LS2 FF818 Storm III Helmet – Komai Black/Red

The same interlocking Komai shapes in red and grey over matt black. Darker, calmer, and easier to match to a bike you already own than the white version.

Everything that is usually an extra

Three things usually sold as extras are standard here. A Pinlock 70 MaxVision anti-fog insert is in the box rather than in the accessory catalogue. A tinted sun visor drops down from inside the shell, and comes out by hand for cleaning without tools. And the chin curtain is magnetic, which sounds trivial until you have fought a popper-fastened one with cold fingers.

About the Komai Black/Red finish

Black carries the surface, grey does the structural work and red is used where the shapes intersect. Matt is the right choice for a pattern this busy: on gloss the interlocking panels would each throw their own highlight and the design would turn into visual noise. The result is a graphic that reads as texture from a distance and resolves properly up close.

A large top intake, and what it feeds

The intakes and exhausts carry transparent sections, which is not styling: it lets you see at a glance whether a vent is open, and it makes a blocked one obvious. Behind them is the substance — a large top intake, a chin intake, ducted EPS and rear extractors that pull the warm air out rather than leaving it to find its own way.

The release you hope never to need

An emergency release system is fitted to the cheek pads. Ambulance crews are trained to remove a helmet from an unconscious rider, and the safest way to do it is to take the pads out first. Most helmets at this price do not offer that. Add a reinforced chin strap, a ratchet buckle and a visor button lock and the safety specification is unusually complete for the money.

Two screens, one shell

The outer visor takes the weather: wide aperture, scratch-resistant coating, UV protection, double-injection seal, button lock, quick-release fitting. The inner one takes the sun, drops with a slider and retracts fully out of the way. The Pinlock 70 MaxVision insert is fitted to the outer screen and comes in the box.

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

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.

The bit you actually touch

Inside sits a removable, washable interior treated to be antibacterial and hypoallergenic. The magnetic chin curtain is the detail worth naming again: it attaches without poppers, which means it survives being taken out for cleaning and actually goes back in. Speaker recesses are moulded for the current LS2 comms unit.

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. 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.

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.

1600 grams, and what it buys

1600 grams is the heaviest figure in our entire LS2 range, and it is worth being honest about why: a drop-down sun visor, its slider mechanism and housing, a Pinlock-equipped Max Vision visor and an emergency-release liner all weigh something. This is the trade the Storm III makes.

1600 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 1600 g and the 1280 g of the FF805 Thunder 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.

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

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 Storm III liner in every size, seven replacement visors from clear to iridium, the tinted sun visor, plus the chin curtain, chin bar trim, nose guard, ratchet mechanism and vent covers in six 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 FF818 Storm III Kit.

In the box

• LS2 FF818 Storm III helmet — Komai Black/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 — Komai graphic, matt