LS2 FF818 Storm III Helmet – Solid Matt Black

Matt black goes with every motorcycle ever built and draws no attention to itself. On the best-equipped helmet of the three, it is the version for riders who want the kit without the livery.

Everything that is usually an extra

The Storm III is the best-equipped of the three LS2 full-face helmets in this price bracket, and the equipment is the reason to choose it. Pinlock 70 MaxVision supplied, not offered. An internal sun visor that deploys with a slider and lifts out by hand. A magnetic chin curtain that clicks into place rather than needing to be threaded.

About the Solid Matt Black finish

Flat black, no graphic, no gloss. The easiest helmet in the range to live with — nothing clashes with it, and matt keeps swirl marks out of sight. The honest trade-off is conspicuity: black is the least visible colour on the road, particularly at dusk. That is where the reflective stickers in the box earn their place, and it is worth actually applying them.

A large top intake, and what it feeds

Two intakes, ducted polystyrene, rear extractors, breath deflector — and the intakes are large. That is the single specification LS2 leads with on this helmet, and on a shell carrying a sun visor it matters more than usual: a sun-visor housing takes up space that would otherwise be liner, so the air has to work harder to reach your head.

The release you hope never to need

The chin strap closes with a ratchet buckle on reinforced webbing, and the cheek pads carry an emergency release system — pull tabs that let a first responder draw the padding clear so the helmet can come off without moving your neck. It is a feature you will never use yourself, which is rather the point of it.

Two screens, one shell

You look out through a Max Vision aperture — LS2's widest cut — with a scratch-resistant hardcoat and a twin-injection seal that keeps rain out of the gap. A button lock stops the visor lifting at motorway speed. Seven replacement screens are available, from clear to iridium.

What the ECE 22.06 plaque actually means

Worth a paragraph, because most shops leave it as a line in a table. ECE 22.06 tests up to eighteen impact points where 22.05 tested five, uses more than one impact speed, and — the substantive change — measures rotational acceleration through an oblique drop onto an angled, abrasive anvil.

Straight-line impact was always the easier problem. Rotation is what a real crash usually delivers, and it is what damages the brain at energies a shell survives comfortably. The standard also brings the visor and every fitted accessory into the test, and has been mandatory for new helmets sold in the EU since January 2024.

Fit and shell sizes

3 shells, XXS to 3XL. It is the sensible middle ground: not the six-shell extravagance of a race helmet, and a long way from the one-size-fits-all moulding that makes small helmets look inflated and heavy.

The bit you actually touch

The interior is the part you actually touch, and here it is thick, removable, washable, antibacterial and hypoallergenic. Add a magnetic chin curtain and prepared speaker recesses and the helmet is ready for long days rather than short commutes.

On noise

Nobody publishes a decibel figure for this helmet and we are not going to invent one. What can be said is where the noise comes from: turbulence at the base of the shell, air entering under the chin bar, and open vents. The chin curtain here is magnetic, which is not a gimmick: a popper-fastened curtain gets left off after the second cleaning, and a curtain that is not fitted does nothing. The sun-visor housing does widen the shell slightly at the temples compared with a helmet without one, which is a small aerodynamic cost for a large practical gain.

The rest is not the helmet's doing. A tall screen that pushes dirty air straight at your head will make any lid loud, and a naked bike at 130 km/h will beat the best-sealed helmet on the market. Earplugs remain the cheapest upgrade in motorcycling.

1600 grams, and what it buys

1600 grams, mid-size shell, no accessories. That is a real number and a real trade-off — it is the heaviest LS2 helmet in this shop. What it buys is everything the lighter models leave out, and on a touring bike with a screen the difference is far less noticeable than it is on a naked at 130 km/h.

1600 grams (±50 g), mid-size shell, no accessories — the industry convention, so the number is comparable with any other manufacturer's. What it buys you is fatigue: neck strain over a long ride is a function of mass, and a hundred grams that mean nothing in a showroom mean a great deal at the end of a four-hour stint.

Within our own LS2 line-up only 5 helmets are lighter, and each of them costs more.

Where it sits in our LS2 range

Eight LS2 full-face models are listed here and they form a ladder rather than a wall of choices. The Storm III is the equipment high point of the affordable half.

When something wears out

A helmet is not a sealed unit and the parts that wear are not the shell. Interiors compress, visors scratch, vent covers snap off in a car park. We stock the Storm III liner in every size, seven replacement visors from clear to iridium, the tinted sun visor, plus the chin curtain, chin bar trim, nose guard, ratchet mechanism and vent covers in six finishes.

That matters for how long the helmet lasts you. A liner that has taken a summer of sweat is the usual reason a helmet that once fitted starts to move on your head — and replacing it costs a fraction of replacing the helmet. The full parts list is in the FF818 Storm III Kit.

In the box

• LS2 FF818 Storm III helmet — Solid Matt Black
• Carrying bag
• Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ anti-fog insert
• Reflective stickers

Specification

• Shell — KPA, three shell sizes (2XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• Weight — 1600 g (±50 g)
• Sizes — XXS to 3XL (eight sizes)
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• Retention — ratchet buckle, reinforced chin strap, emergency cheek-pad release
• Visor — Max Vision aperture, scratch-resistant, UV-stable, double-injection seal, button lock, quick-release system
• Anti-fog — Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ supplied
• Sun visor — integrated, tinted, tool-free removal system
• Ventilation — large top intake, chin intake, rear exhausts (all with transparent sections), channelled EPS, breath deflector
• Liner — maximum-comfort interior, antibacterial, hypoallergenic, breathable, removable and washable
• Chin curtain — magnetic
• Intercom — prepared for the current LS2 Bluetooth system
• Finish — Solid black, matt