Royal Enfield Make-it-Yours gear and the Urban Trooper helmet review
The Royal Enfield Urban Trooper helmet has been around for a while now but Royal Enfield is sprucing it up now by letting buyers customise helmet (alongside some of it's other open and full fave models) under their Make It Yours program. We had a go at the customisation process recently and it's pretty neat. An intuitive widget that works seamlessly on a computer or phone web browser, lets you select the helmet model, customise the colours of the shell and inner lining, select between a gloss or matte finish and even add stripes or decals depending on what colour and finish you choose.
Interestingly, the MIY program also lets you add a pair of off-road goggles with the Urban Trooper helmet - an accessory that was sorely missed with this helmet until now. A customised helmet is a great gifting option, and RE's MIY version will take around 30 days to ship - so plan the purchase accordingly.
The RE Urban Cross helmet is ISI certified
As for the helmet I customised, the matte grey shade turned out just how I imagined it. Interestingly, the striped accents I had selected were made in paint too and wasn't a tacky decal that I was afraid of getting. I saw another colleague's helmet who had chosen to go with a ton of decals speed around the helmet, and that treatment was nicely executed too.
The customised lettering, however, comes with a decal that looks like it will tear off easily and its placement is such that it gets hidden under the belt of the googles quite often. But otherwise, what you see is what you get with RE's MiY program and that's a good thing. In fact, I also ordered and customised a t-shirt which turned out just as expected too.
Since this is also my first time using the RE Urban Trooper helmet, let me add my two cents about it. For its asking price, I would have liked to see fatter cushioning in the cheek pads for a safer, snug fit. While the crown fits true to size, the slim cheek pads make for a loose fit overall, so you might either have to add more padding or separately order cheek pads of a different size (try at a RE showroom).
Unfortunately, like most RE helmets, the Urban Cross does not get the safer double D-ring fasteners
The build quality is on par with other helmets of this category, but I would only use this helmet within the slow environments of the city. My concerns with safety aside, the retro, Cross form factor of this helmet also makes it's extremely noisy at higher speeds (even with earplugs), and there is plenty of buffeting on the highway, irrespective of which Royal Enfield motorcycle you are using it with. The plus-side is that the Cross design allows plenty of airflow making it ideal for city use.
The big eye port and the functional venting around the jaw make for excellent ventilation on the Urban Cross
The goggles that can be bought with the helmet have a generally robust build and the belt fits well with the clip provided on the helmet's backside. The goggles fit properly into the helmet's eye port and need both hands to pull out and over the helmet - so I'm guessing they won't come undone easily if you have a fall on the trials. The goggles have a 6.5-inch wide eye port (which is the standard measurement for most popular MX goggles), but I felt it had marginally narrower peripheral vision. Not something that will largely compromise your safety though, but needs you to be a little more alert of your surroundings.
As with any off-road goggles, they aren't a safe replacement for a standard helmet visor for high-speed use but work well for the trails. Their standard sizing also means you can pair these goggles with other MX helmets in your gear. The goggles also have small vents on them that prevent fogging and the lens comes with the pin-lock mechanism too.
I wish there were more colour options for the lens on the goggles
All things considered then, the Urban Trooper helmet and goggles are a good buy despite the slightly tall pricing and complement bikes like the Himalayan, Interceptor and the Continental GT rather well. The ability to customise it only makes the deal sweeter and I hope Royal Enfield adds even more options going forward.
