jeb
Member
- Jul 21, 1999
- 633
- 0
As some of you probably already know, ARAI changed their policy this year to say that their helmets can't be sold mail order any more. The official ARAI reason is so that they can be sure each customer is fitted correctly at the store. Not one of the ARAI helmet's I've tried on at a store have come with any kind of fitting help from the clerk other than fetching me the size I asked for.
The speculated reason that this really came about is that ARAI dealers were complaining that they were being undersold by the mail order houses and being forced to deal on the helmets. Can't have competition, after all. The fact that ARAI last year made the mail order houses stop printing the prices in their ads (Shoei did that, too) lends weight to this line of reasoning.
My fear when this happened was that I'd no longer be able to get an ARAI helmet. I'd buy Shoei but the VFX no longer comes in XXL. This has come to pass for me. ARAI MX-Pro is not stocked in my area and the only ARAI dealer in the area is NOT willing to order several helmets just to see if they fit. I used to get them at Bob's as they're about 1.5 hours away from me but I found out yesterday that they won't be carrying them anymore, even in the retail store. Seems Bob doesn't like to be told how to run his business.
And what about the folks who live in remote, 6 hours to a dealer, areas? Screwed. Thanks a lot ARAI. Stupid business move, IMO, especially in the current economy.
I guess the message here is that if you like ARAI helmets, you may want to stock up. They may not be very available soon.
The speculated reason that this really came about is that ARAI dealers were complaining that they were being undersold by the mail order houses and being forced to deal on the helmets. Can't have competition, after all. The fact that ARAI last year made the mail order houses stop printing the prices in their ads (Shoei did that, too) lends weight to this line of reasoning.
My fear when this happened was that I'd no longer be able to get an ARAI helmet. I'd buy Shoei but the VFX no longer comes in XXL. This has come to pass for me. ARAI MX-Pro is not stocked in my area and the only ARAI dealer in the area is NOT willing to order several helmets just to see if they fit. I used to get them at Bob's as they're about 1.5 hours away from me but I found out yesterday that they won't be carrying them anymore, even in the retail store. Seems Bob doesn't like to be told how to run his business.
And what about the folks who live in remote, 6 hours to a dealer, areas? Screwed. Thanks a lot ARAI. Stupid business move, IMO, especially in the current economy.
I guess the message here is that if you like ARAI helmets, you may want to stock up. They may not be very available soon.