2014 Nolan N44 "Crossover" Helmets

The 2014 helmets are starting to appear on sites for pre-order, and I'm curious about your thoughts on the upcoming Nolan N44 helmets.

Many sites tend to include flip-up helmets under their "modular helmet"category, but if anything, the N44 fits the name better than most. Nolan themselves have taken to calling this a "crossover" helmet, with its 6 different configurations.

The Nolan N34 "Air" and "Trilogy" helmets were the first helmets I had seen with this type of setup of having a removal chinbar, but other helmet makers seem to be slowly dipping their toes into the category, such as the Fly Tourist and even the Bell Rogue.

I do feel the other helmet makers are missing some of the point of the chinbar, as the bar on both the Fly and Bell helmets are almost purely cosmetic plastic and provide no crash protection. The N44, on the other hand, claims both DOT and ECE-P under the full-face helmet requirements with the bar in-place.

Personally, I'd probably never ride without the chinbar, the main draw to me is the wide-open eye port that gives a wide range of vision to the rider. The larger eyeport of my N104 is my favorite part of the helmet.

What are your thoughts on this type of modular helmet and the N44 in particular?