The Viper geometry in grey and red, which is the most balanced version of it: enough colour to be a graphic, enough grey to be practical, and no white to keep clean.

An HPFC composite shell in three sizes

🔵 One consequence of 22.06 across the industry: helmets got heavier. More impact points at more speeds, plus an oblique test, generally means more material.

At about 1500 g with an integrated sun visor, the Challenger II is a reasonable weight for a 22.06-era touring composite.

No independent safety rating — and nothing to borrow

🔵 This helmet's evidence base is LS2's published specification plus ECE 22.06 approval. Everything on this page comes from one of those two, or is flagged as a construction assessment.

There is no independent crash rating to add.

Airflow from the top down — and no chin intake

🔵 In winter you close the crown vent, fit the chin curtain and rely on the Pinlock. In summer you open it and remove the curtain. There is no third setting to learn, which on a touring helmet is not a criticism.

The Pinlock 120 XLT is supplied in the box.

About the Viper grey and red graphic

This is the combination we would point most touring riders at if they were choosing on properties rather than on looks. Grey is the value at which road film, dried rain and motorway deposit all show least, so the helmet stays looking maintained across a season of long days without any particular effort. Red supplies contrast against it and, importantly, against the surroundings — it separates cleanly from both tarmac and hedgerow, which is most of what a distance rider passes. Between them you get a helmet that is meaningfully more visible than a dark one and meaningfully easier to keep than a pale one, which is not a compromise so much as the useful middle. 🔵 Red is the most UV-sensitive pigment used on helmets, so store this one out of prolonged direct sun and it will hold its colour. Ordinary gloss care otherwise: wash wet, dry with a clean soft cloth, and never dry-wipe a clear coat. If you are choosing among the three Viper finishes on properties rather than looks, this is the middle option and probably the right default: more visible than a dark helmet, easier to keep than a pale one, and with no white area to show motorway film. The hi-vis version goes further on visibility, and the white and blue version goes further on brightness at the cost of upkeep.

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

🔵 Both screens are inside the ECE 22.06 approval rather than accessories added afterwards, because the current standard tests a helmet with everything fitted that will be sold on it.

That includes the sun visor mechanism and the vent covers.

Holding on, and letting go

🔵 The hardware specification here is complete for a touring helmet at this price: reinforced strap, metal micrometric buckle, emergency cheek-pad release, metal homologation plaque.

None of the four is universal.

The part you actually touch

🔵 If a helmet is comfortable for twenty minutes and unbearable after two hours, the cause is almost always one pressure point rather than the overall size.

The Challenger II's pads come out and can be replaced individually in different thicknesses.

Where it sits in LS2's range

🔵 If you already own a 22.05 helmet and are weighing a replacement, the current schedule tests more impact points, at more speeds, with a rotational assessment the old one had no equivalent for.

The Challenger II is a 22.06 composite with a metal homologation plaque on the shell.

Care and replacement parts

The internal sun visor comes out without tools for cleaning, which is unusual — on many helmets the inner shield is effectively unserviceable and simply gets dirtier.

🔵 After a summer of insects, that matters.

In the box

• LS2 FF817 Challenger II helmet — Viper, Grey and 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

The commonest sizing mistake is buying for comfort in the first minute rather than fit over a season. New padding is at its thickest on the day it arrives.

🔵 Snug now, correct in six months.

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF817 Challenger II
• Part number — 168170732
• Colour — Viper — Grey and 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