Please note: sale to France is prohibited.

The Sharpen artwork in TC-5, Shoei's grey-based colour recipe. It is the version of this graphic for riders who want the pattern without the colour — structure and movement across the shell, executed entirely within a grey palette.

Five stars from SHARP — and the number behind them

Independent, publicly funded, and not for sale — the three facts that make SHARP worth reading. It is run by the UK Department for Transport, no manufacturer pays to be included, and helmets are purchased anonymously rather than provided.

Under that regime the Neotec 3 earned five stars out of five in February 2024 under ECE 22.06, which is as strong an external endorsement as a helmet can currently receive in Europe.

About the Sharpen TC-5 colourway

A graphic worked in a single colour family is a harder thing to design than a multi-colour one, and it behaves differently on the road. With no colour contrast to carry the pattern, the artwork has to rely on tonal steps alone — which means it resolves at conversation distance and reads as a textured surface from further away. That is exactly what some riders want from a premium touring helmet: something that rewards a closer look without announcing itself in a car park. The practical benefits follow the greys elsewhere in this range: road film sits close in tone, scratches scatter rather than forming a bright line, and the helmet pairs with almost any motorcycle rather than committing you to one colour scheme. It is the least attention-seeking of the four Sharpen colourways and, for a touring helmet, arguably the most sensible.

P and J, and what ECE 22.06 actually tests

If you have owned a modular helmet before 2024, the approval on this one is materially different from the one on that one. 22.05 tested five points at a single speed and measured deceleration only. 22.06 tests up to eighteen at multiple speeds and adds rotation.

The P/J pair works the same way it always did — full-face and jet, certified separately — but the underlying test behind both letters is considerably harder now.

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

The shell laminate and the liner underneath are engineered as one system, which is the point of the name. AIM provides a stiff outer skin that distributes the load; the multi-density EPS behind it converts that distributed load into crush. Neither works alone, and the ratings this helmet holds belong to the pair rather than to either part.

Both are built in three sizes covering XS to XXL.

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

The sun visor sits close enough to the eyes to cover the working part of the field of view, including below the eyeline, and retracts fully so it takes nothing away when stowed. That combination is harder to engineer than it sounds on a modular helmet, where the chin bar mechanism competes for the same space at the sides of the shell.

Outer screen: CNS-3C, quick-change, Pinlock EVO DKS301 included.

Quiet by design, and what that costs in airflow

Earplugs remain the cheapest upgrade in motorcycling, and they remain worth wearing in this helmet too. A quiet helmet reduces the level; it does not remove the exposure, and sustained motorway riding will still take hearing over decades. What the Neotec 3 does is lower the starting point substantially.

🔵 What it does not do is move much air. Ventilation is adequate rather than abundant, by design.

Noise Isolator, glasses, and talking to the helmet

Two pieces of the interior are worth buying spares of before you need them: cheek pads, because they take the most sweat and friction and are what loosens first, and the chin strap cover, because it sits against the jaw and is the part a beard works on hardest. Both are cheap next to a helmet.

Both, along with the centre pad, are removable and washable, and available in several thicknesses.

Where it sits in Shoei's range

Shoei prices by format and equipment rather than by shell grade, which is why the ladder below reads the way it does. The Neotec 3 occupies the modular slot at 669 euros for solid finishes and 769 for the graphics — a spread driven by paint process, not by anything structural.

Every colourway on this page is the same helmet underneath.

1750 grams, and the rest of the honest list

Long-term ownership has an honest note too. The five-year replacement guidance for a helmet is about the EPS and the resin rather than the paint, and it applies here as everywhere. A composite shell is less affected by ultraviolet than a polymer one, but it is affected by impact history — including drops you dismissed at the time.

Immediate limitations: 1750 g, ventilation traded for quiet, and an open chin bar that drags above about 30 km/h.

When something wears out

A helmet's interior absorbs sweat and hair oils, and those degrade the foam chemically rather than merely making it smell. Washing the pads twice a season measurably extends their life — and when they do finally pack down, they are a part rather than a reason to replace the helmet.

Centre pad, cheek pads, ear pads and strap cover are all separate items, in several thicknesses.

In the box

• Shoei Neotec 3 helmet — Sharpen TC-5
• Pinlock® EVO DKS301 anti-fog lens
• Helmet bag
• Instruction manual and ECE approval documentation

Size guide

Specification

• Model — Shoei Neotec 3
• Part number — 12.07.112.2
• Colour — Sharpen TC-5 — Sharpen graphic, TC-5
• 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