Dravix in grey is the graphic for a rider who wants the pattern without any of the colour. It is the most anonymous of the nine graphics and, on a touring helmet, one of the most sensible.

An HPFC composite shell in three sizes

Composite construction is why this helmet costs more than a thermoplastic one. Laying fibre and resin is slower and more expensive than injection moulding, and it produces a stronger shell for the same mass.

🔵 The mass here is about 1500 g, which includes a sun visor mechanism that many lighter helmets leave out.

No independent safety rating — and nothing to borrow

🔵 Ratings and homologations answer different questions. ECE 22.06 asks whether a helmet may legally be sold; SHARP asks how it compared when crashed against others.

The Challenger II answers the first. Nobody has put the second question to it.

Airflow from the top down — and no chin intake

The magnetic chin curtain does more for comfort at low speed than any vent setting: it cuts the turbulent air coming up from under the chin bar, which is where much of a full-face's draught and noise originate.

🔵 It removes entirely for summer, and refits with one gloved hand.

About the Dravix grey graphic

A graphic rendered entirely in greys has a property no coloured one has: it reads as structure rather than as decoration, so the helmet looks designed rather than dressed. Everything depends on the separation between the tones — too little and the artwork vanishes, too much and it becomes a two-tone helmet with a hard line through it — and this one holds the line, with the pattern clearly present in raking light and almost invisible in flat light. It changes as you walk around it, which a plain helmet does not do. 🔵 It also inherits the best maintenance characteristics available here. Mid greys hide road film, dried rain and motorway deposit better than any other value, which on a helmet that covers a great deal of ground between washes matters over years rather than weeks. And it sits high enough on the value scale to be resolved against tarmac more readily than a dark helmet. Wash it wet; never dry-wipe a gloss surface. Between this and the plain Nardo grey, the small surcharge buys a pattern that appears and disappears with the light and nothing else — the shell, the visor system and the lining are identical. If you want the low-maintenance grey without paying for artwork, the solid version is the cheaper answer to the same question.

Seeing out: visor, sun shield and the Pinlock in the box

🔵 With the shield down and the outer visor closed you are looking through two surfaces, so keep both clean. A mark on either shows against low sun, and the inner one is closer to your eyes.

Never wipe either dry — grit dragged across a coated screen leaves scratches that flare against headlights.

Holding on, and letting go

🔵 Set the strap length bare-handed at home, once. After that the ratchet returns to the same tension every time, in gloves, without looking — which on a touring helmet fastened a dozen times a day is the whole point.

Check it again after anyone else has worn the helmet.

The part you actually touch

🟢 On a touring helmet the lining matters more than on any other kind, because you are inside it for whole days rather than twenty-minute commutes.

🔵 COOLMAX, antibacterial and hypoallergenic treatment, and a magnetic chin curtain is a strong specification at this price.

Where it sits in LS2's range

🔵 The thirteen finishes divide usefully into three groups: four plain solids at the lower price, dark graphics, and pale or fluorescent graphics. Only the last group has a measurable road advantage.

Every one is the same helmet underneath.

Care and replacement parts

🔵 Store it somewhere dark, dry and cool. UV degrades lacquer and graphics, heat degrades EPS, and a helmet left on a rear parcel shelf through one summer ages several years.

A cloth bag is better than a sealed plastic one, which traps moisture against the lining.

In the box

• LS2 FF817 Challenger II helmet — Dravix, Grey (HPFC composite shell)
• Wide hardcoated visor, fitted, with double-injection seal and button lock
• Pinlock® 120 XLT MaxVision™ anti-fog insert — included, not a separate purchase
• Integrated tinted sun visor, fitted and removable for cleaning without tools
• Magnetic chin curtain, fitted and removable
• 🔵 No second visor and no intercom — both are separate purchases

Size guide

If you fall between two sizes, take the smaller one and let the padding settle. A helmet that slips on easily and feels immediately pleasant is usually one size too big.

🔵 Eight sizes, 2XS to 3XL, on three shells.

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF817 Challenger II
• Part number — 168170365
• Colour — Dravix — Grey
• Homologation — ECE 22.06, recorded on a metal plaque fitted to the shell
• 🔴 Safety rating — none. SHARP has no Challenger or Challenger II entry and Certimoov has not tested it. Unlike the FF811 Vector II, where SHARP rates the composite version, there is nothing here that could be transferred — not even from a sibling shell
• Shell — HPFC high-performance fibreglass composite; three shell sizes (2XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• Weight — approx. 1500 g (±50 g) — light for a touring full-face carrying a drop-down sun visor
• Sizes — 2XS to 3XL (eight sizes)
• Visor — wide and hardcoated, with a double-injection seal and a button lock
• Sun visor — integrated tinted shield on a slider, stowing fully inside the shell; removable for cleaning without tools
• 🟢 Anti-fog — Pinlock® 120 XLT MaxVision™ insert included — not a separate purchase
• 🔴 Ventilation — crown intake feeding channelled EPS, with rear exhausts. No chin intake — a deliberate touring compromise: less draught and less noise, with fog management running through the Pinlock rather than through airflow. 🔵 Assessed from construction; no independent measurement exists
• 🔴 Wind noise — left unrated — no independent measurement is published for this model
• Retention — reinforced chin strap with a micrometric metal buckle
• Emergency access — emergency cheek-pad release — tabs let responders withdraw the pads before the helmet is moved
• Interior — COOLMAX® — breathable, quick-drying, antibacterial and hypoallergenic; fully removable and washable
• Chin curtain — magnetic — refits with one gloved hand; fully removable
• 🔴 FIM homologation — none — a road helmet, not eligible for FIM-sanctioned competition
• Serviceability — visor, internal sun visor, Pinlock insert, cheek pads (several thicknesses), lining, magnetic chin curtain and vent covers
• Replacement guidance — after about five years, and immediately after any impact — composite can look undamaged over crushed EPS

• 1× helmet
• Elastic carrying bag
• Pinlock 120XLT MaxVision anti-fog insert
• Reflective stickers