Please note: sale to France is prohibited.

The Fragments artwork in TC-10, and the only beige-based helmet in the Neotec 3 range. Warm neutrals are almost extinct in motorcycle helmets, which makes this the quiet outlier of the sixteen — and the one that suits a certain kind of motorcycle exactly.

Five stars from SHARP — and the number behind them

If you are cross-shopping this helmet against another modular, the SHARP database is the one place you can compare them on the same terms. Most flip-ups are unrated. Of those rated, most sit at three or four stars, and the chin-bar lock figures vary enormously — from above ninety per cent down to below forty.

The Neotec 3 sits at five stars with 93 %, tested February 2024.

About the Fragments TC-10 colourway

Beige and sand tones belong to a specific corner of motorcycling — the adventure and scrambler end, where bikes are finished in desert and olive rather than in racing colours — and there is almost nothing available to match them. Most riders on those machines end up in black by default. This is the alternative, and it works for a reason beyond taste: a warm neutral sits against earth and rock in a way a cool grey does not, and it stays legible against foliage and dust where black turns into a shape with no depth. Two practical notes. A light warm tone runs cooler in sun than any dark finish, which matters on the sort of riding this colour suits. And beige hides dust considerably better than it hides rain-spray, so it will look best in exactly the conditions it was drawn for.

P and J, and what ECE 22.06 actually tests

Two letters, two tests, one shell. P is the protective full-face certification, chin impacts included. J is the jet certification with the bar locked open. Under ECE 22.06 these are treated as different helmets, and the Neotec 3 was submitted for both.

Which matters most on the days you actually use the mechanism — in traffic, at a fuel stop, at a border — where a P-only helmet leaves you outside its approval.

AIM, three shells, and the steel that holds the chin bar

Ageing is worth a sentence, because composites and thermoplastics age differently. A fibreglass laminate is far less affected by ultraviolet than a polymer shell — the resin matrix and the paint carry that load — but it is affected by impact history, including drops you dismissed. The five-year replacement guidance exists for the EPS and the resin, not for the paint.

Shell: AIM, three sizes, over multi-density EPS.

CNS-3C and QSV-2 — and the Neotec II trap

🔵 The generation trap, stated once more because it costs people money. The Neotec 3 takes the CNS-3C visor and the Pinlock EVO DKS301 lens. The Neotec II took the CNS-3 and a different lens. They look alike, they are not compatible, and the parts are frequently listed side by side.

Check the code on the screen you are replacing, or on the one in the helmet, before ordering.

Quiet by design, and what that costs in airflow

If you want one sentence on the character of this helmet, it is this: Shoei built a modular touring helmet around the assumption that you will spend hours at motorway speed, and optimised for what that does to your ears.

🔵 Everything else follows, including the compromise. Ventilation is adequate rather than abundant, and that is a deliberate choice rather than an oversight.

Noise Isolator, glasses, and talking to the helmet

Everything inside this helmet is designed to be serviced rather than endured. Centre pad, cheek pads with Noise Isolator, ear pads and chin strap cover all detach; all are washable; all are available separately and in more than one thickness. On a helmet at this price that is not a luxury — it is what makes a five-year ownership realistic.

The COMLINK interface for the SENA SRL3 sits behind the same removable interior.

Where it sits in Shoei's range

The Neotec 3 replaced the Neotec II, and the generational step is larger than the name suggests: a new visor system, a new sun visor, a redesigned chin-bar path and a shell tested under ECE 22.06 rather than 22.05. Parts do not carry over, which matters when you order spares.

Against the rest of the current range, it sits as the modular option between the GT-Air3 and the X-SPR PRO.

1750 grams, and the rest of the honest list

Nothing on this page is hidden in a footnote, so here is the summary in one place: 1750 g, ventilation traded for quietness, open chin bar limited to about 30 km/h, and an intermediate-oval fit that suits most heads but not all.

Against that: five SHARP stars, 93 % chin-bar retention, dual P/J, three shell sizes and a serviceable interior.

When something wears out

Before ordering anything for this helmet, check the generation. The Neotec 3 and the Neotec II share a name, a silhouette and a shelf, and almost none of their visor and lens parts interchange. The screen here is the CNS-3C and the anti-fog lens is the Pinlock EVO DKS301.

Interior parts — pads, ear pads, strap cover — are all model-specific too, and all stocked separately.

In the box

• Shoei Neotec 3 helmet — Fragments TC-10
• Pinlock® EVO DKS301 anti-fog lens
• Helmet bag
• Instruction manual and ECE approval documentation

Size guide

Specification

• Model — Shoei Neotec 3
• Part number — 12.07.116.2
• Colour — Fragments TC-10 — Fragments graphic, TC-10
• Homologation — ECE 22.06, dual P/J (protective and jet)
• Safety rating — SHARP 5 of 5 stars (tested February 2024, ECE 22.06); chin bar fully locked in 93 % of impacts
• Helmet type — Flip-up / modular
• Shell — AIM (Advanced Integrated Matrix) — fibreglass and organic fibres in resin; three shell sizes (XS–M / L / XL–XXL)
• Weight — 1750 g (size M)
• Sizes — XS to XXL (six sizes)
• Visor — CNS-3C, tool-free quick-change, central lock, gap-width detent, angled upper edge
• Anti-fog — Pinlock® EVO DKS301 supplied
• Sun visor — QSV-2, integrated, stepless, covers below the eyeline; optional yellow contrast version
• Impact liner — multi-density EPS assembled from elements of differing absorption
• Retention — micro-ratchet chin strap; stainless steel chin bar locking mechanism
• Ventilation — intakes into the airstream, branched internal network, removable insect filter in the lower front vent
• Interior — 3D centre pad, Noise Isolator 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 EPS recesses for the SENA SRL3 Mesh system
• Serviceability — visor, sun visor, all pads and the Pinlock lens available as separate parts

• 1x helmet
• 1x clear CNS-3C visor (pre-fitted)
• 1x Pinlock EVO anti-fog lens
• 1x set of spare pins
• 1x maintenance tool
• 1x breath guard