What on earth is going on? After being totally obliterated in the ’70s by a wave of imported Japanese bikes, the British motorbike manufacturing industry seems to be making a bit of a come back. We’ve all seen Triumph return to great success, but now many more British brands are hitting the market with brand new bikes that look pretty damned good.
After wearing this helmet almost every day for the last month, I think it’s about time I stuck a review of it on here. I initially bought this helmet as a cheap stop-gap measure, after dropping my old AGV and putting a nice crack in the outer shell – doh! Amazon was running an 80% off discount on many end of range lines and although I’d rather buy a helmet in a store where I can try it on, the price was so good I decided to take a gamble.
The Bell M3R is fairly mid-range and generally sold for around £200-250. Amazon price was £44 + VAT. Hold on one minute, why is there VAT on a helmet?! Personal safety gear is exempt in the UK. I ordered anyway and raised the issue with Amazon customer service, who after a couple of weeks refunded me the VAT.
Usually when I pull up after a ride, I find I’ve collected a lot of wildlife along the way. For a change today, I found this one still alive.
On Sunday, the weather was dry, sunny and perfect for a ride on the bike. We set out early, to make the most of quieter roads and avoid the unbearable midday heat and set off into deepest Essex.
This was Evie’s first proper ride out, having only been on short journey’s around local streets to get used to riding pillion. Decked out in a Hein Gericke textile suit with armour, RST boots and Caberg lid, she was more than prepared. We briefly stopped at the High Beach tea hut, but got bored waiting for it to open so dashed off straight to Finchingfield, via Ongar, Leaden Roding and Great Dunmow, a popular run for all bikers. Evie was a good pillion, quickly got the hang of leaning with me around all the twisty bends. Just a bit wobbly as she was looking around lots.
In Finchingfield we popped into the Bosworth’s Tea Rooms for a quite bacon buttie and coffee, Evie had a sausage sarnie and juice. Very nice and far better espresso than High Beach. Fed and watered we set off home and were back for noon. There’s definitely plenty of good arguments for an early Sunday morning ride out.