LS2 FF818 Storm III Helmet – Sporty White/Blue/Red

White, blue and red in gloss — the classic sporting arrangement, laid out in the Sporty pattern's long sweeping panels rather than in racing blocks.

Everything that is usually an extra

Look at what is included before you look at the price. The Pinlock 70 MaxVision insert — the part most manufacturers make you buy separately — is supplied. So is a drop-down tinted sun visor with a tool-free removal system, and a magnetic chin curtain. Bought individually those three add most of a hundred euros to a helmet that does not have them.

About the Sporty White/Blue/Red finish

White forms the base, blue carries the structure along the sides, red picks out the transitions. Because the panels run lengthways the helmet reads longer and lower than it measures, which flatters a shell carrying a sun-visor housing. Gloss keeps the three colours crisply separated where matt would soften them into one another, and the white base makes this one of the more visible graphics in the range.

A large top intake, and what it feeds

Ventilation is chin-and-crown with the crown doing most of the work: LS2 sized the top intake generously and cut channels through the EPS to carry the air across the scalp instead of stalling it under the shell. Rear exhausts create the pressure difference that makes the whole thing move. The breath deflector is the small part that stops a cold morning from fogging the visor.

The release you hope never to need

Ratchet buckle, reinforced strap, emergency cheek-pad release and a button lock that holds the visor shut at speed. The release is the item worth understanding: it exists for the minutes after a crash, when someone else has to get the helmet off you, and it is the difference between the pads coming out and the helmet being forced over a possibly injured neck.

Two screens, one shell

The visor is cut for maximum field of view, hardcoated against scratches, UV-stable and sealed by a double-injection gasket. It locks shut with a positive button catch, changes without tools, and the supplied Pinlock 70 MaxVision insert takes care of fogging from the first cold morning.

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 shells, XXS to 3XL. It is the sensible middle ground: not the six-shell extravagance of a race helmet, and a long way from the one-size-fits-all moulding that makes small helmets look inflated and heavy.

The bit you actually touch

A breathable, hypoallergenic, antibacterial lining that lifts out for washing, a magnetic chin curtain that closes the gap under the chin bar, and moulded pockets for a Bluetooth intercom. This is the equipment level that separates the Storm III from the two cheaper LS2 full-face helmets we list.

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. The chin curtain here is magnetic, which is not a gimmick: a popper-fastened curtain gets left off after the second cleaning, and a curtain that is not fitted does nothing. The sun-visor housing does widen the shell slightly at the temples compared with a helmet without one, which is a small aerodynamic cost for a large practical gain.

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.

1600 grams, and what it buys

1600 grams, mid-size shell, no accessories. That is a real number and a real trade-off — it is the heaviest LS2 helmet in this shop. What it buys is everything the lighter models leave out, and on a touring bike with a screen the difference is far less noticeable than it is on a naked at 130 km/h.

1600 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.

Where it sits in our LS2 range

Eight LS2 full-face models are listed here and they form a ladder rather than a wall of choices. The Storm III is the equipment high point of the affordable half.

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, the tinted sun visor, the chin curtain, chin bar trim, nose guard, ratchet mechanism and vent covers in six 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 FF818 Storm III Kit.

In the box

• LS2 FF818 Storm III helmet — Sporty White/Blue/Red
• Carrying bag
• Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ anti-fog insert
• Reflective stickers

Specification

• Shell — KPA, three shell sizes (2XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• Weight — 1600 g (±50 g)
• Sizes — XXS to 3XL (eight sizes)
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• Retention — ratchet buckle, reinforced chin strap, emergency cheek-pad release
• Visor — Max Vision aperture, scratch-resistant, UV-stable, double-injection seal, button lock, quick-release system
• Anti-fog — Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ supplied
• Sun visor — integrated, tinted, tool-free removal system
• Ventilation — large top intake, chin intake, rear exhausts (all with transparent sections), channelled EPS, breath deflector
• Liner — maximum-comfort interior, antibacterial, hypoallergenic, breathable, removable and washable
• Chin curtain — magnetic
• Intercom — prepared for the current LS2 Bluetooth system
• Finish — Sporty graphic, gloss