ECE 22.06 helmets: what the standard actually changes

ECE 22.06 has replaced 22.05 as the approval standard for motorcycle helmets. Helmets still approved to 22.05 sold through gradually, and the question comes back with every purchase: what does the new standard really change, and do you have to bin a perfectly sound helmet because it carries the old label?

Short answer: 22.06 is a genuine technical step forward, not an administrative rubber stamp — and no, a 22.05 helmet in good condition did not become unusable overnight. The UK remains party to the UN ECE agreement, so the same approval marks apply here as on the continent.

What 22.05 tested

The old standard essentially measured the shell's ability to absorb a direct impact, on a limited number of impact points, at a single test speed. It also checked retention (the chin strap must not let go), rigidity and field of vision.

That was consistent with how head injury was understood in the 2000s. Research has moved the goalposts since: a large share of serious brain injury does not come from the perpendicular blow but from rotational acceleration of the brain, caused by an oblique impact — the one that happens when the head scrapes along tarmac or catches an obstacle at an angle, which is the vast majority of real-world crashes.

What 22.06 adds

The main changes:

• The oblique impact test. The helmet is fired at an abrasive anvil at an angle, and the rotational accelerations passed to the headform are measured. This is the structural change.
• Many more impact points tested, including areas that were previously not covered, among them the lower rim of the shell.
• Several test speeds, including a low and a high one, where 22.05 worked to a single value. A helmet now has to perform across a range, not at one point.
• Accessories tested in their real configuration: internal sun visor deployed, comms systems, additional visors. A helmet sold with a drop-down sun visor is validated with that sun visor fitted.
• A specific test for flip-up helmets in both positions, closed and open, with a marking that says which position or positions the helmet is approved to ride in.
• Tighter production control: batch sampling off the production line is more frequent.

In practice a 22.06 helmet is on average slightly heavier and slightly more enveloping than its 22.05 equivalent, because absorbing rotation takes material — and sometimes a slip layer between the shell and the liner.

Reading the label in three seconds

The approval label is stitched onto the chin strap. Here is how it reads:

• An E in a circle followed by a number: the country that granted the approval (E1 Germany, E2 France, E3 Italy, E4 Netherlands, and so on). They are all equivalent.
• An approval number whose first two digits give the series: 06xxxx for 22.06, 05xxxx for 22.05. That is the only marker that matters.
• A letter for the type of use: P full chin bar protection, J open face with no protective chin bar, NP non-protective chin bar, P/J for a flip-up approved in both positions.
• A production serial number.

If the approval number starts with 06, the helmet meets the current standard. A helmet with no legible ECE label is not road approved, whatever its apparent quality.

Is a 22.05 helmet still usable?

Yes. Approval attaches to the moment the helmet was placed on the market, not to the moment you wear it. A helmet bought legally while 22.05 was in force remains compliant and can be worn. Wearing one is not, in itself, treated as an offence in your country — enforcement details do vary, so if you have any doubt, check what applies where you ride.

Worth knowing too: no periodic roadworthiness test covers your kit. The annual MOT, due once a bike is three years old, looks at the machine, not at what you have on your head. Nobody is going to flag the age of your helmet for you.

What does change is the buying logic: at equal money, there is no longer a reason to buy a clearance 22.05. The protection gap on oblique impacts is exactly where serious injury is decided.

The real question: the age of the helmet

Far more decisive than which generation of standard it meets. A helmet ages even without a crash:

• The expanded polystyrene liner compacts under heat, humidity and repeated wear. Its absorption capacity drops off progressively.
• The comfort padding compresses: a helmet that moves is a helmet that protects less, because energy no longer reaches the structure in the right place.
• The chin strap and its stitching fatigue.
• Adhesives and lacquers degrade under UV.

The accepted rule of thumb is five years of regular use, or seven years from the date of manufacture, moulded inside the shell or printed on a label. A helmet that has sat ten years in its box is not new for all that.

And the absolute rule: after an impact, the helmet gets replaced, even with no visible mark. The liner works by crushing; once crushed, it does not come back.

Looking after a helmet so it lasts its five years

• Wash the removable padding in warm water with mild soap, never in a machine at high temperature, and let it air dry.
• Clean the visor with clean water and a microfibre cloth, no alcohol- or ammonia-based products, which attack the anti-fog treatment.
• Never rest the helmet on a mirror or on the tank: the internal liner distorts and the lacquer marks.
• Store it in its bag, out of the light and away from petrol and solvent vapour, which attack polystyrene.
• Twice a year, check the visor mechanism screws for tightness and inspect the chin strap.

What to remember before you buy

1. Check that the approval number starts with 06.
2. On a flip-up, check the P/J marking if you intend to ride with the chin bar up.
3. Choose the size on head shape, not head circumference alone: a helmet should grip the cheeks with no pressure point on the forehead, and should not rotate when you shake your head.
4. Look at the date of manufacture, including on a discounted model.
5. Treat the price as a five-year budget, not as a one-off spend.