The Monza pattern again, this time on a matt dark base with grey and red running through it. Removing the white changes the balance completely: the blocks stop being panels of colour and become shadow and light, and the helmet reads as one dark mass with a line of red through it.

What SHARP measured, and where this helmet sits

SHARP four stars, ECE 22.06, August 2026 — and that date matters more than it looks. SHARP retests as standards change, and a rating earned under 22.06 is not comparable to one earned under 22.05. Plenty of four-star helmets on their site were rated years ago under the old regime; this one was measured against the current rules, including the oblique rotation test that did not exist before 2021.

Set against the table below, it is also the least expensive row. That combination — cheapest and the only one independently rated — is unusual enough to be the reason this page leads with it.

About the Monza Matt Black Grey Red graphic

Matt is what carries this version and also what makes it demanding to produce. Without a gloss coat there are no highlights to describe the curvature of the shell, so the graphic has to do that work itself — which is why the blocks here follow the curve over the brow and along the flank rather than cutting across it. The grey is doing more than it appears to: it is the transitional tone that stops the red from sitting directly on black, where it would look like a warning label rather than a racing stripe. The red itself is a saturated non-metallic tone chosen to stay sharp against a matt ground; a metallic red would go muddy the moment the sun went in. Day to day it is the most forgiving graphic here, and it hides road film until wash day.

Three shells, and what KPA actually is

Three shells, seven sizes — and it is worth saying what that does not fix, because shell count gets oversold. Three tools solve size. They do not solve shape: a long, narrow head will still feel brow pressure in an intermediate-oval helmet no matter how many shells the range uses. Shell count decides proportion, weight and EPS thickness. Cheek pads and honest measuring decide fit. The shell material throughout is KPA.

Ninety degrees, and how the chin bar locks

A modular helmet is a compromise and it is worth naming which one. You accept a hinge, a latch and roughly four hundred grams over a comparable full-face, and in exchange you get a helmet you can open at every stop without taking it off — with glasses, with a beard, at a fuel station in August. If that trade does not appeal, a full-face is the better buy. If it does, ninety degrees at this price is the least expensive way to make it.

What ECE 22.06 and the P/J label mean

ECE tells you a helmet passed; it does not tell you by how much. That is the gap SHARP exists to fill, and it is why the two together are more useful than either alone. This helmet cleared 22.06 — the entry requirement — and then scored four of five when independently ranked against everything else that cleared it. Both facts are on the strap and on this page.

Twin Visor, sun visor — and the Pinlock that is not in the box

Three things about the sun visor that only become obvious after owning one. It retracts fully, so it does not eat into your field of view when stowed. It sits close enough to the eyes to cover the working part of your vision, though not the extreme edges. And it is the component riders scratch without noticing, because it slides into a slot that collects whatever comes off a glove — which is why it is stocked as a spare in both clear and tinted.

Air, the breath deflector and the elastic-band liner

Two intakes, one exhaust, channels between them, and a breath deflector behind the chin bar. That last component is the one most helmets at this price leave out and then sell you as an accessory: on the FF902 Scope II, for instance, the nose guard is a separate purchase. Here it is fitted from the factory, which matters most on the cold, damp mornings when a modular helmet is otherwise at its worst.

1700 grams, no emergency release, and the rest of the honest list

Two omissions and one number. The omissions: no emergency release system, and no Pinlock insert supplied — both present on the flip-ups above this one in our range, and both part of why they cost more. The number: 1700 g, which is the lightest of our three modular helmets and still a substantial mass on a long day.

Noise has no figure attached because it has not been measured. What is structural: a modular seals against a moving part and therefore leaks more than a full-face, and the chin curtain in the accessory list is the cheapest thing you can do about it.

When something wears out

The nose guard is worth a mention because riders rarely know it exists as a separate part. It clips under the chin bar and stops your own breath rising up the inside of the visor — the half of the fogging problem a Pinlock does not solve. On this helmet one is fitted from the factory, but it is also the part most easily lost when the interior comes out for washing, and it is stocked on its own.

In the box

• LS2 FF908 Strobe II helmet — Monza Matt Black Grey Red
• Carrying bag
• Reflective stickers
• 🔵 No Pinlock® insert — the visor is prepared for one (DKS520), sold separately

Specification

• Model — LS2 FF908 Strobe II
• Part number — 569082231
• Colour — Monza Matt Black Grey Red — Monza graphic, matt with grey and red
• Homologation — ECE 22.06, dual P/J (protective and jet)
• Safety rating — SHARP 4 of 5 stars (tested August 2026, ECE 22.06); chin bar fully locked in 37 % of impacts
• Helmet type — Flip-up / modular, chin bar raising 90° with locking system
• Shell — KPA (Kinetic Polymer Alloy), three shell sizes (XS–S / M–L / XL–3XL)
• Weight — 1700 g (±50 g)
• Sizes — XS to 3XL (seven sizes)
• Anti-fog — prepared for Pinlock® 70 MaxVision™ (DKS520) — insert NOT supplied
• Visor — Twin Visor System, scratch-resistant, UV-stable, quick-release
• Sun visor — integrated, tinted, drop-down
• Impact liner — multi-density EPS with moulded ventilation channels
• Retention — micrometric ratchet buckle, reinforced chin strap, chin bar lock
• Emergency release — not fitted on this model
• Ventilation — chin intake, top intake, rear exhaust port, breath deflector
• Liner — 3D laser-cut, elastic-band crown, hypoallergenic, breathable, removable and washable
• Intercom — prepared for the current LS2 Bluetooth system
• Serviceability — complete chin bar available as a spare part in every one of the twelve colourways