Is there much difference between a scooter helmet compared to a motorcycle helmet? The basic answer is no. The goal is always to protect our head, but there is nothing wrong with showing off a little style.
I think there are a few characteristics that change when looking at a scooter helmet. Often the length of the ride is shorter on a scooter, which makes an extremely light helmet less important. Typically I would be riding a scooter in an urban environment, where the speeds are lower and less buffeting of air around the base of the helmet would occur. This means noise-reducing features are less important, allowing a broader selection of full-face helmets.
With those thoughts in mind, let me show you a list of 10 well-performing, good looking, and not-wallet-melting lids that will keep you safe and stylish while rolling on your scooter.
#10 Full Face Helmet for Scooter Riders: Bell Bullitt Flow
Via Revzilla.
Price: $419.95
Where to Buy: Revzilla
Bell is an iconic brand in the world of motorsports, and it would be easy for them to just create another retro-style helmet. The Bell Bullitt Flow is inspired by the classic Bell Star shape but in a modern lightweight fiberglass construction. The Bullitt offers a retro look with a full suite of modern fit and safety.
Fitting an intermediate oval head shape and offered in three shell sizes, the Bullitt is both DOT and ECE compliant. The anti-bacterial liner is soft and well-formed, stitched up to a genuine leather interior. Speaker pockets are integrated, as are mesh-protected air vents to help keep your head cool and dry.
The Bullitt has a great selection of colors, graphics, and visors to help you find your style.
#9 Full Face Helmet for Scooter Riders: Icon Variant Pro Construct
Via Revzilla.
Price: $325.00
Where to Buy: Revzilla
The Icon Variant Pro Construct is an aggressive-looking helmet formed from a combination of fiberglass, dyneema, and carbon fiber. The materials are hand laid and Icon leaves the finish raw to showcase the crafting.
The Variant Pro‘s signature visor system not only looks aggressive, but it also contributes to improved vision by helping block out bright sunlight while producing minimal lift characteristics. The five-piece sweat-wicking Hydradry™ liner provides a greater amount of fitment combinations for each unique head shape. Crown, later, fore, and aft padding components allow for a possibility of 27 combinations in a single shell.
Plenty of venting has been integrated into the wind tunnel refined shell, and the included clear shield provides excellent optics and a nice wide field of view. Icon has 6 optional visor choices for approximately $40 each.
Icon has 7 different Variant Pro options to choose from. I love the integrated peak on this helmet; it adds a unique styling element to take your scooter image up a level.
#8 Full Face Helmet for Scooter Riders: Shoei RF-SR
Via Revzilla.
Price: $479.99
Where to Buy: Revzilla
In the realm of premium powersports helmets, Shoei will always be included. The Shoei RF-SR is made with Shoei’s AIM+ (Advanced Integrated Matrix) technology. This is a blending of 6 layers of fiberglass and organic fibers that allow the helmet to be light and have excellent impact dispersion traits. This helmet is Snell M2015 certified and has hit the maximum 5 stars in the UK Shark testing.
The RF-SR will be a quiet helmet and the design is meant for upright riding styles, which is why it makes my recommended list for scooter riders. The venting and optics are first-rate, as are the liner materials which are removable for cleaning.
The outer shell comes in 4 different sizes, meaning that whatever size you require, the helmet will be optimally designed for that head size. Most manufacturers offer 2 or 3 shell sizes.
This is a traditional-looking full-face helmet with premium fit, finish, and materials, which offers the highest levels of protection.
The RF-SR is offered in 5 colors and Shoei has a wide range of optional visors to choose from.
#7 Full Face Helmet for Scooter Riders: Simpson Speed Bandit
Via Revzilla.
Price: $289.95
Where to Buy: Revzilla
The Simpson Speed Bandit is the perfect choice for the scooter owner wanting to channel their inner “Stig” from Top Gear. I did a riding review of this helmet during the summer of 2021, and in that review, I mentioned how well the Speed Bandits aerodynamics performed in an open-air lower speed setting, which is why I am adding this helmet to my list of recommended lids for scooter owners.
The styling from Simpson is instantly recognizable and has a fantastic aggressive form. The eye port is wide and provides excellent optics. The fit of this helmet is much more like a ½ or ¾ style helmet, due to the soft neck roll and open space of the chin bar. This all allows for excellent airflow, although it does not make for a quiet helmet.
The polycarbonate shell is well finished and comes in three colors, the liner is easy to remove and clean, and Simpson has many great visor choices that swap easily on the Speed Bandit. Both FMVSS 218 DOT approval and ECE 2205 certifications are met.
The Speed Bandit is a great choice for a scooter owner wanting aggressive looks, a quality brand name, and a great price point.
#6 Full Face Helmet for Scooter Riders: HJC i10
Via Revzilla.
Price: $149.99-159.99
Where to Buy: Revzilla
Replacing the popular CL-17 in the HJC lineup, the HJC i10 packs in a good list of features for a budget-priced helmet. This helmet is aimed at commuter riders and meets the latest Snell 2020 certifications. HJC keeps costs down with the polycarbonate shell, and by offering just 2 shell sizes that divide at the medium/large gap.
The i10 is an intermediate oval shape that should be comfortable on most people’s heads. It appears a great deal of effort went into improving the ventilation of the i10 over the CL-17. The air vents are wind tunnel designed and with chin, brow, forehead, and rear ports, there will be no issue staying comfortable inside this helmet.
The overall shape is well suited for upright scooter riding and noise levels are decently muted. The helmet is set up to accept a Bluetooth system, and HJC offers 2 different SmartHJC systems that were developed with Sena, who are well known for their motorcycle helmet intercom systems.
This helmet is an excellent choice that is simply made better with the sub $150 price point. Multiple color options and a few cool graphic options are available in the i10 series.
#5 Full Face Helmet for Scooter Riders: Scorpion EXO T520 Solid
Via Revzilla.
Price: $199.95-204.95
Where to Buy: Revzilla
This is a soon-to-be-released helmet from Scorpion. The new EXO T520 Solid is jam-packed with features and comes in at an aggressive price point. 3 standout features of the EXO T520 are the AirFit® inflation, EXO-COM BlueTooth® system compatibility, and the integrated SpeedView® Sun Visor.
The AirFit® inflation allows air pressure adjustment of the cheek pads, for improved comfort and to secure the fit. I have used this system and it is remarkably effective, ensuring that over time any settling of the liner materials won’t degrade the fit.
Scorpion has also put a great deal of effort into the design of their new EXO-Com BlueTooth® system. Connecting to a smartphone will be simple and straightforward, and Scorpion is offering the EXO T520 with the system preinstalled for an additional $175.
Finally, one feature that I consider a must-have in all my helmets is the integrated SpeedView® Sun Visor. Scorpions SpeedView® visors have excellent optics and dropping down the integrated sun visor is quick and easy with the slider near the left ear.
If you have not looked at Scorpion helmets before, they are well worth checking out. Well made and well priced, Scorpion will surprise you with a premium feel well above the price they charge.
#4 Full Face Helmet for Scooter Riders: Sedici Strada II Solid
Via Revzilla.
Price: $259.99
Where to Buy: Revzilla
What is this? You’ve never heard of Sedici motorcycle gear? Not a problem, Sedici is actually the private label house brand of Revzilla. House brands can be a hit or miss affair, but Revzilla is a company full of serious motorcycle and powersports enthusiasts, and they are not about to slap their name on junk.
The basics of the Strada II helmet are a fiberglass shell that runs a kevlar reinforcement down the top center of the lid. The outer shell comes in 3 sizes, and there are adjustable pads at the brow that allow for as much as 5mm of change. Finding the perfect fit should be quite simple.
Airflow is quite good through the dual-density EPS liner, thanks to the well-designed chin and forehead vents, plus the Strada II has plenty of passive air outlets to ensure your head stays dry and cool. A removable chin skirt is included, but this helmet is fairly quiet, and on a scooter, I would likely opt to leave it out.
Sedici has improved their visors, too. The optical quality is impressive, and the Stada II includes a drop-down internal sun visor, a feature I just love. The Strada II family of helmets is fairly extensive—the Solid comes in 5 colors, and there are also graphic options, a carbon option, and one with an included Bluetooth communication system.
This is a helmet that is designed by enthusiasts and is very budget-friendly—a choice that’s worth a look for scooter owners.
#3 Full Face Helmet for Scooter Riders: Icon Airform
Price: $225.00
Where to Buy: Revzilla.
Icon is brilliant when it comes to creative and awesome graphics on their helmets. The Airform Suicide King is resplendent in his red foil robes, blue curly locks, and cranium-slicing sword.
Of course, it takes more than just a cool look to make one of my lists, and the Airform lineup from Icon has the goods under that paint to be worthy of your $$$. Like most budget-priced lids this one is a polycarbonate shell with a decent EPS core well channeled for airflow.
It has some great features like an internal sun visor and well-placed speaker cutouts for the comm system. Icon makes me happy by including not only the smoked outer visor, which looks great with the graphic, but also the clear visor. Switching between the two is simple and requires zero tools.
The Airform lineup has a huge selection of badass graphics besides the Suicide King, all staying below the $250 threshold.
#2 Full Face Helmet for Scooter Riders: Nexx SX100 Mantik
Via Revzilla.
Price: $249.95
Where to Buy: Revzilla
Nexx motorcycle helmets come from Portugal and are aimed at budget-conscious riders. The SX100 Mantik is listed as one of their offerings for urban riders and has great features built-in.
The first area that sticks out to me here was is shell. Made from Thermoplastic (polycarbonate), the SX100 Mantik is light and aerodynamic, while holding up very well during the difficult UK Shark testing and scoring 3 out of 5 stars. It is also ECE/22-05, DOT FMVSS 218 certified, making it a very good choice just from a safety perspective.
Although the SX100 visually looks similar to many other helmets in its shape, there are some small but important differences. I notice the overall eye-opening; it is slightly larger than most helmets, making for a very wide visor. Nexx has provided an optically-correct Class 1 visor to give distortion-free vision, and it is pinlock ready.
The SX100 also includes a sun visor. Again, this visor is slightly larger than average, which I prefer, and it also has great optical qualities. One item to note: the slider for the visor is in a unique position, up high and back a bit on the left side. I’m sure it would not take long to get used to, but it is a unique spot; I wonder if it was an aero-driven choice.
Nexx mentions noise-reducing features a few times but initial rider feedback seems to be that this lid is just average in quietness. Nexx offers a couple of solid color choices and a couple of graphic choices, and all versions come ready to accept the X-COM – NEXX Intercom system.
#1 Full Face Helmet for Scooter Riders: Shark D-Skwal 2
Via Revzilla.
Price: $199.99-$209.99
Where to Buy: Revzilla
I have saved this offering from Shark helmets until my last suggestion. For the rider who truly wants to be seen, the Shark D-Skwal 2 has integrated LED lights. Positioned on the forehead, chin guard, and rear spoiler, the LED lights add additional visibility of the rider to those around you in traffic. They can also be set to blink like hazard lights should one need extra noticeability.
Like other helmets on this list, the D-Skwal 2 offers a built-in sun visor, but it has a very cool actuator that is part of the hinge system on the left side of the visor. Shark also makes it dead simple to remove and change the main visor. No tools are required; just one firm pull and the visor releases, and an equally easy push back will reattach the visor. Shark offers a good selection of tinted visors as accessories.
The D-Skwal 2 does have 2 inlets and 2 exhaust ports for airflow, but there is not much for channeling through the EPS core. I would not expect this helmet to have a huge amount of airflow—something to keep in mind if you ride your scooter in a warm climate most of the time. Speaker pockets are included for the easy addition of a communication system.
Overall the Shark is a unique choice if you like a sporty-looking lid.
Choosing Your Full Face Scooter Helmet
There is no getting around the fact that a helmet is a must-have piece of riding gear, regardless of the machine you have a leg over. I hope this list helps you find a style and price point that works for you. Each of these selections offers quality protection in a full face design and plenty of fitment and color options. Happy riding!
