LS2 FF808 Stream II Helmet – Vintage Black/Grey/Red

Vintage borrows from 1970s racing liveries — broad horizontal bands rather than the diagonal shards modern graphics prefer. In black, grey and red it looks older than it is, deliberately.

Four stars from SHARP

Independent test results are rare on affordable helmets, which is what makes this one worth stating plainly: SHARP, the UK Department for Transport's helmet programme, rated the Stream II four stars out of five in September 2024, testing the ECE 22.06 version.

SHARP's method is destructive and anonymous — helmets bought at retail, thirty-two per model, five zones, three speeds. The Stream II scored the maximum across every zone at the two lower speeds. At 8.5 m/s the crown and front held their maximum while the sides scored three. Read against the rest of the programme, that is a strong result for a helmet in this bracket.

Read the full SHARP result for the LS2 Stream 2

About the Vintage Black/Grey/Red finish

Horizontal banding is the honest retro cue: it is what helmets actually looked like before airbrushing took over, and it suits a round shell better than angular panels do. Grey carries the surface with red used only at the transitions, and the matt coat completes the period feel — gloss would make it read as a modern helmet wearing a costume. Matt also hides road film well.

Multi-density EPS — the part you never see

The shell is KPA, a thermoplastic, but the interesting part is underneath it. The Stream II uses multi-density EPS: the polystyrene liner is not one uniform block but several densities bonded together, softer where the impact needs to be slowed gently and firmer where it has to be stopped.

Twin Visor: two screens, one shell

A drop-down tinted sun visor is fitted as standard. It is the feature riders miss most when they move from a helmet that has one to a helmet that does not, and on a low winter sun it is worth more than any amount of shell material. Deployed on a slider, stowed completely inside the shell.

Laser-cut foam

Inside, the padding is laser-cut, which is what allows the interior to be shaped precisely rather than approximately. The practical result is a fit that stays consistent: die-cut foam distorts at its edges from the moment it is made, laser-cut foam does not.

What the ECE 22.06 plaque actually means

The ECE 22.06 plaque riveted to the chin strap is the physical proof of a test regime that changed substantially in 2021. Impact points went from five to as many as eighteen. Testing gained a second, lower speed, because a helmet that performs at 8 m/s does not automatically perform at 6. And an oblique test was added: the shell is dropped onto an angled abrasive anvil while instruments measure rotational acceleration against the Brain Injury Criterion.

Everything fitted to the helmet is tested as fitted — visor, sun visor, vent covers. Since January 2024, no helmet without 22.06 may be sold new in the EU, which is also why 22.05 stock disappeared from shelves so abruptly.

Fit and shell sizes

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.

Airflow

Air enters at the chin and the crown and leaves through the rear exhaust port, with a breath deflector behind the chin bar keeping exhaled air off the visor. It is a straightforward layout — the Stream II does not claim ducted EPS, and we are not going to claim it for it.

The Pinlock question

Pinlock preparation is built in: pins fitted, screen cut for a 70 MaxVision lens. The insert itself is a separate purchase, part DKS521, and it sits in the accessories below. An anti-fog lens is the difference between seeing and guessing at a set of traffic lights in November.

Holding on

A ratchet buckle, a reinforced strap and a reflective patch built into the shell. The patch is the detail worth noticing — most manufacturers supply reflective stickers and leave it to you; here some of the conspicuity is permanent.

1550 grams

1550 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.

On noise

Wind noise is the specification manufacturers never quote, because it depends more on your bike than on their helmet. What the helmet controls is the seal at the neck roll, the gap under the chin bar and the 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 Stream II carries a sun-visor housing, which widens the shell slightly at the temples compared with a helmet that does without one.

What it does not control is the airflow leaving your screen. If a helmet is loud on one motorcycle and quiet on another, the screen is usually the reason. Plugs cost a euro and do more than any shell shape.

Where it sits in our LS2 range

Eight LS2 full-face models are listed here. The Stream II is the only one of them carrying an independent safety rating.

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 Stream II liner in every size, seven replacement visors from clear to iridium, both the clear and the tinted sun visor, plus the ratchet mechanism, nose guard, chin curtain, chin strap cover and vent covers in five 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 FF808 Stream II Kit.

In the box

• LS2 FF808 Stream II helmet — Vintage Black/Grey/Red
• Carrying bag
• Reflective stickers

Specification

• Shell — KPA, three shell sizes (2XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• Weight — 1550 g (±50 g)
• Sizes — XXS to 3XL (eight sizes)
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• Independent rating — SHARP 4 out of 5 stars (tested September 2024)
• Impact liner — multi-density EPS
• Retention — ratchet buckle, reflective safety patch
• Visor — scratch-resistant, UV-stable, quick-release system
• Anti-fog — prepared for Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ (insert not supplied, part DKS521)
• Sun visor — Twin Visor System, integrated and tinted
• Ventilation — top intake, chin intake, exhaust port, breath deflector
• Liner — maximum-comfort interior, laser-cut foam, hypoallergenic, removable and washable
• Chin curtain — included
• Intercom — prepared for the current LS2 Bluetooth system
• Finish — Vintage graphic, matt