Being a necessity for riding a motorcycle or scooter, the Malaysian rider is spoiled for choice when it comes to helmets. Now in the Malaysia market is the 2019 HJC C70 sport touring full-face helmet, priced at RM949.
Now, aside from being required by law, we do recognise helmets are a very personal choice and what works for one rider might not be suitable for another. But, we were handed the HJC C70 by local distributors NKS and asked for an honest opinion of their middle-range sport touring helmet.
Our review unit was a C70 Troky in a matte finish black with white blocks and fluorescent yellow streaks. We also opted for the HJ-20M dark smoke visor, priced at RM173, same price as a replacement clear visor while the RST gold and blue tinted visor options are priced at RM275.
As a sport touring helmet, the HJC C70 comes with a 5-year warranty and conforms to the ECE-R 22.05 safety standard, which makes it legal for road use in Malaysia. The ECE-R test includes a maximum allowable peak energy of 275 G, 105-degree arc of vision through the viewport and chin strap that resists a breaking force of 3 kN (305 kg).
Coming with a claimed weight of 1.6 kg in ‘Large’, the C70 is not particularly light as helmets go but for the price point, you cannot complain too loudly. The C70 also comes with an internal dark visor, actuated with a slide switch on the top of the helmet.
Fitting the visor to the C70 does not require tools, making removal for cleaning or changing the visor easy, though we did find the push tabs to remove the visor a little stiff. Opening the opening is with a tab on the front which gives a positive lock to the visor in the closed position with detents making the visor easy to leave open in one of six positions.
Inside the helmet, the foam padding is a little on the soft, allowing for a ‘fit’ straight off. We have not used the helmet long enough to determine if the foam will pack down a little more, but we did find the C70 nicely supportive on the crown and cheeks.
The chin strap uses an adjustable micro buckle for one-handed operation and easy on and off but this precludes the C70 from track use where a ‘D’ ring strap fastener is compulsory. In operation, we found it easy to get a comfortable fit with the chin strap without it digging into the neck.
Venting on the C70 is done with a vent in the chin bar, opened with a sliding panel, and a single vent on on the top with twin exits through the back of the helmet. Riding around with the C70, we found venting to be quite good at highway speeds and there was enough air entering the helmet at low speed to prevent fogging.
Wind noise was minimal at high speed and all we noticed was the sound of turbulence at the top left and right sides of the visor. Since there is no provision for adjustment of the visor position fore-and-aft to improve the seal over the viewport, we had to live with the noise, though it was not loud to the point of being more than an annoyance.
We also installed a Cardo Freecom 4+ as part of a different gear review and the C70 accepted fitting of the comms device quite easily. There was ample space in the ear cups to fit the speakers and running the microphone wires under the removable padding was easy.
For riders wanting a no fuss, simple helmet with a minimum of fancy bits and pieces, the HJC C70 is a good, value for money choice, priced as it is below RM1,000. There are six models in the HJC C70 range, in both solid colours and graphics, which are available at all authorised HJC helmet dealers in Malaysia.
