Cheap and "Chinese" motorcycle helmets: LS2, MT, and what the tests really say

"Chinese helmet" has become a car-park insult. Yet it's a category that means very little: most helmets sold in Europe and the UK under £150 come out of Asian factories, including those sold under Italian, Spanish or French brands. The real dividing line lies elsewhere, between a helmet that's approved, checked and possibly tested by an independent body, and a helmet-shaped object bought on an online marketplace.

As with motorcycles (we did the same work in our feature on who makes what among Chinese motorcycle brands), let's start by finding out who makes them.

Who makes what: the real map

Two lessons. First, LS2 isn't an importer sticking on a label: it's a manufacturer making its own helmets at scale, in volumes counted in millions of units a year. Second, the "European / Chinese" line runs right through a single brand's range: the country of manufacture is printed on the inside label, and on its own it tells you nothing about protection.

What ECE 22.06 approval guarantees

A new helmet sold in Europe must be approved to ECE 22.06, wherever it was moulded. In the UK, helmets worn on the road must meet ECE 22.05 or 22.06, or BS 6658:1985 with the Kitemark. In practice:

• a designated laboratory in a signatory country has tested samples of the model (linear impact at several speeds and at many points, oblique impact for rotation, strength of the chin strap and visor, field of vision);
• the manufacturer must demonstrate conformity of production: helmets are taken from the line and retested, to check that those leaving the factory match the one that was approved;
• the label sewn onto the chin strap carries an E followed by the number of the approving country, an approval number starting with 06, and a serial number.

22.06 isn't a formality, which is why an approved cheap helmet genuinely protects. The tests are detailed in our article on the ECE 22.06 standard. What it doesn't do is rank. An approved helmet clears the threshold, full stop.

What SHARP tests say about entry-level helmets

The Department for Transport's SHARP scheme buys helmets from ordinary retailers and rates them from 1 to 5 stars. Its database holds nearly 600 helmets rated since 2007. Cross-referencing the ratings with the UK RRP at the time of the test shows two things.

Historically, entry level was more uneven. Across the whole database, helmets at £100 or less average 3.25 stars, and 40 of 175 have only one or two stars. Above £400, the average rises to 4.16 and only one helmet in 49 falls to two stars.

With 22.06, the gap has narrowed. Among helmets listed as 22.06 versions, those at £100 or less average around 3.9 stars, and only one is rated below three stars (a one-star Frank Thomas modular whose chin bar stays latched in only 13% of impacts). Two score five stars: the MT Stinger 2 (£59 at test) and the MT Braker SV (£99).

And LS2 specifically?

Older LS2 helmets approved to 22.05 had mixed results: the FF351 at one star, the FF353 Rapid and FF390 Breaker at two stars, others such as the FF320 Stream Evo, FF366 or FF350 at four. The 22.06-generation LS2 helmets rated by SHARP all have four stars:

An honest reading: current LS2 full-faces are good helmets for their price, without reaching the five stars of their direct rivals from MT or Airoh. The modulars are the weak point, with a chin bar that unlatches too often on impact. If you want a modular for around £130, the MT Atom 2 (4 stars, 83% latched, £129 at test) does clearly better than a Strobe 2.

The real danger: online marketplaces

An approved helmet bought from an established retailer isn't the problem. The problem is the £20-35 helmet sold by a third-party seller on a marketplace and shipped from abroad.

What you find there:

• helmets with no approval, or with a made-up label. In 2023, the Spanish retailer Motocard bought, for €97 on AliExpress, a copy of an AGV Pista GP RR (a helmet sold for over €1,500), branded "Rod Boll", with an "ECER 220.5" label that doesn't exist. Its shell crushed by hand;
• fakes of well-known brands, with copied logos and graphics but not the shell or the polystyrene liner;
• helmets approved to another standard (US DOT, Chinese CCC) that don't count as ECE approval in Europe or the UK.

France's consumer-protection authority (DGCCRF) has checked the helmet market several times. In its survey published in 2016, 22% of the helmets analysed in the laboratory were non-compliant and dangerous. More broadly, its marketplace checks show much higher non-compliance rates than in traditional retail.

The anti-trap checklist

Before buying a cheap helmet, check in this order:

1. The ECE 22.06 label: an E in a circle followed by a number, an approval number starting with 06, sewn onto the chin strap (not a sticker on the shell). Ask the seller for a photo if you're buying online.
2. The seller: an established motorcycle dealer or the manufacturer's site, not an unknown third-party seller shipping from abroad.
3. The price: a branded model at less than half its usual price is almost always a fake or old 22.05 stock.
4. The SHARP rating if the model has been tested: on sharp.dft.gov.uk, look up the exact version.
5. The chin strap: double-D or a good-quality micrometric buckle that doesn't slip when you pull hard.
6. The weight: a helmet abnormally light for its price (under a kilo for a polycarbonate full-face) should make you suspicious.

What you really get by spending more

If an approved, well-rated £100 helmet protects, why pay more? For comfort over time: less weight, less noise, shell sizes for each helmet size, ventilation that works, padding that doesn't compress within a year, a Pinlock in the box. Those are valid reasons. But they're comfort reasons, not survival ones. Our comparison by budget and our SHARP 5-star ranking start from there.

And if you ride a Chinese motorcycle, the logic is the same as for the helmet: look at what you can check (warranty, dealer network, parts) rather than the origin label. That's the subject of our guide to servicing and dealer networks for Chinese motorcycles.

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A question about your kit or your bike, or unsure about an approval label? Ask the assistant.