Please note: sale to France is prohibited.

Basalt Grey is a cool, mid-dark grey with no blue and no warmth in it — and it is the one finish here that puts the aluminium mesh in the chin intakes into context. Grey shell, bare metal mesh, black visor trim: three materials rather than three colours.

Five SHARP stars — and which Glamster earned them

Worth understanding what the stars mean. SHARP's rating reflects how well a helmet spread and absorbed energy across a large number of controlled impacts — it is a measure of performance beyond the legal minimum, not a substitute for the ECE approval that every helmet must hold.

The Glamster06 holds both: full ECE 22.06 homologation and five SHARP stars from May 2025.

About the Basalt Grey finish

The Glamster06's chin vents are covered in aluminium mesh rather than plastic sliders, and on most finishes that detail simply disappears. Against a stone grey shell it reads as what it is: a metal component on a painted one. That is the sort of thing this helmet is full of and the reason grey suits it better than it suits most helmets. The practical case is separate and just as strong. Grey sits at the point on the value scale where road film, dust and dried water all show least, which makes it the lowest-maintenance finish in the range by a clear margin. It is also meaningfully more visible than black in exactly the light that matters — dull, flat, urban — without being a bright colour. If the helmet is for daily use, start here.

AIM, three shells, double-D and EQRS

AIM stands for Advanced Integrated Matrix, and the word that matters is „integrated": several different fibre materials combined in one layup rather than the same glass laminated repeatedly. That lets Shoei vary stiffness across the shell and hold the finished weight to around 1300 g without resorting to carbon.

The liner beneath is multi-density EPS; the strap is a double-D ring; the cheek pads release via EQRS.

The CPB-1V visor — and the sun shield that is not there

The photochromic CPB-1V is the option to consider if you ride at both ends of the day. It darkens under UV and clears indoors or at dusk, and on a helmet with no drop-down shield it removes the need to carry a second visor entirely.

🔵 It works less well behind a car windscreen, where UV is filtered. The standard clear visor ships with a Pinlock EVO lens fitted-ready in the box.

One intake, aluminium mesh, no sliders

Airflow through a compact shell is a harder problem than through a large one, because there is less space between your head and the outside for air to travel. Shoei's solution here is to move a smaller volume more directly: chin intakes feeding the visor, a forehead intake feeding the crown, and a single low-pressure exhaust at the neck to pull it all through.

MCN's long-term test rated the result 4 out of 5.

Interior, fit and glasses

Three outer shell sizes do most of the fit work before the padding is involved. Because the shell itself changes size across XS–M, L and XL–XXL, the interior does not have to compensate with thick foam on smaller heads — which is what makes a helmet feel bulky rather than snug.

From there, cheek and centre pads in several thicknesses fine-tune it. MCN rated the result 5/5 for comfort.

How loud it actually is

Worth being clear about what a noise score means. It is a comparative impression from a rider on a bike, not a laboratory measurement — MCN's 4 out of 5 tells you the Glamster06 is among the quieter helmets of its type, not that it is quiet in absolute terms.

Sustained motorway speed on any helmet, this one included, is loud enough to warrant earplugs.

Around 1300 grams, and the rest of the honest list

Light helmets are usually light because something was left out, and here it is equipment rather than structure. No sun visor mechanism and its housing, no communication interface, no large vent assemblies, no spoiler. The AIM shell and multi-density EPS are the same engineering Shoei uses further up the range.

🔵 Around 1300 g is the result — along with no speaker recesses anywhere in the interior.

Where it sits in Shoei's range

🔵 If you are cross-shopping retro full-face helmets from other brands, the two questions worth asking are which ECE standard the helmet holds and whether it has been independently tested. A good number of classic-styled helmets are still sold against the superseded 22.05.

The Glamster06 is ECE 22.06 and holds a SHARP five-star rating from May 2025.

When something wears out

Interior padding is the part worth planning to replace. It compresses, absorbs sweat and eventually stops holding the helmet where it should — and a fresh set restores a three-year-old helmet more completely than most riders expect.

Cheek and centre pads come in several thicknesses; chin strap covers and the chin curtain are separate parts too.

In the box

• Shoei Glamster06 helmet — Basalt Grey
• Clear CPB-1V visor, pre-fitted
• Pinlock® EVO anti-fog lens with matching spare pins
• Chin curtain
• Shoei helmet bag
• Glamster logo stickers
• Silicone oil for visor seal and mechanism care
• Instruction manual and the „Correct use of your helmet" booklet
• 🔵 No tinted visor — there is no sun shield, so a tinted or photochromic CPB-1V is a separate purchase

Size guide

Specification

• Model — Shoei Glamster06
• Part number — 11.19.028.2
• Colour — Basalt Grey — Gloss stone grey
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• Safety rating — SHARP 5 of 5 stars (tested May 2025, ECE 22.06, measured at 1.3 kg) — entry „Shoei Glamster 06"; the earlier Glamster is a separate entry with 4 stars
• Helmet type — Full-face, neo-retro
• Shell — AIM (Advanced Integrated Matrix) fibreglass composite; three shell sizes (XS–M / L / XL–XXL)
• Weight — approx. 1300 g
• Sizes — XS to XXL (six sizes)
• Visor — CPB-1V, classic round shape, wide field of view, redesigned mechanism, tool-free change
• Anti-fog — Pinlock® EVO lens supplied with spare pins — replacements: DKS056
• 🔴 Sun visor — none — deliberate; use a tinted or photochromic CPB-1V instead
• Impact liner — multi-density EPS assembled from elements of differing absorption
• Retention — double-D ring
• Emergency release — EQRS — cheek pads removable by first responders
• Ventilation — one forehead intake (open/closed, no intermediate steps), two chin intakes behind aluminium mesh without sliders, exhaust at the neck
• Interior — fully removable and washable; cheek and centre pads in several thicknesses; suitable for glasses
• Head shape — intermediate oval
• 🔴 Communication — no COMLINK interface and no speaker recesses — no intercom compatibility
• Independent verdict — MOTORCYCLE NEWS long-term test — comfort 5/5, ventilation 4/5, noise 4/5
• Serviceability — visor, base plates, Pinlock lens, all padding, chin strap cover and chin curtain available separately

• 1x helmet
• 1x clear visor (pre-fitted)
• 1x Pinlock EVO anti-fog lens
• 1x set of spare pins
• 1x chin curtain
• 1x Shoei helmet bag