Please note: sale to France is prohibited.

Chalk Grey is the lightest neutral in the GT-Air3 line and the one that has quietly become the default on modern adventure and naked bikes — the generation of motorcycles finished in stone, sand and raw metal rather than in racing colours.

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

The date on a SHARP rating matters as much as the number. This one is June 2024, which places it under ECE 22.06 — the current standard, with its eighteen impact points and its oblique rotation test. Plenty of five-star helmets in SHARP's database earned that result years ago under 22.05, which tested considerably less.

The GT-Air3 was measured against the current rules and returned the maximum.

About the Chalk Grey finish

Pale greys occupy a useful middle ground that riders tend to overlook because they assume light means impractical. It does not: the tonal gap between a light grey and road film is small enough that a wet week reads as used rather than neglected, while the surface still reflects a meaningful share of solar energy instead of absorbing it. That second property is the one you notice picking the helmet up off a bike that has been standing in July sun. There is a visibility argument too, and it is not trivial — against tarmac, which is itself mid-to-dark grey, a pale helmet separates from the background far more readily than anthracite or black do, particularly in the flat light of dawn and dusk when most commuting happens.

What ECE 22.06 actually tests

ECE tells you a helmet passed. It does not tell you by how much, and that gap is precisely why this page quotes a SHARP rating alongside the homologation. The two are complementary: one is a floor, the other is a ranking.

The GT-Air3 clears ECE 22.06 — the current standard since January 2024 — and sits at the top of the SHARP scale.

AIM, three shells, and the EQRS release

The break points are worth knowing before ordering: XS, S and M share the smallest shell, L has its own, and XL and XXL share the largest. If you sit at the top of a group the helmet will feel closest to its intended fit, because that size is the one the shell was drawn around.

All three are AIM composite over multi-density EPS, with the EQRS cheek-pad release fitted throughout.

CNS-1C and QSV-2 — the two screens

A Pinlock lens works by physics rather than chemistry: a second screen sealed against the inside of the visor on a silicone bead, trapping a thin layer of air that keeps the inner surface above the dew point of your breath. It does not wear off the way a coating does.

The EVO lens supplied with this helmet is matched to the CNS-1C, and it is included rather than sold separately as it is on many helmets at half this price.

Air in, air out, and why it is quiet

Raised ventilation controls are a small ergonomic decision with a real consequence: you can find and operate them with thick winter gloves, without taking a hand off the bars for longer than a moment. Flush sliders that need bare fingers are sliders that stay where they were set.

They control intakes facing the airstream and high-placed exhaust outlets at the rear.

Interior, glasses and talking to the helmet

Communication is designed in rather than bolted on. The SHOEI COMLINK interface carries the SENA SRL3 Mesh system in recesses moulded into the EPS with cabling already routed — so the unit disappears into the shell rather than clamping to the outside of it, with no aerodynamic penalty on a helmet whose character is built around clean airflow.

🔵 The SRL3 is a separate accessory and is not included with the helmet.

Where it sits in Shoei's range

The graphic colourways cost a hundred euros more than the solids, and it is fair to say what that buys: multi-stage masking and printing on a compound-curved surface, which is genuinely difficult and genuinely slow. It buys nothing structural.

If budget is the constraint, a solid GT-Air3 is exactly the same helmet underneath — same shell, same rating, same equipment.

Around 1700 grams, and the rest of the honest list

The intermediate-oval shape is worth a paragraph rather than a footnote. It is the most common European head form and the reason Shoei fits so many riders well — but a markedly long or markedly round head will find pressure points that pad thickness cannot fully resolve. No rating substitutes for trying the helmet on.

Beyond fit: roughly 1700 g, and the SRL3 communication unit is a separate purchase.

When something wears out

Ear pads are removable and separately available, which makes them a seasonal adjustment rather than a fixed part. In for winter and motorway work, out for summer and town riding, replaced when they compress. They contribute a meaningful share of this helmet's acoustic performance.

Centre pad, cheek pads and strap cover are equally serviceable.

In the box

• Shoei GT-Air3 helmet — Chalk Grey
• 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 — 11.20.030.2
• Colour — Chalk Grey — Chalk grey
• 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