Of the thirteen finishes here, this is one of only two chosen for a measurable reason rather than a visual one — and on a helmet designed for long days in whatever light arrives, that argument carries further than usual.

An HPFC composite shell in three sizes

🔵 The oblique impact test added in 22.06 is the most consequential change to European helmet approval in three decades. Rotation is behind a large share of serious head injuries, and 22.05 had no equivalent test at all.

The Challenger II is homologated to the current standard.

No independent safety rating — and nothing to borrow

🔵 The specific trap with a broad range like LS2's is that ratings blur across it. SHARP has tested several LS2 models and rated them well; that tells you nothing about the models it has not tested.

The FF817 is one it has not tested. We checked directly rather than relying on a search.

Airflow from the top down — and no chin intake

🔵 Wind noise is left unrated here. No independent measurement is published for this model, and a manufacturer's feature list is not a result.

What can be said is that a helmet without a chin intake has one fewer opening for turbulence to enter, and that the chin curtain is fitted as standard.

About the Dravix hi-vis yellow graphic

Ordinary paint reflects a fraction of the light reaching it. Fluorescent pigment does something categorically different: it absorbs ultraviolet, which your eye cannot detect at all, and re-emits that energy at a visible wavelength, so the surface returns more visible light than falls on it. That is why fluorescent yellow appears to glow rather than merely to be bright. It works hardest in exactly the conditions that supply plenty of ultraviolet and almost no contrast — heavy overcast, rain, dusk, the flat grey afternoons that a European autumn produces for weeks. Those are also the conditions a touring rider cannot avoid, because a long day does not stop when the light turns. The colour also sits close to the wavelength the human eye is most sensitive to in daylight. 🔵 Two honest costs: it is the loudest finish here and not to every taste, and fluorescent pigment fades under sustained UV over years — store it in a garage rather than a window. If conspicuity is genuinely the deciding factor, compare this against the Viper grey and hi-vis version at the same price. This one leads with the fluorescent colour; the Viper pairs it with grey, which keeps more of the shell looking clean between washes. Both use the same pigment and both work by the same mechanism.

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

The case for a drop-down shield over a tinted outer visor is that it is reversible in one second. Into a tunnel, under trees, past sunset — it retracts, and the clear visor is still on the helmet.

🟢 On a touring helmet that passes through several kinds of light in a day, it is the feature you use most.

Holding on, and letting go

🟢 Three pieces of hardware here exist for situations you hope never arise: the emergency cheek-pad release, the metal homologation plaque, and the EPS liner itself.

🔵 Only the last of those actually protects you, and it is the one you never see.

The part you actually touch

🔵 A new helmet should feel firm everywhere and painful nowhere. Padding compresses over the first hours and again across the first season, so the size that feels right in the shop is often one too large by the following summer.

Buy on the snug side and fit thicker pads later if you need them.

Where it sits in LS2's range

Thirteen finishes, two prices. Solid White, Nardo Grey, Matt Black and Matt Navy Blue at the lower price; the nine graphics slightly above.

🔵 Nothing else changes between them. The cheapest Challenger II is built identically to the most expensive.

Care and replacement parts

Helmets are consumables with a long life. LS2, like every manufacturer, advises replacement after roughly five years regardless of appearance — adhesives, foam and resin all change with time and ultraviolet.

🔵 Keep the purchase date somewhere you will find it.

In the box

• LS2 FF817 Challenger II helmet — Dravix, Hi-vis yellow (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

🔵 The check that settles it: with the strap fastened, try to rotate the helmet on your head, then try to roll it forward off you. Neither should be possible.

If either is, it is too large whatever the tape said.

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF817 Challenger II
• Part number — 168170353
• Colour — Dravix — Hi-vis yellow
• 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