Dravix in red is the most conventional graphic in this range and the one that will look correct longest. Red on a touring full-face is not a fashion; it has simply never stopped working.

An HPFC composite shell in three sizes

ECE 22.06 is the current European schedule, mandatory for new helmets sold in the EU since January 2024. It tests more impact points than 22.05, adds a second lower speed, and introduced an oblique test measuring rotational acceleration.

🔵 Everything fitted is tested as fitted — visor, sun visor and vent covers included.

No independent safety rating — and nothing to borrow

🔵 A helmet with a low rating and a helmet with no rating are not the same thing. One has been measured and found wanting; the other has not been measured.

The Challenger II is in the second category, and no result from elsewhere in LS2's range is being implied here by association.

Airflow from the top down — and no chin intake

🔵 The practical consequence of no chin vent is that the Pinlock does the fog management on its own. Fortunately it is included rather than sold separately, and it is the top 120 XLT grade.

With it fitted, the Challenger II is a genuinely capable cold-weather helmet. Without it, less so.

About the Dravix red graphic

There is one thing specific to red that is worth knowing before choosing it. Of all the pigments used on helmets, red is the most vulnerable to ultraviolet, because the organic pigments that give a red its saturation break down faster than the inorganic ones behind grey, blue and white. That is why a red helmet left on a parcel shelf across several summers fades in a way a grey one does not. Modern automotive-grade clear coats carry UV inhibitors and slow this considerably, so it is a reason to store the helmet sensibly rather than a reason to choose a different colour. 🔵 On the road red performs respectably — better than black, well below white and fluorescent yellow — and it separates cleanly from both grey tarmac and green hedgerow, which covers most of what a touring rider actually rides past. Keep it out of prolonged direct sun, wash it wet, and dry it with a clean soft cloth rather than wiping it dry. Between the three Dravix finishes the choice is straightforward once you know what matters to you. Red is the conventional one and reads as a fast helmet; hi-vis yellow is the one with a measurable safety argument; grey is the one that stays clean. All three cost the same and all three are the same helmet underneath.

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

🟢 A double-injection seal around the visor aperture is the detail that keeps water out at motorway speed. It is moulded in two materials — a rigid carrier and a soft sealing lip — rather than being a glued-on strip.

🔵 The button lock keeps the visor shut where a friction detent would let it lift.

Holding on, and letting go

🔵 A metal buckle rather than a moulded one is a small specification that shows over years. It is the component you operate several times a day for the life of the helmet, and metal does not fatigue the way plastic does.

The strap it sits on is reinforced where it meets the shell.

The part you actually touch

Comfort over four hours is decided by pressure distribution rather than softness. A lining that feels plush in the first minute often lacks support and produces a hot spot later.

🔵 Because the pads come out and swap individually, a pressure point here is usually fixable rather than fatal.

Where it sits in LS2's range

🔵 If an independent rating is what decides your purchase, the FF808 Stream II holds 4 SHARP stars — considerably cheaper and considerably less well equipped.

The Challenger II is the better-made helmet and the untested one. Both things are true.

Care and replacement parts

🔵 The Pinlock insert is a consumable too. It is a soft-coated lens that scratches more easily than the visor behind it; when it hazes, replace it rather than living with it.

Replacement 120 XLT inserts are available separately.

In the box

• LS2 FF817 Challenger II helmet — Dravix, Red (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

Keep a new helmet on for ten minutes before deciding. Pressure barely noticeable in the first thirty seconds is the only thing you can think about after an hour — and on a touring helmet, hours are the point.

🔵 It should be firm everywhere and painful nowhere.

Size	Head circumference
2XS	51–52 cm
XS	53–54 cm
S	55–56 cm
M	57–58 cm
L	59–60 cm
XL	61–62 cm
2XL	63–64 cm
3XL	65–66 cm

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF817 Challenger II
• Part number — 168170331
• Colour — Dravix — Red
• 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

Size guide — all measurements