Motorcycle helmets are kind of like golf balls. You only see them taken apart when something bad has happened. Unless a video crew got inside a factory and were allowed to shoot all of the tiny little tasks that go into building a modern helmet. Well that’s exactly what this Arai video shows. Sure, it’s an advertisement for the company, but by displaying the routines, employees, heritage, and production of its product the company comes into focus in a way that we don’t often see.

Seeing members of the Arai family, for instance, puts some of the company’s history in perspective. The fact that the son of the founder is still involved, and evidently bombs around on a Ducati Monster (even though he’s quite grey in the temples) is hard not to admire. It’s nice to see genuine motorcycle enthusiasm in such a marquis brand, and one that serves the auto industry as well. Whether you wear an Arai or not, we thought it offered an interesting peek behind the curtain of helmet manufacturing, and the current state of the art.