Please note: sale to France is prohibited.

The plain gloss black GT-Air3 — Shoei's best-selling finish on its best-selling touring helmet, and the version that outsells every graphic in this range combined. There is a reason for that beyond conservatism, and it has to do with how long you will own it.

Five stars from SHARP — and which GT-Air earned them

SHARP rated the GT-Air3 five stars out of five — the top result — in a test dated June 2024. That is the UK Department for Transport's independent programme, which buys helmets at retail rather than accepting samples, and strikes each one at three speeds across five sites.

🔵 Not to be confused with the original GT-Air, which SHARP rated three stars. The generations are separately listed and the results do not carry over.

About the gloss black finish

A helmet is a five-year purchase, and five years is long enough for a motorcycle to change hands. Black is the only finish here that will still look deliberate on whatever you are riding in 2031, which is why it holds its value on the used market better than any graphic and why dealers order it in the largest quantities. The finish itself is the most demanding to keep: grey road film against a dark clear coat is maximum contrast, and swirl marks from dry-wiping catch light permanently. Washed wet and dried with clean microfibre it will outlast the interior; treated casually it will look tired in a season. Worth knowing that the GT-Air3's pronounced integrated spoiler edges and the smoothed visor-to-shell transition read clearly under gloss — you can see the aerodynamic work that makes this helmet quiet.

What ECE 22.06 actually tests

Homologated to ECE 22.06, the current European standard, and it is worth knowing what that now costs a manufacturer. The standard it replaced struck the shell at five fixed points and measured only how hard the head was stopped. The current one strikes up to eighteen, at more than one speed, and adds an oblique drop onto an angled abrasive anvil.

That last test measures how far the head is spun — the injury mechanism European regulation ignored until 2021.

AIM, three shells, and the EQRS release

The outer shell is AIM — Advanced Integrated Matrix — a composite of fibreglass and organic fibres that combines high flexibility with low weight. Beneath it sits a polystyrene core assembled from multiple elements of differing absorption characteristics, so impact energy is managed across the whole structure rather than at the point it lands.

Six sizes, XS to XXL, are carried on three separate shells (XS–M | L | XL–XXL).

CNS-1C and QSV-2 — the two screens

The CNS-1C visor gives a wide, distortion-free field of view and blocks more than 99 % of incoming ultraviolet. Its quick-change mechanism is tool-free, and a self-adjusting detent opens it in stages without twisting — including a first, gap-width position for extra air in summer or to clear fogging.

Behind it, the QSV-2 sun visor deploys steplessly by a glove-friendly slider and covers almost the entire usable field of view. A Pinlock EVO lens is supplied.

Air in, air out, and why it is quiet

Intake vents aimed directly into the oncoming airstream feed the internal channels, and aerodynamically high-placed exhaust outlets pull the warm air out — the low-pressure area behind the shell doing the work. A removable filter in the lower front vent keeps insects out of the system.

The revised visor detent adds a stable gap-width first position for extra fresh air, which is often all a warm day in traffic actually needs.

Interior, glasses and talking to the helmet

Distinctly contoured centre pads support air circulation inside the helmet and are — like the three-dimensionally pre-shaped cheek pads and the chin strap cover — fully removable and washable. Centre and cheek pads come in several thicknesses for fine-tuning the fit, and removable ear pads contribute effectively to noise damping.

The SHOEI COMLINK interface takes the SENA SRL3 Mesh system in pre-routed channels and moulded recesses.

Where it sits in Shoei's range

The comparison most buyers are weighing is against the Neotec 3, and it is a clean one. Both are Shoei's sport-touring line, both carry the QSV-2 sun visor, both are built around quietness and both hold five SHARP stars. The Neotec 3 is the modular version at seventy euros more and around two hundred grams heavier.

If you never open a helmet at a fuel stop, this is the better buy.

Around 1700 grams, and the rest of the honest list

The honest list. Weight: around 1700 g — normal for a fully equipped touring helmet with an integrated sun visor, and still a mass your neck stabilises all day. The SRL3 is not included: the helmet is prepared for it, the unit is a separate purchase. Head shape: intermediate oval, which suits most European heads and genuinely does not suit all of them.

None of it is hidden elsewhere on this page.

When something wears out

Nothing that wears out on this helmet is the shell. Centre pads, cheek pads, ear pads and the chin strap cover are all separate parts in several thicknesses; the CNS-1C visor is available in six tints; the QSV-2 sun visor and the Pinlock EVO lens are both stocked on their own.

🔵 Order visors as CNS-1C — the previous GT-Air generations used different screens that do not fit.

In the box

• Shoei GT-Air3 helmet — Black
• Pinlock® EVO anti-fog lens
• Breath guard and chin curtain
• Helmet bag, manual and ECE approval documentation

Size guide

Specification

• Model — Shoei GT-Air3
• Part number — 11.20.000.2
• Colour — Black — Gloss black
• Homologation — ECE 22.06
• Safety rating — SHARP 5 of 5 stars (tested June 2024) — the first-generation GT-Air scored 3
• Helmet type — Full-face, sport-touring
• Shell — AIM (Advanced Integrated Matrix) — fibreglass and organic fibres; three shell sizes (XS–M / L / XL–XXL)
• Weight — approx. 1700 g (Shoei figure; independent measurements vary with size and finish)
• Sizes — XS to XXL (six sizes)
• Visor — CNS-1C, tool-free quick-change, staged detent with gap-width first position, blocks over 99 % of UV; six tints available
• Anti-fog — Pinlock® EVO lens supplied
• Visor tints available — clear, mellow smoke, dark smoke, Spectra silver, Spectra blue, Spectra rainbow
• Sun visor — QSV-2, integrated, stepless, glove-friendly slider, EN 1836; optional yellow contrast version
• Impact liner — multi-density EPS assembled from elements of differing absorption
• Retention — micro-ratchet chin strap
• Emergency system — EQRS — Emergency Quick Release System for the cheek pads
• Ventilation — intakes into the airstream, high-placed exhausts, removable insect filter in the lower front vent
• Interior — contoured centre pads, 3D pre-shaped cheek pads, removable ear pads, chin strap cover — removable and washable, several thicknesses
• Head shape — intermediate oval
• Communication — SHOEI COMLINK with pre-routed cabling and recesses for the SENA SRL3 Mesh (sold separately)
• Serviceability — visor, sun visor, all pads and the Pinlock lens available as separate parts

• 1x helmet
• 1x clear CNS-1C visor (pre-fitted)
• 1x Pinlock EVO anti-fog lens
• 1x set of spare pins
• 1x maintenance tool
• 1x breath guard