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Helmet fit out

Getting an Arai customised in Japan

Arai
helmet fit with UPC Ride On in Tokyo

April 23, 2026, words by Guy 'Guido' Allen, pics by Margaret Stewart

Today we went to a shop in Tokyo's Ueno district to get an Arai helmet custom-fitted

Of all the helmets I've bought over the decades, none have been custom-fitted even though the idea is far from being new. That was something done trackside for grand prix stars.

In a humble motorcycle shop? Not in Australia – or not that I have observed. In Tokyo, there are shops which make a big deal about being fitting stations. With good reason.

Without that service, in my case the result of the numerous local purchases has often (mostly?) been helmets that were very good but not quite right.

However the idea of custom-fitting is accepted as normal practice in larger markets such as Japan, which is also home to several helmet brands including majors such as Shoei and Arai. Some of them offer factory-trained fitting as part of the service.

When we recently tripped over the UPC Ride On store in Tokyo's Ueno district, and interacted with the folk who run it, we decided to go back and get a helmet from them. There was one catch: I have a watermelon of a head that measures around 63cm in circumference, which puts it in XXL territory. (Ed's note: Arai also lists a 3XL sizing!) That's outside the normal in Australia, and very much so in Japan. Which led to an email discussion which assured me 63-64cm helmets "are very rare and the available models are limited".

I promised to go in for a fitting. Why? Here's an example: one of my current helmets is a high-end Shoei, which is brilliant. Except on long rides, when the length of the internal lining seems to shrink and the padding around the ears becomes a torture advice. There's a big difference between comfort for a half-day ride and one that lasts days on end.

It's not the fault of the helmet, but rather poor access to advice and the materiel to get it right.

Appointment made, I turn up early and hope for the best. Matsuzaki is the man in charge for this exercise. He runs a tape-measure around the noggin, mutters 63.2, and asks me to don a foam paper 'glove' over my head.

It's something I've never seen before, but makes perfect sense in a country with high standards of cleanliness that mean a helmet with someone else's hair in the lining is instantly second-hand. At least my kids will get a laugh out of the pics as partner Ms M Snr snaps away with the camera.

The helmet we're fitting is an Arai Astro-IQ in 'glass white', which means it has a subtle metal-flake in the paint.

With the helmet donned over the 'glove', it feels pretty good, with a couple of nagging doubts. They are the usual suspects: 1. It feels just a little short from front to rear; 2. I have a suspicion the side-padding will crush the tops of my ears over long rides, as per the Shoei.

The latter sounds trivial, but several days on the road with the nagging pain for hours on end will soon change your mind.

While I'm asked for feedback, you can see Matsuzaki is quietly making his own assessment and has views on what is right and wrong.

He takes back the helmet and, without hesitation, fishes out the lining and its assorted pads and then delves into his cache of components. In this case his choice was a doubled-up dual set of pads across the crown of the inner soft shell, which effectively raises where the hard shell sits. I look at what he's doing and wonder whether he's gone a bit strong on this.

Somewhere in there, a small third pad comes into play. I'm assuming it's to help sort the overall positioning and am happy to leave it to the expert.

Once again we don the 'glove' and helmet. It's a very different situation: the issues have dissipated and the helmet still sits low enough and at an angle that provides good frontal coverage. I'm surprised by the difference worked by apparently 'simple' modifications. It feels as though Matsuzaki has worked a little magic.

With that sorted, I ask for an extra visor and pay a bill that is less than I would expect in Australia. The difference can be attributed to buying local product in a bigger market.

As we were leaving, Matsuzaki handed over a couple of shop stickers which I have happily attached to the flanks of the Arai. They will be a long-term reminder of a happy day.