LS2 FF808 Stream II Helmet – Mika Black/Blue

The same restrained Mika shapes in deep blue over matt black. Dark, quiet, and the version that does not announce itself from across the car park.

Four stars from SHARP

SHARP is the British Department for Transport's helmet safety programme. It buys helmets anonymously at retail, destroys thirty-two of them per model across five impact zones and three speeds, and publishes the result as a star rating. It is the closest thing European riders have to an independent verdict, and most helmets never appear on it at all.

The Stream II was tested in September 2024, in its ECE 22.06 form, and rated four stars out of five. At 6 m/s and 7.5 m/s every zone scored the maximum. Only at 8.5 m/s — the hardest impact in the programme — did the left and right sides drop to three, while the crown and front held five. On a helmet in this price bracket that is a genuinely unusual result.

Read the full SHARP result for the LS2 Stream 2

About the Mika Black/Blue finish

Navy over black is a combination that only shows its colour in sunlight — in dull weather this reads as a plain dark helmet, and that is exactly why people choose it. The matt coat keeps both tones deep and hides road film well. Of the sixteen finishes here it is the most conservative graphic, and the easiest to live with if you change motorcycles often.

Multi-density EPS — the part you never see

Multi-density EPS is the specification behind the star rating. A single-density liner is a compromise — too soft and it bottoms out in a hard impact, too firm and it transmits a light one straight through. Building the liner from several densities lets each area of the head be tuned separately.

Twin Visor: two screens, one shell

Twin Visor means the tinted screen lives inside the shell rather than in your jacket pocket. A slider drops it, a slider retracts it, and it disappears entirely when not in use. It is the single most useful thing on this helmet after the safety rating.

Laser-cut foam

The comfort padding is laser-cut rather than die-cut. That sounds like marketing until you feel the edges: laser cutting leaves a clean, sealed face on the foam instead of a crushed one, so the padding keeps its shape longer and does not shed at the seams.

What the ECE 22.06 plaque actually means

ECE 22.06 is not a relabelled 22.05. The old standard hit five marked points on the shell and recorded straight-line deceleration. The current one hits up to eighteen, at multiple speeds, and adds an oblique impact against a slanted, sandpaper-faced anvil — a test designed to measure rotation rather than compression.

Rotation is the injury mechanism European regulation ignored for decades: a glancing blow that twists the head does more damage to the brain than the same energy delivered straight on. 22.06 puts a hard ceiling on it. The visor and any fitted accessory go through the process too, which is why a drop-down sun visor cannot simply be added after approval.

Fit and shell sizes

The range spans XXS to 3XL across 3 shells. That split is what keeps proportion sane — a small size sits close to the head instead of ballooning, and a large one is not wrapped around a shell that was never sized for it.

Airflow

Ventilation is top intake, chin intake and exhaust port, plus a breath deflector. The chin vent is the one that clears a visor on a cold morning; the top vent is what you open in August. Honest about the limits: LS2 do not list vent channels moulded through the EPS on this model, as they do on the Rapid III and the Storm III.

The Pinlock question

This screen takes a Pinlock 70 MaxVision anti-fog insert — the wide version that reaches the edges of the aperture instead of leaving a frame in your peripheral vision. It is not supplied. Part DKS521, and worth ordering with the helmet rather than after the first foggy commute.

Holding on

Retention is a ratchet buckle on a reinforced strap — set once, one click thereafter, gloves on. A reflective safety patch is fitted to the shell as standard, which on a dark helmet at dusk does more than any amount of paint.

1550 grams

1550 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 1550 g and the 1600 g of the FF818 Storm III is not noticeable in the first hour and is very noticeable in the fifth.

For context inside this range: just 5 helmets we sell are lighter, and every one of them costs more.

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 Stream II carries a sun-visor housing, which widens the shell slightly at the temples compared with a helmet that does without 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.

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

Worth knowing before you buy rather than after: everything on this helmet that wears out can be replaced individually. Liners in all eight sizes seven replacement visors from clear to iridium, both the clear and the tinted sun visor, the ratchet mechanism, nose guard, chin curtain, chin strap cover and vent covers in five finishes.

The interior is the part that decides how long the helmet stays honest. Sweat and hair oils break down the foam, the fit loosens, and riders conclude the helmet is finished when the shell is untouched. The full parts list is in the FF808 Stream II Kit.

In the box

• LS2 FF808 Stream II helmet — Mika Black/Blue
• 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 — Mika graphic, matt