The business has roots from the turn of the century involving cap production, followed by military headgear Diverse frågor onwards, industrial safety helmets after World War IIand finally motorcycle helmets from onward.
Arai's origins can be traced back to the production of kepi -style caps by Yuichiro Arai in His son, Hirotake Arai who succeeded his father ina keen motorcyclistwas approached to create a new design of sun-barrier caps for the growing Imperial Japanese Armywhich was later involved in the invasion of Chinathe Second Sino-Japanese Warand World War II.
When Japanese construction industry unions made protective headwear compulsory, Arai produced safety helmets for construction workers, made from a resin outer shell lined with cork which has since been substituted with expanded polystyrene. He wore an industrial safety helmet when riding his motorcycle and established a new business, the Arai Hirotake Shoten Co.
After being awarded a Japanese Industrial Standards license inArai began manufacturing and selling the first Japanese motorcycling helmets, designated H. Hirotake Arai's son Michio had spent time in the United States, [2] recognizing a potential market for their helmets which was dominated by Bell at the time.
Arai was approached by New Jersey -based motorsport accessory retailer Roger Weston, [3] [4] [5] who later managed the Arai Helmet Americas division, [6] with a goal to recruit an American racer from the Daytona to wear an Arai helmet.
Despite approaching top American racers and with hopes of Dave Aldana agreeing, it was not until that Ted Boody Jr. Arai's helmets are hand-built, [7] with each fibre-reinforced plastic shell incorporating multiple reinforcing parts laid onto a round base known as a "bird's nest".
For many years the safety standard that applied to motorcycle helmets sold in Europe had been ECE It came into force in as ECE The fifth amendment,took effect from March The standard mandated numerous tests in a whole host of areas: the shell, the strap, the visor, the field of vision, and so Diverse frågor.
But perhaps the most crucial test measured a helmet's ability to absorb the energy of an impact. One of the criticisms of the ECE was that the impacts were always directed at the same five points on the helmet. Under ECEthe testers randomly choose three further test points from a selection of And this is important because, under the old system, it was theoretically possible for manufacturers to reinforce their helmets in the known areas.
It is now accepted that such blows can cause severe brain injuries as the brain potentially rotates violently inside the skull, causing tears in the brain's structure. And so tests incorporate impacts against an anvil with a degree angle.
Extra sensors measure the twisting forces transmitted through the helmet to the rider's head. It was expected that under this particular test, rounder, smoother shells would perform better, and the first helmet to pass the new ECE From toArai was ranked first in customer satisfaction in all thirteen annual J.
Power and Associates Motorcycle Helmet Satisfaction studies. Björn Wirdheim wearing an Arai helmet.