Most carbon helmets are painted over. This one is not: the Ursus Black graphic is a handful of white and grey line marks laid across bare gloss carbon, so the weave stays the surface you actually look at. Underneath it is LS2's FF805 Thunder GP Aero — 100 per cent carbon, 1,280 g declared, ECE 22.06, double D-ring.

Ursus Black: a graphic that stays out of the way

A thin white claw mark sweeps back across the flank, a second across the crown, and a small pale bear device sits behind the visor mechanism. Everything else is the shell itself. On a bright day the twill catches light and the helmet reads as dark metallic grey rather than black; under cloud it goes almost flat.

This is the version to buy if you want the material to be the decoration. It is also the version that shows a badly repaired scuff, because there is no busy pattern to hide it behind.

6K, 9K, and what the weave number actually tells you

Carbon cloth is described by the number of filaments in each tow: 6K is six thousand, 9K is nine thousand. The GP Aero uses 6K, the GP PRO above it uses 9K.

A finer tow gives a smaller, tighter visual pattern and drapes more easily into tight radii, which matters on a shape with this many creases. A heavier tow lays down more material per ply, so a laminator reaches a target thickness in fewer layers. Neither number is a safety rating on its own — the layup schedule, the resin and the cure do the work — and any shop that tells you 9K is safer than 6K is selling you a number rather than a helmet. What the weave does tell you honestly is that this is structural carbon, not a carbon-look film over fibreglass.

1,280 grams, and where they go

LS2's declared figure is 1,280 g with a 50 g tolerance. We have not weighed one, so we report it as a manufacturer's claim.

Weight on a helmet is not felt as weight. It is felt as the effort of holding your head still on a bumpy straight and as the ache that arrives somewhere in the fourth hour. Under 1,300 g is the territory where that ache stops being the reason you stop.

Air in at three points, out under the spoiler

Chin intake, a brow intake above the visor, top intakes on the crown. Channels moulded into the EPS carry the air over the scalp, and it exits through the vent under the rear spoiler. A breath deflector sits behind the chin bar to keep exhaled air off the visor.

The vents are operated with gloves on. The spoiler is structural to the airflow rather than styling: it feeds the exhaust and it steadies a light shell in dirty air.

One outer shell for the whole size range

LS2 moulds the GP Aero in one shell size for XS to XXL. That is a real limitation and we would rather write it down than bury it: the external volume you carry is the same whether your head is 53 cm or 63 cm, and the entire size difference is made up in foam thickness.

In practice that suits the middle of the range best. At XS or XXL, try the helmet on before ordering.

Double D-ring, and pads that come out under load

No ratchet. Two bare hands and a deliberate movement, which is why circuits mandate it — a double D-ring cannot be done up almost right.

The cheek pads carry LS2's Emergency Release System: red tabs at the base pull the pads clear so the helmet can be removed without rotating the rider's neck. It is equipment for the worst day, and its presence is one of the honest markers of a race shell.

Pinlock 120XLT, tear-offs, and a second visor

The visor is Class A polycarbonate, wide, scratch-resistant and UV-filtering, on a quick-release mechanism with a button lock closed and tear-off posts already fitted.

LS2 includes the Pinlock 120XLT MaxVision lens rather than selling it after: grade 120 is their strongest anti-fog film, XLT the larger format, MaxVision the version that runs to the edge of the aperture. A tinted visor and tear-off films are in the box as well.

ECE 22.06, briefly

Eighteen impact points rather than five, several impact speeds, an oblique test against an abrasive anvil that measures rotational acceleration, and an assessment of the Brain Injury Criterion. Accessories are tested fitted, not removed. It has been the EU requirement since January 2024.

Gloss carbon over five years

Gloss is the forgiving finish. Swirls and light scuffs come back out with a mild compound; the same marks in matt clearcoat stay. Bugs and road film lift with less scrubbing.

The cost is fingerprints and a surface that shows dust. Clear coat over carbon also yellows under long UV exposure, so a helmet stored on a shelf out of the sun will look newer in year five than one that lived on a mirror.

Spare parts, and how long it stays serviceable

Nobody asks this before buying and everybody asks it in year three. LS2 catalogues the FF805 Thunder GP Aero down to individual components: the liner as 806805LNR01, chin vents as 800805AVC11 and AVC12, front vents as AVF11 and AVF12, upper vents as AVU01, AVU11 and AVU12, a rear vent as 800805AVR12, seven visor tints from 800805VIS01 through VIS19, and two Pinlock lenses.

That matters twice. A crash that takes a vent cover does not write off the helmet, and a liner that has done four summers can be replaced instead of tolerated. The EPS, as on every helmet, cannot be renewed — it crushes once, and an impact you walked away from still ends the helmet's life.

What this helmet does not have

• No FIM homologation. The FIM register lists the FF805 Thunder GP PRO for LS2, not the GP Aero.
• No drop-down sun visor, which is normal on a racing shell and still means carrying a tinted screen.
• One outer shell size across six helmet sizes.
• No SHARP, ADAC or Snell result for any FF805 Thunder.
• No published noise measurement. A helmet with this much through-flow is not built quiet, and we will not invent a decibel figure.
• No intercom in the box, although the shell is prepared for the LS2 system.

In the box

• LS2 FF805 Thunder GP Aero helmet — Ursus Black, gloss
• Carrying backpack
• Tinted visor
• Pinlock Max Vision 120XLT anti-fog lens
• Tear-off films
• Reflective stickers

Size guide

Size	Head circumference
XS	53–54 cm
S	55–56 cm
M	57–58 cm
L	59–60 cm
XL	61–62 cm
XXL	63–64 cm

Specification

• Brand — LS2
• Model — FF805 Thunder GP Aero
• Reference — 168059312
• Graphic — Ursus Black over bare gloss carbon
• Shell material — Carbon 6K — six thousand filaments per tow
• Shell sizes — one, covering XS to XXL
• Certification — ECE 22.06 (no FIM homologation)
• Declared weight — 1,280 g, tolerance 50 g
• Visor system — wide Class A screen, tool-free change, button lock, tear-off ready
• Supplied anti-fog — Pinlock 120XLT MaxVision
• Chin strap — double D-ring; cheek pads with emergency pull tabs
• Airflow — three intakes, channelled EPS, exhaust beneath the spoiler
• Lining — removable, washable, breathable hypoallergenic
• Head sizes — 53–64 cm across six helmet sizes
• Spares — liner 806805LNR01, vents AVC11/AVF11/AVU11, seven visor tints

• 1x LS2 FF805 Thunder GP Aero helmet — Ursus Black
• 1x carrying backpack
• 1x tinted visor
• 1x pinlock Max Vision 120XLT
• 1x tear-off films
• 1x reflective stickers

Size guide — all measurements