong thermoformed clear visor. They have titanium double D-ring straps (or adjustable ratchet strap), washable interiors, good ventilation and can include an integral Bluetooth intercom allowing up to six riders to connect.

They’re built from carbon composite and come in three external shell sizes and range in size from 54-59cm. The range is available in full face, including the super lightweight carbon fibre RCV (weighs just 1150 grams and costs £339 without sun visor). If you prefer the ‘flip’ style, the Fibrup costs £203. The NZI open face lids are well designed too and they cost around £90, not a bad price considering their feature packed design and build quality.

3D CHOICE

The unique thing about NZI Helmets is that it has patented a printing system which allows it to print individual or short run designs onto its helmets. The process is called ‘3D Helmets’ and the possibilities are endless. You could take photos of your scooter, close-ups of your paintwork, the pet dog, friends, your scooter club, or any random object and have it put onto the helmet of your choice. NZI can do one-offs or a short run of matching helmets for your scooter club or maybe ‘dealer specials’ it also produces dozens of different inhouse designs that can be ordered direct from your local VE dealer.

At the moment the scooter themed helmets are predominantly Vespa oriented, but Lambretta enthusiasts will be catered for in the near future, so keep a check on the website (www.ve-uk.com/nzihelmets) for the latest designs. The quality of the finished designs is very good; the print looks good close up (although we noticed a couple of Vespa images had been reversed when scrutinised closely) and is protected by gloss or matt finish lacquer, as you’d expect on an ordinary crash helmet.

WIN ONE!

We’ve teamed up with VE UK to offer Classic Scooterist Scene readers a chance to win one of the standard 3D designs (worth £115) in our free-to-enter competition – so good luck...

CLICK HERE TO ENTER - Competition closes 21 November 2011