it forces the foam pads closer to the
rider’s face. Like any other helmet,
the cheek pads and helmet liner are
completely removable and washable.
This helmet weighs in at 2 pounds,
14 ounces according to our scales. It
has three huge vent intakes above
the forehead and four exhaust ports
out back.
Although we like the shape and
liner feel of this helmet better, it’s not
perfect. The pump and front chin bar
are too close to our rider’s chin. You
can barely put a finger between our
rider’s lips and the pump itself. Also,
our rider complained that the goggles
tend to ride too far up on his face. The
only way you can position them cor-
rectly is if you put the goggle strap
down “goon-style” on the lower por-
tion of the helmet. Even after remov-
ing the nose/roost guard, we suffered
the same problem. In this test we tried
a set of Oakleys and a set of X Brand
goggles.
LS2 MX456
www.ls2helmets.us
On this helmet the designers put
The LS2 MX456 helmet has tight cheek pads to begin with. However, if the foam
flattens out, the air pump will bring them back closer to your face again.
LS2 helmets come complete with a
removable visor extension. It adds an
inch of sun or roost protection, and it
can easily be removed with two screws.
This is the small pump that fills the bladders that are integrated into the foam
cheek pads. Air can be adjusted or completely removed at the touch of a button.
the air bladder within the foam of the
two cheek pads. The pump is again
about half the size of a golf ball, but
in this case, it’s placed at the lower
left portion at the back of the helmet.
It does not interfere with your face or
neck. The cheek pads are still removable, thanks to a small coupling in
the air line. About 10 pumps gives
you full pressure. When the helmet
was new, the cheek pads were very
tight even without air. So, it took us a
few rides before we even wanted to
add air to them.
There are six intake air vents in the
helmet, two of which are closable,
but only two small exhaust vents are
found out back. What was a plus,
though, was that this helmet comes
with a bolt-on visor extension. This
feature gives you an extra inch of
sun glare or roost deflection if utilized. Two small Allen-head screws
make it easy to install or remove.
Goggle placement on this helmet
was perfect. No matter how many
different-shaped google frames we
used, they all fit well. This helmet
weighed slightly more at 3 pounds,
2 ounces. Primarily because of the
goggle issue on the Scorpion helmet,
we would choose the LS2 product
first. However, keep in mind your face
may sit differently in the Scorpion
helmet, so make sure to try on the
helmet before you buy or avoid buying one.
THOUGHTS
Helmet technology will continue to
evolve. They will continue to get more
comfortable and even safer in the
coming years. But more important,
there are helmets currently offered
today that look good and go with
whatever style you’re into. Wear one
every time you ride. Both pump systems work well. With each example,
we added about five pumps about 30
minutes into the ride, which kept the
helmet firmer on our heads. We do
wish the technology would evolve to
include bladder systems integrated
into the rest of the helmet as well. It’s
a good addition to helmet comfort. q
