LS2 FF820 Rapid III Helmet – Solid Gloss White

Plain gloss white — the most visible colour in daylight, the coolest one to wear in summer sun, and the only finish that has never gone out of fashion.

1350 grams, and why that is the headline

1350 grams, measured the way manufacturers measure it: a mid-size shell without accessories. It sounds abstract until you convert it into load. A head weighs roughly five kilos; the helmet adds around a third of that, and every bump in the road multiplies the lot through your neck. The difference between 1350 g and 1600 g is not noticeable in the first hour and is very noticeable in the fifth.

For context inside this range: only the FF805 Thunder is lighter, and it costs six times as much.

3 shell sizes cover XXS to 3XL. On a helmet built around a single shell, the smallest size carries a mid-size shell's worth of polystyrene: it looks oversized, it weighs more than it should, and the EPS is thicker than the size needs. Splitting the range across 3 tools avoids that at both ends.

About the Solid Gloss White finish

No graphic, just a gloss white shell. There is a practical argument beyond the look: light-coloured helmets absorb measurably less heat sitting at traffic lights, and white reads clearly against tarmac, hedges and the back of a van. Gloss also cleans up faster than matt when the insects arrive, and it shows dirt honestly — which on something you should be inspecting regularly is arguably a feature rather than a fault.

Air in at the chin and the crown

Two intakes, ducted EPS, rear extractors and a breath deflector. The detail worth pointing at is the chin vent: LS2's own touring model, the more expensive Challenger II, does without one. On the Rapid III it is standard, and it is the vent you will use most between November and March.

Seeing out

Vision is where this helmet spends its budget: a wide, hardcoated, UV-stable screen with a moulded-in sealing lip and a quick-release fitting. The visor is the part of a helmet you actually look through, and a cheap one shows.

Pinlock preparation is built in — the pins are fitted and the screen is cut for a 70 MaxVision lens. LS2 does not include the insert at this price. It is part DKS521 (it also fits the FF808 Stream II), and it is the first accessory worth buying for this helmet.

What the ECE 22.06 plaque actually means

Every helmet on this page carries ECE 22.06, and it is worth knowing what that plaque now costs a manufacturer. The standard it replaced, 22.05, struck the shell at five fixed points and measured only how hard the head was stopped. 22.06 strikes up to eighteen points, at more than one speed, and adds a test that did not exist before: the helmet is dropped onto an angled anvil faced with abrasive paper, so the laboratory can measure how far the head is spun as well as how hard it is stopped.

That matters because rotational acceleration is what tears the bridging veins between brain and skull, and until 2021 no European standard measured it at all. 22.06 also tests the visor, and any accessory fitted to the helmet is tested in place rather than removed for the exam. Since January 2024 a new helmet cannot legally be sold in the EU without it.

Holding on

A reinforced chin strap, a ratchet buckle and a metal safety plaque. Nothing exotic — but a retention system is the one component on a helmet that has to work every single time, and the ratchet's advantage is that a rider will actually do it up properly in a hurry.

The bit you actually touch

The interior is the part you actually touch, and here it is removable, washable, breathable and antibacterial, with a chin curtain closing the gap under the chin bar. Replacement liners are available in all eight sizes.

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. A chin curtain is fitted as standard, and it is the single most effective piece of quiet in the box — provided it stays in the helmet after you clean it. The Rapid III is a compact, plainly shaped shell with no sun-visor housing bulking out the sides, which helps — but it is a 99-euro helmet and it does not pretend to be a quiet one.

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.

What it is, and what it is not

Two things this helmet does not have, stated plainly: there is no drop-down sun visor, and the Pinlock insert is not in the box. Those are the corners LS2 cut to reach this price. What you get instead is 1350 grams, ECE 22.06, three shell sizes and chin-and-crown ventilation — which is a lot of helmet for the money.

Where it sits in our LS2 range

Eight LS2 full-face models are listed here, and they form a clear ladder rather than a wall of choices. The Rapid III is the bottom rung and the lightest of the lot bar one.

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 Rapid III liner in every size, seven replacement visors from clear to iridium, plus the ratchet closure, chin curtain, chin strap cover, nose guard and all three vent covers.

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 for this helmet is in the FF820 Rapid III Kit.

In the box

• LS2 FF820 Rapid III helmet — Solid Gloss White
• Carrying bag
• Reflective stickers

Specification

• Shell — HPTT high-pressure thermoplastic, three shell sizes (2XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• Weight — 1350 g (±50 g)
• Sizes — XXS to 3XL (eight sizes)
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• Retention — ratchet buckle, reinforced chin strap, metal safety plaque
• Visor — wide field of view, scratch-resistant, UV-stable, double-injection seal, quick-release system
• Anti-fog — prepared for Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ (insert not supplied, part DKS521)
• Sun visor — none on this model
• Ventilation — chin intake, top intake, rear exhausts, channelled EPS, breath deflector
• Liner — maximum-comfort interior, antibacterial, hypoallergenic, breathable, removable and washable
• Chin curtain — included
• Intercom — prepared for the LS2 communication system
• Finish — Solid white, gloss