Welcome to the Top 10 Best Adventure Bike Helmets Guide of 2023. You’ll find info, features, pros, cons and links to the best adventure motorcycle helmets on the market as well as handy helmet buying advice.
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Adventure Bike Helmets
You know the drill… your helmet is the most important bit of protective motorcycle gear you can buy because your brain is priceless. So, picking the right helmet for the job, making sure it fits, is comfortable and safe are incredibly important.
We’ll explain the different types of lids you can go for, offer further reading, discuss adventure bike helmets and then get to our top ten. This article will be updated yearly to reflect the best helmets on the market. Let’s get to it!
The different types of motorcycle helmets
You don’t have to go for an adventure bike helmet, you can use whatever type of motorcycle helmet for adventure bike travelling you like. Popular options include road helmets, touring helmets, enduro helmets, open face and flip-front modular helmets.
If you’re interested in any of the above and want to know more about their pros and cons, then check out the helmet section in comprehensive guide Choosing your adventure bike riding gear – it also includes our top tips for buying a motorcycle helmet. And if you’re looking for a more road focused helmet, then take a look at our touring helmets guide too.
READ MORE:
Why adventure bike helmets?
But for this article, we’re specifically looking at the best adventure bike helmets on the market today. We’re concentrating on adventure motorcycle helmets because they’re an excellent blend of road and off-road helmets with wider view openings, peaks, more ventilation and extra features all geared towards dual-purpose riding. They’re the best of both worlds, perfect for long distance motorcycle travel and adventure riders. Here’s the 10 best adventure bike helmets on the market today.
The 10 Best Adventure Motorcycle Helmets of 2023
Klim Krios Karbon Adventure Helmet
The Klim Krios is a full face, peaked adventure helmet with a visor. It’s made from carbon fibre and Klim claim that the Krios is the lightest adventure helmet ever made. You can switch the Krios between street (remove the peak), adventure (use the peak and the visor) and off-road (leave the peak, remove the visor and use goggles instead).
- Under 1500g
- Large view opening
- Ventilation ports on the chin, forehead and back of helmet
- Design emphasis on making it quiet
- Includes pinlock insert and two visors (clear and tinted)
- Posh and removable interior liner
- Double D chin strap
- Super lightweight
- Removable peak
- Able to take goggles
- Good ventilation
- Wide opening
- Comfortable
- No internal sun visor
- Hi-Viz, Orange, Grey, Black, White, Red, Yellow, Carbon, Blue, Camo, Silver
Price: from £299 – £540 dependent on colour options
Shoei Hornet ADV Helmet
The Shoei Hornet comes with three vents (chin, forehead and rear exhausts). The visor and peak are both removable (although not as quickly removable as its competitors), however, the peak is not adjustable but still works brilliantly regardless. The helmet’s interior is plush and all day comfortable and the helmet sits on the lighter end of this list.
- Weighs 1610g
- Very wide visor opening
- Shoei Emergency Quick Release System (EQRS) system allows the cheek pads to be safely removed in case of a crash.
- Plush ineterior liner
- Double D ring fastner
- Goggle friendly
- Fixed but excellent peak
- Comfortable liner
- Small chin vent
- Must remove the peak to take the visor out
- No internal sun visor
- White, black, red white and blue, black and white
- £449 – £539 dependent on colour options
Arai Tour X4 Helmet
The Arai Tour X4 is the daddy of adventure bike helmets. It’s well known, has been around for a long time and hugely popular. The Tour X4 comes with a new, tougher outer shell, a five-year warranty and Arai premium quality.
The peak and visor are both removable (although time consuming and not as easy as the competition) and the X4 is goggle friendly. There are three vents in the chin, two for the forehead and two scoops on the top and exhausts at the rear.
- Weighs 1620g
- Double D lock
- Pinlock visor insert included
- Emergency tab to release the cheek pads
- Fully washable and removable
- Premium quality
- High level of comfort
- Very good ventilation
- Excellent fit with removable 5mm surface foam liners
- Probably the trickiest of the bunch to remove the visor and peak as it still requires screws.
- White, black, yellow, Africa Twin colours, blue, orange, red, UK, gun,
- £399-£579 dependent on colours
AGV AX-9 (replaced AGV AX-8) Helmet
The AGV AX-9, which replaced the AX-8 Dual Evo, is a carbon fibreglass lid with a super wide visor opening. It comes with a pin-lock anti-fog insert included and both the visor and peak can be removed. As with most of the helmets in this list, the AGV has a removable and washable interior. The AX-9, like the Klim Krios, is also an extremely light helmet and feels more like a motocross lid when compared to its competition. The chin bar is far more pronounced too allowing for way more air circulation.
- Weighs 1540g
- Grooves for glasses
- Bluetooth communication system grooves
- Double D strap
- Removable front chin vent
- Comfortable design and soft cheek pads
- Extra wide opening
- One of the lightest of the bunch
- Solid peak isn’t as aerodynamic as competition.
- The visor and peak are removed by undoing plastic screws with either a coin or flat head. This can wear way the screw head grooves away over time.
- No internal sun visor.
- Fluo, black and white, carbon, blue, white, blue white and red, orange,
- £332 – £439 based on colours
LS2 Pioneer Helmet
LS2 say that their Pioneer helmet was originally made for professional enduro and off-roading and this version is for road users. The visor can be removed and it is also goggle friendly with the visor left on if needed. The LS2 Pioneer comes with plenty of vents and exhausts but only the chinbar can be closed. Overall, the LS2 is a fantastic entry level adventure motorcycle helmet.
- Weighs 1300g
- Internal sun visor
- Ratchet chin strap
- Fully removable and washable liner
- Quick release cheek pads
- Internal sun visor
- Very affordable price tag
- Extremely light
- Not known to be a quiet helmet
- Non removable peak and only small adjustments
- Can only close chin vent so can get cold/ let water in
- Yellow, white, black, blue, white and black, orange
- £79 – £94 based on colour options
Bell MX-9 Adventure Helmet
The Bell MX-9 is an entry level adventure bike helmet that comes with a five-year warranty. The peak and visor are both removable, which makes for street, adventure or off-road use. It has what you’d expect: a moisture wicking, removable washable liner and chin, forehead and rear vents.
- Weighs 1450g
- Double D ring chin strap
- Fully removable and washable liner
- 3 shell sizes
- Can easily take goggles
- Very affordable price tag
- Five-year warranty
- Only two peak positions and not quick and easy to adjust
- Visor isn’t quick to remove either
- Noisey
- Can only close the chin vent
Yellow, black, white blue and yellow, red white and black, black and orange, red, grey, orange, blue and pink.
- £74 – £149 dependent on colour options
NEXX X.WED 2 Helmet
The X.WED helmet from Nexx is a mid-range adventure motorcycle helmet. It has a three-position upper vent, dual side intakes and a large chin intake. The Nexx is packed with features for a middle-weight lid. The peak and visor are removable and while the visor opening can take goggles, it’s not as wide a fit as some of the competition.
- Weighs 1500g
- Double D ring chin strap
- Internal sun visor
- Nexx X-COM comms system ready
- Action camera supports and straps
- Emergency straps to remove cheek pads
- Adjustable peak
- Action cam supports
- Quiet helmet
- Excellent ventilation
- Loads of features
- Emergency cheek pads
- Visor opening isn’t as wide as competition
- Vents are tricky to operate with a gloved hand
- Pinlock not included
- White, black, white and blue, blue and red, sand, titanium, desert, white and orange, white and red, black and red, grey, orange, fluo
- £284 – £379 dependent on colours
Schuberth E1 Helmet
The Schuberth E1 is the adventure version of the Schuberth C3 Pro road going helmet. Just like the C3, the E1 is a modular flip-front helmet. The front face is lifted using an easy to reach button under the front chin. It has an easily removable peak and sun visor and an internal sun visor. There’s a large chin vent, visor vent and vent on the top of the head but no rear exhaust ports. The visor opening is just about wide enough to take a pair of small goggles. The E1 sits further towards the touring than off-roading side of lids, but is still an excellent choice. If you’re interested in the E1, check out our Schuberth E1 45,000-mile review.
- Weighs 1803g
- Easily removable peak and visor
- Comms ready
- Flip front
- Sun visor
- Ratchet chin strap
- Quiet
- Easy to fit Schuberth comms system
- Easy to use flip-front
- Plush interior
- Heavy
- Lacks rear exhausts and can feel hot
- Hard to open top vent with peak
- Pricey
- Grey, white, yellow, black, red and white
- £341 – £499 dependent on colours
Nolan N70-2 X Helmet
The Nolan N70-2 is the latest addition to this list. We decided to add this new lid in because of its versatility. The chin bar can be completely removed to make it a jet helmet. You can also remove the peak and visor so it can be worn as an everyday helmet without the peak or as an off-road helmet with the peak and a pair of goggles. So, it can be worn in multiple configurations. It’s a stylish lid and comes in nine different colour options and is also prepared for Nolan’s N-com intercom system.
- Weighs 1723g
- Micrometric chin strap
- Internal drop down sun visor
- Fitted with pinlock visor
- Removable chin bar
- Removable chin bar, peak and visor make this an incredibly versatile helmet
- Prepared for Nolan’s intercom system
- Large vents
- Extra wide visor
The interior padding is only semi-removable
White and blue, white/blue/red, black and orange, white and black, blue, white/black/red, grey and yellow, black, grey
From £249-299 dependent on colour options
The Best Adventure Bike Helmet Winners
The Best Budget Adventure Motorcycle Helmet:
Bell MX-9
The Bell MX-9 is one of the cheapest helmets in this list, but it still packs a punch. It has a five-year warranty, removable peak and visor, moisture wicking material, removable and washable liner, decent vents and it comes in three shell sizes for a good fit. That’s very good value for money.
The Best Long Distance Motorcycle Helmet:
Schuberth E1
The Schuberth E1 takes the win here because it’s a brilliant modular helmet which takes its roots from the super comfortable C3 touring lid. The E1 is built ready for intercom and Bluetooth, has an internal visor, plush interior padding, very easy to remove and wash pinlock visor and can be worn easily in multiple configurations. When travelling long-distance and in foreign lands, a flip-up makes a world of difference too.
The Best Off-Road Focused Adventure Helmet:
Klim Krios
Made from carbon fibre, ultra light weight, packed with ventilation and specifically geared towards the more hard core adventure bike rider – no wonder the Klim Krios takes this win. The only thing letting this helmet down is the lack of an internal drop down sun visor, but to make up for it, it does come with both a clear and tinted visor.
Read more on Motorcycle Kit and Gear
Thanks for checking out our 10 Best Adventure Bike Helmet Guide Guide. We hope you enjoyed it! Here’s a few more articles on adventure bike kit that we recommend you read next.
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Let us know what you think of this Top 10 Adventure Bike Helmet Guide in the comments below. We’d love to hear from you if you ride with any of these helmets or reckon we’ve missed a great helmet.