Helmet with all certifications, beautiful. Coming from an AGV K-5. Night and day, unfortunately. AGV has been in the game for years! On the positive side, the price and the weight. On the negative side, the ventilation is not good at all, even with the air vents open... whether you open them or not, it's the same thing. Not aerodynamic at all... even at 40 km/h the wind noise is very loud. The first time I wore it, I thought all the vents were open and unfortunately I found out they were closed and it was just the wind noise. Finally, in winter when the vents are closed, a lot of air passes through the neck and chin area.

I was disappointed with the F71. Coming from an old SCUBERTH S2 and after extensive use of an HJC RPHA 12 (borrowed), I decided to get the new F71 at €300. As an owner for about 6 months, I have the following to say:

I am incredibly disappointed by how noisy the helmet is. I can't ride without a balaclava, my ears start hurting from 60-70 km/h and above. What can I say, did I get a defective one? I only wear it with a balaclava. Other than that, it has nice materials, a premium feel, and a very effective top vent. The bottom vent is useless, I don't see any difference.

Update 5/6/26:
For out-of-town rides where speeds exceed 60 km/h, I only wear it with earplugs, a neck warmer, and a balaclava in hopes I won't go deaf. Usually, I let my ears pop intentionally during altitude changes, no joke. After a very long ride, my head was ringing. I haven't even had it for two years and I'm already thinking of spending 400+ euros on another brand. Also, the pinlock got very scratched in one winter, without any mistreatment. Nice materials, nice pads, decent top vent but I'm going to ruin my hearing.

Unfortunately for me, the short journey with HJC seems to have come to an end. From now on, I'll be trying out Arai or Shoei.

Unrelated to the helmet, I bought it from the well-known dealership where I was served by someone clueless. He kept telling us what we could get for €50 more and what for €100 more. He didn't care what we chose, only that we spent more money. I had already decided what I wanted before I went there, I had done my research, I just wanted to see what he would say. My rating of the helmet has nothing to do with the useless guy at the dealership near Syngrou.

I got it as a replacement for an HJC FG-ST which I had for almost 6 years. It took me everywhere, in the city and on trips, and with all its positives and negatives, I ended up being very satisfied. So I went (for the third time) back to HJC.

Regarding the F71, overall I notice that while I stayed in the same price range, the quality has significantly improved again. The fit on my head remains the same as my old HJC (size Small). The shell and weight are visibly smaller than the FG, while at the same time, the helmet is significantly quieter! This time I chose a gloss color, and the paint quality is excellent (in contrast to the previous matte which was mediocre). Visibility is excellent and much better than that of the FG-ST. You see more and there are no strange light refractions at the points where the pinlock attaches.

One of the positives I didn't expect is the presence of channels throughout the interior of the helmet, which allows for very good cable management for any aftermarket intercom installation. Also, the points for placing headphones are quite deep, so you can have intercom while wearing earplugs without anything pressing. At the same time, the helmet already has pre-installation for HJC's intercom system, in case someone chooses that. Personally, I installed the Freedconn that I had in the previous helmet.

An extra improvement is the fastening of the chin strap, which in the FG was very bad as it relied on hard plastic clips that broke very easily. Now it is recessed and even sideways, making it very durable but also difficult to remove.

On the negatives, I would mention the presence of the points/caps for installing HJC's intercom system, which makes it quite difficult to install another aftermarket module. Nevertheless, with some ingenuity and persistence, it can be done. Personally, I struggled with the Freedconn and eventually installed it with the base that uses double-sided tape, instead of the metal clip I used before. I hope it holds.

The visor does not have a locking clip at the front like other helmets from the company have/had, however, when it closes at the last notch, it automatically moves somewhat backward which "seals" it. Nice feature and quality, but I don't know if it will be convenient for someone who wants to keep the visor slightly open. Also, the switch for the sun visor feels a bit strange in terms of sensation, location, and operation, but it may also be a matter of habit. On the positive side, there is an adjustment for the height at which the sun visor descends (3 notches with small differences between them).

As always, an anti-fog pinlock and carrying bag are included.

Overall, I believe that once again HJC has produced a helmet that is fully worth it, especially for its price. This time a lot of work has gone into the details from the company, and kudos to them. It seems they did not compromise on quality while keeping the price in the same range.

I will return in the future with any long-term observations.

Update 1 month: I am adding the following 3 negatives to my observations:
- The front-lower air vent is very noisy when open although it does a great job regarding airflow. The noise is so much that earplugs are definitely needed on a long trip.
- The placement to the left of the visor opening is quite a big flaw because it is difficult to find it in situations where you need to do it with your right hand (e.g., when you have the clutch lever pressed and want to open it with your right).
- It is quite difficult to open/close the upper air vents and practically impossible if the visor is fully open.

Other than that, I keep my rating at 4/5 stars because it is a quality and quite quiet helmet (at least when you don't have the front air vent open). It definitely remains vfm.

Very good helmet from HJC.