Nova in black and red is the simplest version of this graphic family: two colours, no third tone, and the cleanest execution of the layout in the range.

Four stars from SHARP — and this is the helmet they tested

🔵 In context: SHARP's scale runs to five, five-star helmets are a minority, and modular helmets rarely reach the top of it because the chin bar is a structural discontinuity.

🟢 Four of five for a flip-up is a strong result, and the 63 % lock rate is the honest qualifier that goes with it.

A flip-up with P/J dual homologation

🟢 For touring, the flip-up format earns its weight at every stop: fuel, tolls, directions, food, borders. A full-face comes off for all of those and a modular does not.

🔵 The Advant X adds P/J approval, so the open position is a tested configuration rather than a habit.

HPFC composite, multi-density EPS — and only two shell 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.

The Advant X's 1600 g is a 22.06-era figure on a modular shell with a 180-degree hinge in it.

About the Nova black and red graphic

Reducing a livery to two colours is a harder discipline than it looks, because a third tone is what usually rescues a design that is not quite working — take it away and the geometry has to stand on its own. Here it does, and the result is the most legible version of the Nova layout: from a distance you see the shape of the graphic rather than a collection of elements, which is exactly what a livery is supposed to do. Red on black is also the oldest combination in sport motorcycling and still the one most riders picture when they picture a fast helmet. 🔵 Two practical notes. Red is the most UV-sensitive pigment used on helmets, so store this one out of prolonged direct sun. And the black base carries the usual disadvantage in poor light, with the red doing what conspicuity work there is — better than plain black, well below the white version. Of the three Nova finishes this is the one for a rider who wants the layout and nothing else — no third colour, no fluorescent panel, no white field. It is the most restrained and, in poor light, the least visible. If that trade gives you pause, the Nova white version at the same price is the same helmet with the values the other way round.

Twin Visor, Pinlock 120 and a tinted spare

🟢 What comes with the helmet: the Pinlock 120 MaxVision XLT insert, a complete second visor in a tint, and a breath deflector.

🔵 Only the first of those is useful in the dark. Tinted visors are daylight-only in most European countries.

Chin and crown intakes, channelled EPS

Chin intake, crown intake, channels through the multi-density liner, exhaust port at the rear. A complete and conventional path, executed properly at this price.

🔵 No independent test of its performance has been published for this helmet.

Metal buckle and the Emergency Release System

🔵 SHARP publishes chin-bar lock rates for modular helmets precisely because they vary, and the Advant X's is 63 %. It is not a hidden number and it is not a scandal — it is how the format behaves under impact.

🟢 What makes it acceptable is the J half of the homologation: the helmet is tested and approved as a jet as well.

Lining, comfort — and the X-Static this version does not have

🔵 The lining specification here is good rather than exceptional: laser-cut, removable, washable, breathable, hypoallergenic. The one item on LS2's own comfort list that is missing is X-Static.

We name it rather than letting the omission pass unmentioned.

Where it sits in LS2's range

🟢 LS2 makes two four-star modulars: this one and the FF908 Strobe II. This is the composite, better-equipped, better-locking one; the Strobe II is the cheaper thermoplastic.

🔵 Neither is FIM homologated — both are road helmets.

Care and replacement parts

Everything serviceable comes off or out without tools: both visors, sun visor, vent covers, breath deflector, crown pad, cheek pads and neck roll.

🔵 On a helmet you intend to keep for years, that matters more than it appears on a specification sheet.

In the box

• LS2 FF901 Advant X helmet — Nova, Black and red (HPFC composite shell)
• Clear main visor, fitted, with tool-free quick release
• Pinlock® 120 MaxVision™ XLT anti-fog insert
• A complete second visor in a tint — 🔵 daylight use only in most European jurisdictions
• Integrated drop-down sun visor, fitted
• Breath deflector, fitted
• 🔵 No intercom — the helmet is prepared for a Bluetooth system, which is a separate purchase

Size guide

Seven sizes across two shells, from XS at 53–54 cm to 3XL at 65–66 cm. Measure once, carefully, with a soft tape.

🔵 A stiff tape, or string measured afterwards, both read short.

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF901 Advant X (HPFC)
• Part number — 569012531
• Colour — Nova — Black and red
• Homologation — ECE 22.06, P/J dual homologation — approved closed and open
• 🟢 Safety rating — SHARP 4 stars of 5, July 2024, ECE 22.06. Max in every zone at 6.0 and 7.5 m/s; at 8.5 m/s crown/front/rear 5, sides 3. 🔵 chin bar fully locked in 63 % of impacts
• 🔑 Which helmet the rating belongs to — SHARP recorded composite fibre, 1.6 kg = this HPFC version. Not the Advant X Carbon (6K, 1550 g), which we list unrated
• Helmet type — Flip-up touring — chin bar rotates 180° to the rear
• Shell — HPFC composite. 🔵 Two shell sizes only (XS–S–M–L / XL–2XL–3XL) — coarser than the three of LS2's FF808/FF817/FF820
• Impact liner — multi-density EPS with moulded ventilation channels
• Weight — approx. 1600 g (±50 g)
• Sizes — XS to 3XL (seven sizes), no XXS. Prepared for Bluetooth intercom; no system supplied
• Optics — Twin Visor System — main visor plus retracting sun visor
• 🟢 Included — Pinlock® 120 MaxVision™ XLT AND a complete tinted second visor, plus a breath deflector
• 🔴 Tinted visor — daylight only — most European jurisdictions bar tinted visors at night
• Ventilation — chin and crown intakes, channelled multi-density EPS, rear exhaust port. 🔵 assessed from construction; no independent measurement exists
• 🔴 Wind noise — left unrated — no measurement published; SHARP measures impact, not acoustics
• Retention — micrometric metal buckle
• Emergency access — Emergency Release System — tabs let responders withdraw the cheek pads first
• Interior — removable, washable, breathable, hypoallergenic; laser-cut foam. 🔵 No X-Static® — LS2 lists it only for the Advant X Carbon
• 🔴 FIM homologation — none — a road helmet; no modular is FIM-eligible
• Serviceability — both visors, sun visor mechanism, cheek pads (several thicknesses), lining, vent covers, breath deflector
• Replacement guidance — after about five years, and immediately after any impact — composite can look undamaged over crushed EPS

• 1× helmet
• Carrying backpack
• Tinted visor
• Pinlock® 120 MaxVision™ XLT anti-fog insert (DKS433)
• Reflective stickers