Nardo grey is a specific colour with a specific history — a flat industrial grey borrowed from the car world, where it became shorthand for a fast thing that does not need to announce it. On a helmet it is the lowest-maintenance finish here.

Four stars from SHARP

🟢 The zone detail is worth reading rather than just the star count. At 6 m/s and 7.5 m/s every measured zone scored the maximum. Only at 8.5 m/s — the hardest impact in the programme — did the left and right sides drop to 3, while the crown and front held 5.

Four stars overall, on a helmet at this price.

KPA shell, multi-density EPS and three shell sizes

🔵 Multi-density EPS is the specification behind the star rating. A single density is always a compromise: soft enough for a light impact and it bottoms out in a hard one; firm enough for a hard impact and it transmits a light one straight through.

Building the liner from several densities lets each region be tuned separately. That is what SHARP's instruments measure.

What the ECE 22.06 plaque actually means

🔵 The most significant addition in 22.06 is the oblique test: the helmet is dropped onto an angled abrasive anvil while instruments measure rotational acceleration against the Brain Injury Criterion.

Rotation is the mechanism behind a large share of serious head injuries, and 22.05 had no equivalent test at all.

About the solid Nardo grey finish

This is the version that asks least of you over four or five seasons. Dirt is a question of contrast rather than colour, and a mid grey sits at the point on the value scale where almost nothing shows: road film reads as a haze on black and as an obvious film on white, and against Nardo it essentially disappears between washes. Dried rain marks, the fine grey deposit motorway riding leaves, brake dust off the car in front — none of it registers until you wash the helmet and see what came off. There is a second benefit that gets overlooked. A mid-value object is resolved against dark tarmac appreciably faster than a dark one, so this is not a stealth choice in the way matt black is; it is genuinely more visible while looking almost as restrained. 🔵 It is also one of the three cheapest versions — the same shell, the same SHARP result, the same everything, without paying extra for a graphic. If you are buying this helmet for the four-star rating rather than for how it looks, this is the version that gets you there for the least money while still being more visible than matt black.

Twin Visor: two screens, one shell

🔵 The case for an internal shield over a tinted outer visor is that it is reversible in one second. Into a tunnel, under trees, past sunset — it retracts. A tinted outer visor has to be swapped at the roadside or endured in the dark.

The main visor stays clear and stays on.

Anti-fog — prepared for, not supplied

🔵 Budget for the insert. A Pinlock 70 MaxVision is the single most effective thing you can add to this helmet for cold-weather riding, and it is not in the box — the visor is merely prepared to take one.

Anti-fog is the one area where the Stream II asks you to spend a little more.

Ventilation, and what we are not claiming about it

🔵 A distinction that gets blurred in helmet descriptions. Intakes and exhausts move air into and out of the shell; channels in the EPS move it across your scalp in between. The Stream II has the first and LS2 does not document the second.

That is one of the reasons its ventilation is rated 3 of 5 here rather than higher.

Lining, closure and everyday comfort

🔵 Retention is a quick-release ratchet rather than a double D-ring — one-handed, glove-friendly, and adjustable in fine steps. It is the closure you want on a helmet you fasten several times a day.

Check the adjustment every few months; a ratchet has a set position that can drift.

Where it sits in LS2's range

🔵 The most useful comparison in LS2's own range is the FF807 Dragon: a full carbon shell at about 1450 g with a Pinlock 120 and a spare tinted visor included — and roughly three times the price.

Both hold four SHARP stars. The Dragon buys you weight and equipment, not a better rating.

Care and replacement parts

🔵 Never clean a thermoplastic shell with solvent, petrol or alcohol. Thermoplastics are chemically attacked by exactly those substances, and the damage is invisible at first and structural afterwards.

Warm water and a soft cloth is the whole procedure.

In the box

• LS2 FF808 Stream II helmet — Solid, Nardo grey (KPA shell)
• Clear outer visor, fitted
• Internal drop-down sun visor, fitted
• Chin wind deflector, fitted
• 🔵 No Pinlock insert — the visor is prepared for a Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™, which is sold separately
• 🔵 No second visor and no intercom — the helmet is prepared for a Bluetooth system; both are separate purchases

Size guide

🔵 Eight sizes across three shells means the shell is scaled to the size rather than the padding making up the difference — the 2XS is not an M lined with extra foam.

Measure above the eyebrows and above the ears, with the tape level.

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF808 Stream II
• Part number — 168081006
• Colour — Solid — Nardo grey
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• 🟢 Safety rating — SHARP 4 stars of 5, tested September 2024 on ECE 22.06. Zones: maximum (5) across the board at 6 m/s and 7.5 m/s; at 8.5 m/s crown and front 5, left and right 3
• Shell — KPA injection-moulded thermoplastic; three shell sizes (2XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• Impact liner — multi-density EPS — graded so each region is tuned separately rather than one compromise density
• Weight — approx. 1550 g (±50 g)
• Sizes — 2XS to 3XL (eight sizes)
• Optics — Twin Visor System — clear outer visor plus fully retracting internal sun visor, both covered by the ECE 22.06 approval
• 🔴 Anti-fog — prepared for Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ — the insert is NOT included. The visor carries the pins; the lens is a separate purchase
• Ventilation — crown intake, chin intake and rear exhaust. 🔵 LS2 documents no EPS ventilation channels for this model, unlike the FF820 and FF818 — and no independent airflow measurement exists, so the rating here is a construction assessment
• 🔴 Wind noise — left unrated — no independent measurement is published for this helmet; Certimoov has not tested it
• Retention — quick-release ratchet on a padded strap
• Interior — laser-cut comfort foam — sealed cut faces rather than crushed; fully removable and washable
• Included — chin wind deflector, fitted
• Communication — prepared for Bluetooth intercom — no system supplied
• 🔴 FIM homologation — none — a road helmet, not eligible for FIM-sanctioned competition
• Serviceability — visors, internal sun visor, cheek pads in several thicknesses, complete lining and vent covers all available separately
• Replacement guidance — after about five years regardless of condition, and immediately after any impact

• 1× helmet
• Carrying bag
• Reflective stickers