What’s Happening with Nolan Helmets?

[Mike]

A bit of a minor crisis: My N-Com comm system on my year-old Nolan N100-5 helmet has a dead battery. I just found out a couple of days ago that the U.S. distributor, CIMA International, has gone out of business. Looking at the Nolan international site, they now list Troy Lee Designs as the USA, but it appears they’re only selling their motocross helmets and no accessories.

Does anyone have any insight into whether Nolan will continue to be distributed in the USA? Or a source of parts?

This is my third Nolan and of the modulars they’ve worked best for me. For now I’d just like to get my N-Com communicator working, but if they’re no longer going to be available here I’ll ultimately have to switch (prior to discovering Nolan, Shoei helmets seemed to be best for my misshapen noggin). Thanks in advance for any insight….

(By the way, I ordered a generic replacement with the same battery # on Amazon and the connector is not the right size.)

[TEWKS]

I was a Nolan fan till they got into a pricing competition with the upper tier helmet brands. That, and an HJC dirt helmet saved my noggin some years back.  
I’ve been very happy with the Last Two HJC Helmets I’ve Owned. 
 

And ya, realize you’re not asking for an alternative helmet brand but, I’d have nothing to say if I didn’t say that. 

[Mike]

5 minutes ago, TEWKS said:

I was a Nolan fan till they got into a pricing competition with the upper tier helmet brands. That, and an HJC dirt helmet saved my noggin some years back.  
I’ve been very happy with the Last Two HJC Helmets I’ve Owned. 
 

And ya, realize you’re not asking for an alternative helmet brand but, I’d have nothing to say if I didn’t say that. 

Thanks. At least for now the quest is to find a battery (the helmet is only a year old). That seems to me to be within the realm of the achievable since Nolan is still producing products. 

Ultimately, if it appears that their distribution in the USA is shakey I’ll start looking at other brands. It’s just that the Nolans worked for me…good quality and fit, good airflow, and reasonably light. And, of course I could just look for alternate comm systems if it turns out that theirs are no longer supported. One of the things that was great about Nolan for me personally is that their distributor was in our home town of Aurora, IL,  and you could always get a human being to talk to you within one or two rings.

[Skywagon]

Mike.. I’m sure you checked Google and Amazon. I had to replace the one on my SENA; had to cut and splice wires.  

[walton66]

off topic but there are SENA replacement batteries on amazon now that are plug and play.  I just ordered and replaced them on my 20evo and one for my 20s both were enlisting a couple hours at best.  Previously I did have to order and splice the connector. For future reference:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08TBYRSNQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

[MikeB60]

Quick search on eBay showed a couple of nolan batteries from Italy. 

[Mike]

Thanks, all. I’ve got another battery on order via Amazon which supposedly will work with my system. We’ll see. If it’s a no-go the one I’ll splice the one I’ve already received—which matches the Nolan part number but has a too-large connector—into the connector from the dead battery. 

[fourteenfour]

7 hours ago, walton66 said:

off topic but there are SENA replacement batteries on amazon now that are plug and play.  I just ordered and replaced them on my 20evo and one for my 20s both were enlisting a couple hours at best.  Previously I did have to order and splice the connector. For future reference:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B08TBYRSNQ/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_search_asin_title?ie=UTF8&psc=1

 

I actually just replaced my old SENA 20S battery with one from Amazon, sure beats paying $300+ for a new setup.  Recently wore through the wiring of the boom mic but fortunately they included three different mics in the package, the trick was finding which closet had it.

[MichiganBob]

I replaced my Nolan modular last year and was surprised that is was shipped from Great Britain. I wondered if this was a sign of distribution or product changes. Mike's experience sounds like Nolan has moved on to another market that street/road touring. Nothing lasts.

[Twisties]

FWIW, I ordered my AGV from a European seller at a steep discount.  No DOT sticker, but it has the EU label and a SHARP 5 star rating.  I'm not worried about the lack of sticker in the least.  I suspect if you want another Nolan down the road you could get one this way, if they don't re-establish US distribution.

 

[Lowndes]

Mike,

 

I've replaced several batteries in Sena and Cardo units, plus several Garmins, drones, etc.  Send me a pic of the correct connector and the dimensions if you have a micrometer.  I have a bunch of leftover connectors because they usually come in packs of 5 to 50, male and female.

[Mike]

29 minutes ago, Lowndes said:

Mike,

 

I've replaced several batteries in Sena and Cardo units, plus several Garmins, drones, etc.  Send me a pic of the correct connector and the dimensions if you have a micrometer.  I have a bunch of leftover connectors because they usually come in packs of 5 to 50, male and female.

Thanks. I’ll do that once I return to civilization (we’re camping for a couple of days). The one I purchased looks exactly like the original, but is about 50% larger.

[Mike]

I cobbled together a fix, removing the connector from the OEM battery and soldering it to a battery of the same specs that I found on Amazon. Hopefully someone will pick up the distribution of these products in the USA. If not, I’ll be on the hunt for a different brand. Sena, Cardo or ????