Story Moto
Jul 10, 20204 min
Updated: Aug 19, 2021
We love that GMAX went the extra mile in several areas while still sticking to their obvious mission of making a high quality and versatile, yet still affordable, offering to the motorcycle community.
The chief complaint with the GM-11 is that it's 'heavier'. That really seems to be the ONLY complaint with this lid. Seeing / hearing this, we of course had to take a look at the numbers. At length we hung our hat here:
THAT DISTINCTION IS UNFAIR...
It is heavier... BUT the reviewers had to dig deep to lay that one out as a disadvantage to the GMAX GM11D... because while it IS heavier... we are talking ounces.` This ' heavier' distinction is if compared to the higher-end helmets it often gets stacked / categorized with from a 'features' standpoint--Such as the $600 Aria XD4 and other heavy hitters of the sort.
That all being said... I think the fact that this $120 dual sport helmet gets to be stacked in those lists with wildly more expensive dual sport / adventure riding helmets far 'outweighs' the significance of the fact that it is 'single-digit ounces' heavier. I didn't want to use this much 'blog real estate' on the matter but after reading and watching every review I could find it occurred to me that the GMAX GM-11D was getting lynched unduly for it's weight. It's kinda like... short or not this basketball player is putting points on the board so his height always being mentioned as a handicap is not really a fair distinction in defining his overall value to the team.
I'll let you discover the features by bullet below so this blog post doesn't become a book. But suffice it to say that we are very impressed with what the GMAX GM-11D is and with GMAX for offering up a great product at a distinctly LOW PRICE. In fact more than 'distinctly' really-- A more accurate statement would be that...
It's almost completely unique as a quality, features and price-point package.
There may be others but beyond the ONEAL SIERRA 2 and the HJC DS-X1 ( both more expensive ) the competition for the unique package offered by the GMAX GM-11D thins out fairly quickly.
WHY WE FIND AND SHARE THIS CRAP...
JUST FLICK YOUR SCROLL-AMIJIGGY THING PAST THIS PARAGRAPH TO GET TO THE HELMET
The reason products like this are important to us and you is that they not only put decent gear within reach of everyone, they also serve a very important role in the bigger picture of it all. Brand worship-- while understandable in that it makes sense to lift and love great gear-- also has an underbelly thats not always so awesome for the health of the whole. It inflates prices. It causes riders to not be open minded when it comes to new products hitting the scene and as insane as it sounds we've witnessed that it actually divides our sport to some degree as though we are all some sort of class-based country club instead of a fire-hearted brotherhood of outdoorsmen and women driven by a deep need to explore. That to us is a huge problem.
At the end of the day... the greats as we know them in this era each began in a garage with an idea. We don't wanna be the generation that crushed the well diggers just because we had a finely labeled bottle of tasty water in our hand. Sounds dramatic. I get it. It's just true though. You've suffered me enough... check out this helmet.
GMAX GM-11 Dual Sport Motorcycle Helmet
SPECS...
Dot Approved And Meets Fmvss 218 Standard
100% UV400 resistant face shield comes anti-scratch hard coated for a longer lasting clear view, dupont coolmax interior keeps you dry and comfortable
Coolmax wicks moisture away from your body and dries quickly, removable, adjustable, washable coolmax interior allows for easy cleaning and custom fitting
Visor is designed to allow airflow to pass uninterrupted across the helmet to virtually eliminate helmet-lift at highway speeds, outer flip shield is completed hidden under the visor and out of line-of-sight when in the fully raised position, shield can be fully raised or lowered when using goggles
Side shield plate covers come as standard equipment in the box to use when configuring to a visor-less helmet, large eye port that accepts large goggles, integrated speaker pockets, chin curtain included, dot approved, lightweight poly alloy shell
Price at the time and date of this post... $121
FOR FIRST WORD ON FINDS LIKE THESE AND MANY OTHERS.
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CHECK OUT OUR BLOG
FOR A CONSTANT FLOW OF RESEARCH AIMED AT CUTTING GEAR WEIGHT AND PUTTING MONEY IN THE GAS TANK INSTEAD OF THE POCKETS OF RETAILERS.
YOU WILL LOVE THEM BECAUSE THEY WILL SAVE YOU TIME AND MONEY AND GIVE YOU FREE STUFF.
Billy J is co-founder of Story Moto ADV, a dual sport / adventure riding brand with strategic initiatives serving the health of the adventure touring community in order to develop a unified voice for speaking resolution into motorcycle land closures in the U.S. due to overcrowding and other public land use conflicts. He has been a rider for 45 years, an extreme adventurer for 31, and an avid dual sport adventure rider for 20. His first time living on a motorcycle for more than a year was in 1988 and most recently for 16 months living and riding full time with his wife Bonnie J and their kids on a tour that wrapped up in the summer of 2019. The are plugging away at the Story Moto ADV compound for another round set to commence in the Summer of 2020.
CONTACT BILLY J: STORYMOTOADV@GMAIL.COM
All things motorcycle. All things camping, All things camp cooking
any single topic or combination therein.