If you spend much time traveling on any type of non-motorcycle transportation these days, then you'll already have some idea of just how many of those little hardside rollie bags there are in the wild. From long-haul bus rides to Amtrak to every major airport (of course), they're absolutely everywhere. Kids have them. Adults have them. Adults pushing kids that are riding on top of the rollie cases like they're toy horses with tiny wheels for feet? I bet you've seen it already.
Add that together with our current flavor of nostalgic cultural tilt toward the 1990s and noughties, and perhaps you begin to unravel Shoei's decision to test its X-Core hardside rollie case design with a 500 km/h bullet. Call the X-Core La Roux, because according to the marketing materials, it's bulletproof, baby!
The X-Core relies on a glass-fiber reinforced plastic (GFRP) shell, which of course those who pay attention to motorcycle gear will probably recognize from countless descriptions of new helmet releases. Proprietary formulas being what they are, Shoei doesn't go into any more additional detail than that, but instead uses examples like its steadfastness against bullets to speak to its hardcore level of robustness.
Surely, if it can stand up to being shot at, it can handle getting yeeted into your next cargo hold at speed. As extra icing on the cake, Shoei also tested it with the same 3 kilogram (or 6.6 pound) striker used in motorcycle helmet testing, and it stood up to that sufficiently well, too.
Though, Shoei stresses, the X-Core doesn't necessarily have to go in the cargo hold, either. Why not? Because this first-ever Shoei rollie bag was designed to fit most carry-on size restrictions for most major air carriers. Standing at just 53 centimeters tall, 37 centimeters wide, and 24 centimeters deep, it's 114 centimeters in total, which is one under the 115 cm cap imposed on carry-ons by most international carriers.
Additional Premium Features
In addition to its sturdy GFRP shell, the Shoei X-Core adds aluminum guards to each corner of its design, as well as an aluminum logo plate that proudly bears the Shoei logo. The telescoping handle is also made of sturdy aluminum to ensure both light weight and strength in operation.
Shoei also utilized Hinomoto Miraclent casters for the X-Core, which seasoned travelers may recognize as being sturdy, lightweight, and incredibly quiet thanks to the inclusion of actual bearings inside those tiny wheels (see the video linked above for a comparative demonstration). The popular Travel Sentry combination locks you see on many a rollie bag these days are also part of the X-Core.
To start, Shoei is launching the X-Core on the Japanese site Makuake, which is a bit like Japan's version of Kickstarter. The campaign opens on January 10, 2026, so it will likely already be open by the time you read this. It will only be available in limited quantities until the end of the campaign, which is currently scheduled for February 27, 2026.
Because I'm writing this prior to the launch of the campaign, pricing information to back the X-Core is not yet available at the time of writing. If possible, I'll add it here and cross these lines out once the campaign is live.
A One-Off Project, Or A New Direction?
We can't know the future, but we do know there are a lot more travelers in the world than there are motorcyclists. As such, if you're Shoei and you're looking to expand your product horizons to address the needs of customer segments you haven't reached before, moving into premium hardside carry-on cases makes a certain kind of sense. That is in no way meant to indicate that the company is second-guessing its helmet business; only that it's considering diversification into offering additional products as a potential way to grow for the future.
Now, since it seems unlikely that many of us reading (or writing) this will get our hands on a Shoei X-Core case, I feel it only fair to ask: Would you try one if you could? I mean, it's probably a very nice piece of luggage, though of course you can't know until you actually try loading any piece up and rolling it around for yourself. Some cases have very nice telescoping handles, and some are kind of terrible, but you can't necessarily tell which is which just by looking at them. Anyway, let me know your thoughts about the X-Core in the comments.
