Nitro in black and grey is the darkest graphic here and the closest thing to a plain helmet that still carries a pattern. It is the version for a rider who wants nothing announced.

An HPFC composite shell in three sizes

Three shells, eight sizes, one specification: every finish here uses the identical HPFC shell and the identical equipment, plain or graphic.

🔵 The difference between the two prices is paint, and nothing else.

No independent safety rating — and nothing to borrow

🔵 The absence of a rating is worth weighing rather than dismissing. It means nobody independent has measured this helmet's impact performance.

For many riders at this price the specification and the construction are a reasonable basis. It should be a decision rather than an assumption.

Airflow from the top down — and no chin intake

Ventilation is the specification most exaggerated in helmet marketing, because it is the hardest for a buyer to verify and the easiest to describe impressively.

🔵 Ours is deliberately flat: one crown intake, channels moulded through the EPS, rear exhausts, a magnetic chin curtain — and no chin intake.

About the Nitro black and grey graphic

Monochrome graphics on a dark base are the hardest kind to execute, because the available range between black and a grey that still reads as dark is very narrow. Get it wrong and the artwork either disappears entirely or splits the helmet into two obvious halves. This one works, and the effect is that the pattern is legible up close and the helmet reads as plain black from across a car park — which for many riders is exactly the right order of priorities on a helmet worn with ordinary clothes. 🔵 The practical trade is the one every dark finish makes. It hides road film and handling marks genuinely well, and it is measurably harder for a driver to resolve in poor light than any of the pale finishes here. The grey elements lift it slightly above solid black, but only slightly. If a good share of your riding ends after sunset, one of the lighter versions is the better tool for the same money. If you are weighing this against the plain Matt Black, the small surcharge buys a pattern visible at arm's length and invisible from across a car park, plus a slightly higher overall value that helps a little in poor conditions. It does not buy any change in protection. If you want the discretion without the graphic, the solid finish answers the same question for less.

Seeing out: visor, sun shield and the Pinlock in the box

🟢 Check what a helmet includes before comparing prices. This box contains the Pinlock 120 XLT MaxVision; on many rivals it is an accessory that quietly raises the real price.

🔵 There is no second tinted outer visor supplied — the internal shield covers that job.

Holding on, and letting go

🔵 Emergency responders are trained to look for cheek-pad release tabs. On the Challenger II they are there, and they are the reason a full-face can come off cleanly rather than being dragged.

Retention is a micrometric metal buckle on a reinforced strap.

The part you actually touch

Replacement cheek pads 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.

🔵 The complete lining is available separately as well.

Where it sits in LS2's range

Against rivals at the same money from other brands, the Challenger II's arguments are the composite shell, the COOLMAX lining, the magnetic curtain and the included Pinlock 120 XLT.

🔵 Its weakness against the same rivals is the absence of any published test result.

Care and replacement parts

🔵 The magnetic chin curtain is the part most likely to be lost rather than broken — it comes off in seconds and ends up in a pannier. Replacements are available.

Keep it with the helmet rather than separately.

In the box

• LS2 FF817 Challenger II helmet — Nitro, Black and grey (HPFC composite shell)
• Wide hardcoated visor, fitted, with double-injection seal and button lock
• Pinlock® 120 XLT MaxVision™ anti-fog insert — included, not a separate purchase
• Integrated tinted sun visor, fitted and removable for cleaning without tools
• Magnetic chin curtain, fitted and removable
• 🔵 No second visor and no intercom — both are separate purchases

Size guide

Measure at the widest part of the skull — usually just above the eyebrows at the front and around the bulge at the back, not the forehead alone.

🔵 Compare against the chart below and start there.

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF817 Challenger II
• Part number — 168170512
• Colour — Nitro — Black and grey
• Homologation — ECE 22.06, recorded on a metal plaque fitted to the shell
• 🔴 Safety rating — none. SHARP has no Challenger or Challenger II entry and Certimoov has not tested it. Unlike the FF811 Vector II, where SHARP rates the composite version, there is nothing here that could be transferred — not even from a sibling shell
• Shell — HPFC high-performance fibreglass composite; three shell sizes (2XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• Weight — approx. 1500 g (±50 g) — light for a touring full-face carrying a drop-down sun visor
• Sizes — 2XS to 3XL (eight sizes)
• Visor — wide and hardcoated, with a double-injection seal and a button lock
• Sun visor — integrated tinted shield on a slider, stowing fully inside the shell; removable for cleaning without tools
• 🟢 Anti-fog — Pinlock® 120 XLT MaxVision™ insert included — not a separate purchase
• 🔴 Ventilation — crown intake feeding channelled EPS, with rear exhausts. No chin intake — a deliberate touring compromise: less draught and less noise, with fog management running through the Pinlock rather than through airflow. 🔵 Assessed from construction; no independent measurement exists
• 🔴 Wind noise — left unrated — no independent measurement is published for this model
• Retention — reinforced chin strap with a micrometric metal buckle
• Emergency access — emergency cheek-pad release — tabs let responders withdraw the pads before the helmet is moved
• Interior — COOLMAX® — breathable, quick-drying, antibacterial and hypoallergenic; fully removable and washable
• Chin curtain — magnetic — refits with one gloved hand; fully removable
• 🔴 FIM homologation — none — a road helmet, not eligible for FIM-sanctioned competition
• Serviceability — visor, internal sun visor, Pinlock insert, cheek pads (several thicknesses), lining, magnetic chin curtain and vent covers
• Replacement guidance — after about five years, and immediately after any impact — composite can look undamaged over crushed EPS

• 1× helmet
• Elastic carrying bag
• Pinlock 120XLT MaxVision anti-fog insert
• Reflective stickers