TommyBwell said:
I am trying to figure out what top box to get and like the size and weight of the factory box but I've seen that you can't put an XL Icon Varient in it but I wonder if you can put a traditional helmet in? I would love to be able to get somewhere and lock my helmet and jacket away. I could do it with my BMW Vario bags but don't want saddle bags that are that wide all the time so I'm looking into a top box.
The short answer is "it depends". Here's the story with my five helmets (all XL or thereabouts):
HJC open face: fits easily
Arai Quantum/e conventional full-face: fits closely
Arai XD (older model) adventure style: fits with a little bowing and latch pressure
Shoei Multitec modular style: fits with a lot of bowing and latch pressure
Shoei Qwest conventional full face: not even close...it almost won't even go into the box, let alone close and latch
Not sure what you mean by "traditional helmet". The fit situation is obviously much easier for open face helmets and I bet most, if not all, fit. And if by "jacket" you mean anything more than a rain shell, you're not going to get both it and the helmet in there. With a full-face helmet in the box, you have a little space to stuff something small in the helmet cavity and a little room around the edges for perhaps a pair of gloves, but there is no way you're going to get any kind of protective jacket in there too.
And it's not just a matter of the height of the helmet - the floor of the top box is not completely flat so the shape of the helmet's bottom edge and how it sits on the floor is going to influence how high it sits.
I think you're going to have to try your specific helmet in a box to know for sure. And keep in mind that even if it fits, your next helmet might not.
- Mark
