Any interest in an Adamo replica Arai Signet helmet?

After a recent conversation of the 20th anniversary of Jimmy Adamo's passing I initiated a conversation with Arai distributor Sammy Tanner regarding a possible reissue of an Arai Adamo replica helmet. Sammy is going to begin researching what Arai is willing to do, but he feels fairly confident that if we can put together 50 commitments to the design he can have it made. During our discussions we turned over the point that much of the profit from the original design was given to Jimmy's family. We thought we might donate $25 of each sale either to Jimmy's family or to a foundation named for him (if such a foundation exists), or to the RRW action fund in memory of Jimmy...a gift that might save another racer's life in the future.



In any case, on to the point of this message. Are there any fifty of you out there who might be interested in purchasing an Adamo replica lid? This would be decaled onto the latest version of Arai's Signet series helmet (the shell shape has changed since the original Signet...so try one on if you haven't lately) in either Red/White/Black or Red/White/Green...or some of each if there's enough interest. Price should be between $600 and $700....probably around $650. I'm posting this message to several forums and email lists in order to get to fifty as quickly as possible, so don't be discouraged if you only see a few responses to this query.



If you're interested, please respond with the size, and color arrangement you'd prefer, and whether or not you'd be willing to buy one if it's only produced in a different color arrangement (ie...you'd prefer red/white/green but would or would not buy red/white/black if that was the only option). I'll start a list and if we approach the fifty unit threshold I'll get with Sammy and get the ball rolling on production. He estimates that delivery should occur within 90 to 120 days after the order is initiated.



I'm first on the list....so only 49 to go!

Bob Cotter

I'm in!!

man, that was my first helmet in white red and blue (like ducatibob's avatar)- i remember that being the coolest thing i ever own, other than my FZR400.
if the design is modernize a bit, i am in.

I'm in also. New to this forum because of this thread! Thanks Ralph

It's looking unlikely, as I only have about ten people who are willing to buy one between here, the Ducati list, the Bevelheads list, and the Monster Forum. In discussions with Sammy Tanner he indicated a threshold of around fifty units to stir interest in a production run.

I'll call him back for a chat, but it's a long way from ten to fifty.

Welcome to the forum GP500!

Adamo Helmet

I'm in for a Adamo helmet, one closer to the minimum? Maybe the tt/ F1 Symposium in New Hampshire will be a good place to get another batch of orders? In addition the Loudbike.com guys and MotoCreations.com folks might be some help in getting the orders up?

Oh, my pinhead would need a small! Red white and green or...

I'll add ya to the list, Jay.

I am also in on an x large red/white/green, we can probably get a few more sold at our TT and F1 Symposium as it is devoted to Team Leoni and remembering Jimmy Adamo. Reno will be there and we think that Jaime Adamo , (Jimmy's Daughter who was only three when he sadly passed away) will also attend. Thanks so much for your efforts, Jimmy will never be forgotten. Here are two of Jimmy's TT's that will be at our event. Lou

We're still short, but getting there!

Hello gentleman. I was directed here by msgr TTNYC above. If there is anyone who wants the Adamo Replica back, it would be myself. I was Jimmy's mechanic after he & Reno parted. I went to just about every race with Jimmy from 1990-1992 & built his bikes at his shop in NY during that period. After Jimmy's passing, I was sponsored by Arai as a racer throughout the 1990's & have solid contacts within Arai Americas in Pa. Believe me, if all we needed to get our hands on a new Arai helmet was an order of 50, i would have already arranged this, kept two & sold the other 48 in a matter of a day or two with a few phone calls to fans, & close friends of Jimmy. 50 would be very easy to do. The unfortunate reality is that the official word for something like this is 500 (five hundred) units. It is correct that the order would have to be put through by a distributor (such as Sammy Tanner or JD Walters). Arai would merely be handling the order from the distributor. The figure of 50 is for if there is an existing helmet design that is not being sold in America & there is enough demand to sell 50 units, they will bring them in. The Adamo replica is a retired design & any application of that design onto a new helmet would be starting from scratch. That being the case, we would need 500. A daunting task, but one i feel very strongly about. That being the case, i have created a Facebook page to use as a gauge & for folks to start this process by putting their name in a hat, so to speak. If enough interest is directed to the page with numbers a good chunk over 500, then we can take the next step with the distributors. I will be talking to a rep at J.D. Walters next week & i will get the hard facts & figures about what it will take from us. I hesitate to even mention that this was noted by Arai Americas, but i was told that a distributor or two could "stump" for us & help out by placing an order of their own for a given percentage of the 500, if in fact they felt they themselves could sell the helmet to the general public, not withstanding our order. So, maybe we would only need an iron clad order for 400 or some such figure (to be determined by them) based on the climate. Again, i don't even want to think about asking that any time soon, but just wanted to note that it was a possibility if the figured got substantial. My personal thoughts would be to find out how to get a given buyer to place his/her on order & work from there. If the figure of 500 was not reached after a given time, your deposit would be refunded. Maybe something like that can be arranged. Being as close to Jimmy as i was, over the past 20 years, i have had many,many people tell me that they would buy at least one Adamo Replica again if they had the chance, so i think we can do this. Then again, i'm biased. I miss the man terribly & think anyone who wears a helmet would buy one. I'll report back after i speak to J.D. Walters & we can go from there. Please join the facebook page @ https://www.facebook.com/BringBackTheAdamoReplica Thanks,Enzo

mtick said:

man, that was my first helmet in white red and blue (like ducatibob's avatar)- i remember that being the coolest thing i ever own, other than my FZR400.
if the design is modernize a bit, i am in.

Click to expand...

mine too!

The other thing that bears noting is that Arai no longer makes the Signet, so that is why this helmet would be a start-from-scratch design as opposed to simply ordering up a design on a helmet that they still produce. Any Adamo design on a new helmet would be a ground-up project.

I've been corresponding with Sammy Tanner on this issue, Enzo. He's the largest Arai distributor in the States (according to him) and he felt sure he could have these produced at a 50 unit threshold. If you'd like to take point with Sammy that's excellent by me, as he says he personally knew Jimmy, too. I'll gladly send you the list I have assembled, and Sammy felt like the graphics would be no problem. Also, fwiw, the Signet is still around as the Signet-Q, but is a different shell shape compared to the original lid.

I met Jimmy once, but have no association with him outside of the fact that I was a fan and an admirer. I'll help make this a reality any way I can, and I'll hit your facebook page as soon as I post this note. Drop me a PM if I can do anything to help. Sammy is really easy to talk with and I got the impression he'd like to make this happen, too.