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The Nolan N64 – Nolan’s ‘do everything’ polycarbonate full face helmet
The N64 is another reasonably priced polycarbonate full faced helmet from Italian manufacturer Nolan.
Note: the N64 is no longer produced. Take a look at our Top 10 Full Face Helmets page to find a quality alternative.
Nolan tend to specialise in polycarbonate helmets – mainly because they perform really well in an impact, they’re reasonably light weight and they’re cheaper to manufacture and therefore have a lower shelf price. But that doesn’t mean they’re not going to offer great protection, because some of the best protecting helmets around are polycarbonate; and of course Nolan are our joint third best performing crash helmet brand.
The N64 is Nolan’s ‘go anywhere, do anything, ride any bike’ type of helmet – aiming to be a versatile, lower priced helmet for more or less everyone, whatever type of road riding they do.
There’s not much information out there about how well it’s liked, but we’ve trawled the web and found out as much as we can about what owners think about the N64 motorcycle helmet.
Overall/Summary
The Nolan N64 is a essentially a great basic helmet let down by poor noise suppression. It scores highly for impact protection (SHARP 4 stars) and it does pretty well everything that a budget helmet should do – except the ventilation is to be found a little wanting when things hot up. The shield’s fine, it’s comfortable, it’s got an easy-to-use micrometric lock and it can be had for a very reasonable price.
Only pretty well every owner we could find said it was noisy.
If that doesn’t bother you – or you’ve got a pair of really good ear plugs – then the Nolan N64 is worth a look. If not, you might want to check out one of our suggested alternatives at the bottom of the page – or click around the site to see our other budget helmets or top rated crash helmets.
- Full face polycarbonate helmet
- SHARP 4 star safety rated
- ECE approved
- Not DOT or Snell certified
- Micrometric fastener
- Pinlock-ready
- One shell size only
- Sizes XXS-XXL
- Expect to pay $100-$170
Safety
The Nolan N64 scored four stars when safety tested by SHARP – which is a very good score and in line with every other Nolan tested to date.
It is of course ECE 22.05 tested/approved too (though not DOT certified for the US), so all round, we’d expect the Nolan N64 to offer good impact protection in an accident.
There’s other features which contribute to safety too of course – including the micrometric fastener and the Pinlock-ready shield to keep things fog-free – though unfortunately the N64 doesn’t come with a Pinlock insert in the box, unlike many helmets these days including some of Nolan’s other helmets like the N87.
A slightly negative point is that the N64 is only manufactured in one shell size. That’s not uncommon for lower priced helmets but if you’re at the extreme ends of the fitment sizes (XXS/XS or XXL/XL) it may mean the helmet looks either too large or small for your body size. It may also, arguably, mean there’s more or less than the optimal ratio of padding and polystyrene lining in there.
That said, experts agree that the most important factor for the safety of any helmet is to get a helmet that fits correctly in the first place and everything else is secondary to that. Check out our fitting guide to find out how.
Helmet Noise
There’s one thing that pretty well every owner we heard from online said – that the Nolan N64 is a noisy helmet.
As we always say, how noisy a helmet is is very much a personal thing and depends on a wide range of factors. But in the N64s case, opinions seem to range from plain ole ‘it’s noisy’ to ‘OMG NOISY!’ so we’re pretty sure this is one helmet you’re going to have to wear a good pair of ear plugs with.
Folks who ventured a suggestion thought the noise levels might be down to lack of padding around the ears or a lack of a chin curtain, allowing noise (and air) to come up from the bottom of the helmet. Either way, if you’re after a quiet helmet, you might want to look elsewhere and check out our quietest helmets section.
Ventilation
Ventilation is taken care of by the pretty common combo of single chin vent and double forehead vent, with exhausts pulling out the warm air from the rear of the shell.
All vents on the N64 are easy to operate, with the chin vent being a large toggle plate (press the bottom to open it at the top) and the top vents being small sliders – though one comment was they feel very far back on the helmet until you get used to them.
The chin vent seems to work well. Even so, it’s not going to be enough to keep the shield fog-free in colder areas or when it starts to rain, so it’s good to see that Nolan have made the N64’s shield Pinlock ready (though there’s no Pinlock in the box).
For the head vents, a few owners commented that it can be hard to feel any ventilation going onto the top of the helmet and it can get a bit hot in there. So if you’re after a great venting helmet, you might want to look elsewhere.
Shield
The shield on the Nolan N64 is a pretty straight forward affair. It works on a ratchet and has the opening tab in the middle so you can open it with your left or right hand – which is useful.
It has four ratchet positions, including a cracked-open position for a little extra venting when you’re bimbling along, and it has Nolan’s own version of the shield quick removal mechanism which is very good and easy to use.
While the N64’s shield is Pinlock-ready, it doesn’t come with a Pinlock anti-fog insert in the box, which is a shame because many other Nolans, including the N87 and N86 do. If you do buy an N64 and expect to wear it in colder/rainier climates, we’d recommend buying a Pinlock to keep things mist-free – but factor another $30ish into the price.
Comfort & Sizing
The interior on the Nolan N64 is widely rated as fairly comfortable by the owners we heard from. They also seem to reckon it feels light – which it is for a polycarbonate full face helmet, weighing in around 3.1Lbs (1.4Kg).
The comfort lining includes Nolan’s Clima Comfort material which is their version of a moisture wicking fabric, there to pull moisture away from the head where it can vent out of the rear of the helmet. The interior’s also removable and washable, as you’d expect in all but the very cheapest helmets.
There were no reports of the helmet sizing being other than accurate, so if you’re interested in ordering an N64 (or any other helmet) we recommend you use our helmet fitting guide to make sure you order the right size.
Looks & Graphics
If you’re after a plain, solid color, there’s both a gloss black (Metal Black) version and gloss white (Pure White) as well as the Flat Black matt black version. There’s also the Gemini Replica range, featuring replicas from lots of European riders like Danilo Petrucci, Danny Kent, Canepa, Bastianini, Chas Davies, Leon Camier and Marco Melandri. And there’s also the distinctive Wiring and Twirl designs.
Nolan N64 video
We actually couldn’t find an English language video showing the N64 – so instead here’s a video with Italian riders Marco Melandri and Claudio Corti showing how much they love their N64s (and not because their sponsors told them to – honest!) followed by an interesting video showing the making of Nolan helmets, presumably at their factory in Bergamo, Italy.
Well, I found it interesting anyhow…
Other stuff – audio, build quality, warranty
As is usual with all Nolans, the Nolan N64 is designed to work with Nolan’s own N-Com bluetooth communicator.
Most owners reckon it feels well built, with quality parts and construction. But if it does fail, it comes with a 5 year warranty, which is about as long as crash helmet warranties come.
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Alternatives to the Nolan N64
There’s plenty of alternatives to the N64. If you’re looking for a great value full face motorcycle helmet, have a look at any of these…
For a similar price to the Nolan, there’s the Shark S600 – an entry-level helmet that’s a bit no frills but comes with a Pinlock in the box and scored a great four stars in SHARP’s safety test. It comes in under the ton too so it’s great value. Or if you want a sun visor included, the Shark S700S is SHARP four star and a good low price too. Finally at this price, there’s the Scorpion Exo R410, that’s a four star rated helmet with great ventilation and optically-correct shield.
Going up the pricing scale a little, the AGV K3 SV is a four star full face helmet with drop down sun visor and a Pinlock in the box. And finally, there’s the N64’s older brother, the Nolan N87, a SHARP 4 star helmet with Pinlock in the box and drop down sun visor like the AGV.
Phew – told you there were plenty of alternatives!
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