Sporty in white, blue and red is the racing tricolour applied to a touring helmet, which is a slightly odd pairing on paper and works better than it should in practice.

Everything that is usually an extra

🔵 A Pinlock insert supplied rather than sold is the single most useful inclusion here, and it is the one riders most often discover they need in November rather than in June.

The Storm III arrives with the 70 MaxVision lens in the box, alongside the sun visor and the magnetic chin deflector.

1600 grams — the heaviest in the range, and why

Quoted weights are always for a middle shell. With three shell sizes covering 2XS to 3XL, the smallest helmets weigh less than 1600 g and the largest weigh more.

🔵 LS2 does not publish per-shell figures for this model, and we are not going to estimate them.

KPA shell, three shell sizes and ECE 22.06

ECE 22.06 is the current European schedule, mandatory for new helmets sold in the EU since January 2024. It tests more impact points than 22.05 did, adds a second lower speed, and introduced an oblique test measuring rotational acceleration.

🔵 Everything fitted is tested as fitted — including the sun visor and the vent covers.

No independent safety rating — and nothing borrowed from a sibling

🔵 We checked the SHARP brand page directly rather than relying on a search. There is no Storm, no Storm III and no FF818 entry on it.

The similar-sounding Strobe and Stream entries are different helmets, and their scores stay with them.

About the Sporty white, blue and red graphic

The reason it works is that this palette was never really about racing; it was about being told apart at speed by people who needed to do so quickly. White carries the value, blue and red supply the contrast, and the banding gives the eye a hard edge to fix on rather than a smooth surface to slide across. Every one of those properties transfers directly to a driver resolving you at a junction, which is the situation that actually matters on a road — and it matters more on a touring helmet than a track one, because a touring helmet spends its life among traffic rather than among other bikes. The styling looks right as a consequence of the design being functional first, which is why it has outlasted sixty years of changing fashion. 🔵 The white base does most of the work and brings the usual cost: fly strike and motorway film show clearly, and a distance helmet collects more of both than most. Expect to wash this one more often than the dark finishes. Wash wet, dry with something soft, and keep the red out of prolonged direct sun — red pigment is the most UV-sensitive on any helmet.

Sun visor and the Pinlock in the box

Sunset on a westbound road is the case that settles the argument for a drop-down shield, and it is the case a fixed tint handles worst — half an hour later it is dark and you are still behind it.

🔵 The Storm III's retracts completely into the shell, and the supplied Pinlock keeps the outer visor clear in the cold that follows.

Crown and chin intakes, channelled EPS

The magnetic chin deflector does more for comfort at low speed than the vents do: it cuts turbulent air coming up from under the chin bar, which is where much of a full-face's draught and noise originate.

🔵 It removes and refits with one gloved hand, which is the whole point of it being magnetic.

Emergency release, closure and comfort

🔵 Emergency release systems are worth understanding before you need one. They do not release the strap — they release the cheek pads, so the helmet can be drawn off with far less pressure against the jaw and neck.

Trained responders look for the tabs. On the Storm III they are there.

Where it sits in LS2's range

🔵 If an independent rating is what you are shopping on, LS2's Stream II and Strobe II both hold 4 SHARP stars for less money. The Storm III has never been tested.

If a complete equipment list is what you want, this is the one in the range that has it.

Care and replacement parts

🔵 Cheek pads in other thicknesses are the most useful spare available and the least often bought. A fit that has loosened over two seasons is usually corrected with thicker pads rather than a new helmet.

Crown pad, cheek pads, neck roll, chin deflector and visors are all listed separately.

In the box

• LS2 FF818 Storm III helmet — Sporty, White, blue and red (KPA shell)
• Clear outer visor, fitted
• Integrated drop-down sun visor, fitted
• Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ anti-fog insert — supplied, not a separate purchase
• Magnetic chin wind deflector, fitted and removable
• Breath deflector, fitted
• 🔵 No intercom — the helmet is prepared for a Bluetooth system, which is a separate purchase

Size guide

🔵 The check that settles it: with the strap fastened, try to rotate the helmet on your head, then try to roll it forward off you. Neither should be possible.

If either is, it is too large whatever the tape said.

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF818 Storm III
• Part number — 168180402
• Colour — Sporty — White, blue and red
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• 🔴 Safety rating — none. SHARP's LS2 brand list carries the Strobe2, FF325 Strobe, Stream 2 and FF320 Stream but no Storm or Storm III; Certimoov has no entry either. Nothing is transferred from a sibling model — a rating belongs to the helmet that was crashed
• Shell — KPA injection-moulded thermoplastic; three shell sizes (2XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• 🔴 Weight — approx. 1600 g (±50 g) — the heaviest helmet in LS2's road range. The sun visor mechanism, the emergency release and the second screen are what it is spent on
• Sizes — 2XS to 3XL (eight sizes)
• Sun visor — integrated drop-down shield, retracting fully into the shell
• 🟢 Anti-fog — Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ insert SUPPLIED in the box — not a separate purchase, unlike LS2's FF820 Rapid III and FF808 Stream II
• Ventilation — large crown intake plus chin intake feeding channelled EPS, with rear exhausts (transparent elements in the covers) and a breath deflector. 🔵 Assessed from the published construction; no independent airflow measurement exists
• 🔴 Wind noise — left unrated — no independent measurement is published for this model
• Retention — ratchet buckle with emergency release — tabs allowing responders to withdraw the cheek pads before the helmet is moved
• Chin curtain — magnetic — refits with one gloved hand; fully removable
• Interior — fully removable and washable; cheek pads available in several thicknesses
• Communication — prepared for Bluetooth intercom — no system supplied
• 🔴 FIM homologation — none — a road helmet, not eligible for FIM-sanctioned competition
• Serviceability — both visors, sun visor mechanism, cheek pads, complete lining, magnetic chin deflector, breath deflector and vent covers all available separately
• Replacement guidance — after about five years regardless of condition, and immediately after any impact

• 1× helmet
• Carrying bag
• Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ anti-fog insert
• Reflective stickers