The Greatest Cafe Racer Helmets 2023

Let’s face it: sport bike using gear that makes you seem like a Energy Ranger simply doesn’t appear proper on a restaurant racer. In the course of the previous decade, using gear producers lastly figured this out—and began producing retro helmets to satisfy the demand.

Naturally, if you happen to trip a restaurant racer, these are the helmets that you’ll undoubtedly gravitate in the direction of—however not all retro helmets are created equal. In a bid to separate the wheat from the chaff, we’ve picked out our favorite new helmets to create this checklist of the Greatest Cafe Racer Bike Helmets in 2023.

What Is a Cafe Racer Helmet?

In our opinion, any motorbike helmet that the producer labels as ‘retro’ or ‘basic’ might fit your cafe’d trip. Some are based mostly on fashions straight out of a producer’s personal historical past books; whereas others lay declare to possessing the spirit of occasions passed by.

Fortunately, regardless of trying just like the mind bucket your grandfather as soon as wore, these helmets all make the most of the most recent in security know-how to maintain your melon secure. Getting the suitable look (most often) means sacrificing just a few of the options you’d discover by default on fashionable helmets. Nevertheless, what these helmets lack in options, they make up for in attractiveness.

After all, these helmets aren’t simply aimed on the cafe racer crowd. They’ll look nice on all method of customized bikes from Scramblers to Bobbers—and even the occasional chopper. They’re additionally the proper pairing for a restored basic. So, in case your motorbike falls into any of these classes, then these helmets are perfect for you too.

Cafe Racer Helmets Beneath $300 USD

“How a lot is your head value?” It’s an announcement thrown round by opinionated riders when requested how a lot one ought to spend on a helmet. Usually, worth is an effective indicator of high quality, however there are exceptions to the rule.

These low cost motorbike helmets supply distinctive worth with out scrimping on security or fashion. So if you happen to’re looking out for a retro motorbike helmet and your price range is proscribed to underneath $300 USD, it’s best to positively verify these out…

Bell Moto 3 Fasthouse

“NOT RETRO. ORIGINAL.” The Bell Moto 3 is among the few retro helmets available on the market with 60 years of historical past behind it. Based mostly instantly on the unique Moto-3 design, Bell has rejuvenated the MX styled helmet utilizing fashionable manufacturing strategies.

The up to date Moto 3 has been obtainable for nearly 4 years now, and in 2020 they teamed up with MX using gear model Fasthouse. The Bell Moto 3 Fasthouse contains a daring checkered design that’s been a staple of cafe racer fashion for many years.

The helmet shell is completed in matte black and features a daring crimson visor that may be eliminated as desired. Simply throw on a pair of using sun shades or goggles and also you’re prepared to tear.

• Options: DOT & ECE certification / tri-composite shell / moisture wicking liner / 3.09 lbs
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla, Amazon

Biltwell Lane Splitter

California’s Biltwell Inc. is a pioneer of the retro helmet motion. Their roots lie within the chopper and bobber scene, however their using gear will look proper at house in your cafe racer too.

The Lane Splitter is the most recent addition to Biltwell’s helmet providing. With its hard-edged, angular chin bar, the Lane Splitter appears to be like prefer it means enterprise, and its technical options again that up.

The Biltwell Lane Splitter is accessible in quite a few colorways for 2023, however all of them include that basic Seventies stig styling made widespread by riders like Rusty Butcher. In reality, there’s even a signature Rusty Butcher Lane Splitter helmet available on the market, that includes graphics impressed by the well-known hooligan racer.

• Options: DOT & ECE / ABS shell / hand-stitched detachable liner / fog-free visor / 3.45 lbs
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla, Amazon

Biltwell Gringo S Spectrum

Biltwell’s Gringo is considerably of a grandad within the retro helmet market. It’s been round longer than a lot of the motorbike helmets on this checklist. Nonetheless, quite a bit has modified because the Gringo was first launched, and the most recent replace got here with the addition of the S mannequin.

The Biltwell Gringo S options an ABS shell and EPS liner that earns it each DOT & ECE certification. The helmet’s hand-stitched lining makes use of a specifically designed Bio-foam to maintain nasties at bay, and there’s house inside for inserting your Bluetooth comms gear.

The Gringo S additionally comes with an built-in, interchangeable visor and a variety of colours to select from.

The most recent iteration of the Gringo S—the Biltwell Gringo S Spectrum—options graduated pinstripes on a gloss black shell. The look is harking back to the paint schemes seen on Harley gas tanks throughout their time underneath AMF possession.

Combining ‘70s F1-inspired geometry with this basic paint scheme makes the Gringo S Spectrum an inexpensive and undeniably cool retro motorbike helmet.

• Options: DOT & ECE / ABS shell / hand-stitched liner / built-in speaker pockets / 3.54 lbs
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla, Amazon

Cafe Racer Helmets Over $300 USD

You’ve been dwelling off immediate noodles and immediate espresso for months. Now it’s time to place your financial savings to good use and splash out on a top-of-the-line mind bucket. These are, in our opinion, the very best of the bunch when your price range for a restaurant racer helmet exceeds 300 bucks.

BSMC x Hedon Heroine Membership Racer Carbon Version

Our pals at Bike Shed London have their finger on the heart beat of the customized motorbike scene. A part of their enterprise mannequin includes promoting a spread of BSMC gear.

That additionally consists of merchandise they’ve developed with just a few respected using gear manufacturers. The Heroine Membership Racer Carbon helmet is their newest collaborative effort and was designed along side UK helmet firm Hedon.

The Heroine is Hedon’s full-face providing, and that is the primary carbon fibre model they’ve launched. With this in thoughts, it is sensible to have fun all that gorgeous carbon by exposing it underneath a deep shiny clear coat. Including to the premium look is a daring gold velocity stripe that wraps across the chin and tapers off behind the helmet.

To enhance the fashionable exterior of the helmet, the liner is a mixture of plush Merlin anti-bacterial materials and perforated black calf leather-based. Each the eye-port and base of the helmet are additionally completed with black leather-based trim.

A gold print on the prime of the inside celebrates BSMCs involvement within the design and provides a contact of sophistication to this restricted version helmet. The gold theme continues with a brass Hedon emblem on the brow, brass discs on the visors hinge, and a brass D-ring chinstrap.

Be warned: the BSMC Heroine Membership Racer Carbon is the costliest helmet within the Hedon vary, and the worth is just not for the faint-hearted.

• Options: carbon fibre building / unique design / premium end / 2.62lbs
• The place to Purchase: Hedon

Shoei Glamster

The Shoei Glamster is a newcomer to the cafe racer helmet market. This doesn’t make it any much less interesting than its rivals, however its tacky identify may (for some, anyway). Forming a part of the brand new Shoei neo-classic vary, the Glamster faucets into the corporate’s lengthy historical past of producing racing helmets.

The Glamster boasts a smooth, retro aesthetic, and options the very newest in Shoei’s AIM (Superior Built-in Matrix Plus) security tech. This equates to five layers of composite and natural fibres and a multi-density shock-absorbing liner. In consequence, the Shoei Glamster effortlessly passes worldwide security certifications.

Different distinctive options—akin to a quick-release chinstrap and emergency quick-release padding—add much more security to this providing.

Regardless of the Glamster helmet’s minimalist look, Shoei hasn’t scrimped on consolation options. Unobtrusive vents within the chin and brow channel air by way of the helmet and out the bottom. This removes the necessity for extra vents on the rear and retains the shell trying clear. The Glamster additionally comes with a multi-density liner that’s detachable and washable, and the helmet’s visor is 100% optically appropriate.

For 2020, the Shoei Glamster is available in 4 primary colourways (black/white/matte black/gray/blue) and three ‘Ressurection’ racing striped variants. Our choose of the bunch must be the understated Basalt Gray choice.

• Options: AIM shell design / ultra-compact design / pin-lock visor / tremendous mild building / 2.65 lbs
• The place to Purchase: Shoei

AGV X3000 In the past

AGV is one other model whose presence within the motorbike scene goes again effectively earlier than many people have been born. In the course of the Sixties, AGV was closely concerned in motorbike racing, and among the sports activities prime riders wore their gear. Amongst them was the legendary Italian highway racer, Giacomo Agostini.

With an astounding 122 Grand Prix wins, Agostini is usually thought of the best Grand Prix rider of all time. In recognition of Agostini’s legendary achievements, AGV has launched a particular version ‘In the past’ colourway of their retro-styled X3000 helmet.

The AGV X3000 In the past helmet has real Sixties Grand Prix styling. The design contains a extensive chin bar, massive viewport, and a easy profile. Attaining this look means scrimping in some areas akin to air flow, however that’s the fee one should pay to essentially nail this look.

Regardless of this, the AGV X3000 In the past nonetheless packs loads of fashionable advantages. The AGV X3000 In the past is each DOT and ECE licensed, due to its ACF (Superior Composite Fiber) fibreglass outer shell. It’s obtainable in 3 shell sizes for the suitable match and has a premium leather-based and suede washable inside.

• Options: 3 shell sizes / premium liner / 3.06 lbs
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla, Amazon

Bell Bullitt Circulate

Bell seems just a few occasions on this checklist, and it’s not too laborious to see why—the model is infamous for making high-quality motorbike helmets that exude retro appeal from each inch of their floor. However the Circulate variant of the exceptional Bell Bullitt (reviewed intimately by webBikeWorld right here) stands out even farther from the model’s different choices, due to a triple-stripe design that winds across the entrance of the face to offer off a distinctly Seventies–Nineteen Eighties vibe.

This helmet doesn’t skimp in relation to its construct high quality, both. It gives glorious chin safety, whereas additionally managing to offer a phenomenally extensive subject of view that may virtually make you neglect you’re sporting a full-face helmet if you happen to put the visor up and put on a pair of goggles as a substitute. However if you happen to are utilizing the visor, you’re in for a deal with: it’s fog, scratch, and UV-resistant.

• Options: EPS Safety / DOT and ECE authorized / built-in flip-up face defend / interchangeable cheek pads
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla, Amazon
• webBikeWorld evaluation: Bell Bullitt

AGV K6 Helmet

Whereas the AGV K6 might not be our first alternative on this checklist from a styling perspective, this helmet excels in all different areas.

Regardless of its fashionable look, AGV pitched its K6 helmet as being appropriate for any motorcyclist—from riders of contemporary sports activities bikes to those that love the classics. That is as a result of helmet’s aerodynamic properties, which have been designed to work in any using place. In consequence, the K6 lacks the laborious edges you’ll discover on sportbike helmets and finally ends up being a way more neutral-looking lid.

One other key function of the K6 is that it’s very light-weight, which interprets to improved, all-day using consolation. This has been achieved utilizing an outer shell design that’s constructed from carbon aramid fibres and minimal, light-weight {hardware}.

AGV additionally produces the helmet in 4 shell sizes that will help you get the very best match. A moisture-wicking liner combines with 6 vents to maintain you dry within the warmth, and the worth features a detachable breath guard for cooler days.

To again up the helmet’s robust exterior, AGV has developed a quintuple-density EPS liner that exceeds each ECE and DOT requirements. The AGV K6 is accessible in a sequence of primary colors, together with a really enticing primer gray—or, if you happen to’re on the lookout for one thing ostentatious, try the placing AGV K6 Secret colourway.

• Options: 4 shell sizes / featherweight building / 2.95lbs
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla
• webBikeWorld evaluation: AGV K6

Shoei EX-Zero EQUATION TC10

The Shoei EX Zero flew in underneath our radar round 12 months in the past with a considerably restricted international launch. The road-going MX-esque helmet joins the likes of the Bell Moto 3 and DMD Seventy 5 within the styling division however goes a step additional with extra options.

This racing stripe model of the EX-Zero is called the Equation TC10 and is well our choose of the bunch in relation to colors (sure, we like our racing stripes).

The EX-Zero makes use of Shoei’s tried and examined AIM shell and multi-density EPS liner combo for glorious ranges of safety. A set of aggressive-looking vents within the chin bar present extra airflow—though getting air received’t be a problem as there’s no visor.

Designed to be worn with both using glasses or goggles, the EX-Zero is best suited to hotter using circumstances. All this sounds very very similar to the Moto 3 providing, however the place the EX-Zero excels is within the addition of an built-in visor that drops down from inside the shell.

This implies if you happen to begin your trip throughout the day in tinted lenses, you’ll be able to swap them out when the solar goes down for the interior visor and nonetheless maintain your eyes secure from highway grime. Shoei additionally gives a tinted choice for the built-in visor if that’s extra your fashion.

• Options: built-in dropdown visor / Shoei security tech /  tremendous mild building / 2.75 lbs
• The place to Purchase: Shoei

Nexx X.G20

Nexx helmets must be on the must-check out checklist of each Cafe rider. Nexx is a Portuguese firm with a well-deserved repute for making top-shelf helmets and the X.G20 lineup is a superb instance.

Nexx elevates the three/4 helmet to a complete new stage with its gorgeous fusion of basic and fashionable vibes! For excellent safety and luxury, the multi-composite fiber shell is mixed with an extremely tender X-Mart Dry cloth liner. You’re assured to be within the shade due to an inside drop-down solar cowl. A helmet as distinctive as you might be is created by fusing conventional design components with up to date know-how and supplies.

• Options: retro fashionable / adjustable padding and detachable lining / 2.9 lbs
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla

Open-faced Cafe Racer Helmets

For those who’re the type of rider who enjoys the wind in your face and the style of bugs in your mouth, try these open-faced helmet choices. Relaxation assured, our alternatives received’t depart you trying like a bobblehead—and they’re all correctly security licensed.

Arai Traditional-V Groovy

One other helmet on this checklist with a considerably goofy identify is the Arai Traditional-V Groovy. At a contact underneath $600 USD, this open face helmet is among the many most costly on this class, making it a tough buy to swallow when you think about its lack of a chin bar.

Nevertheless, Arai is understood for creating a top quality product—and the Traditional-V definitely suits the invoice. The Traditional-V makes use of the identical shell design you’ll discover in Arai’s thousand-dollar X Sequence helmets.

Arai acknowledges the necessity for air flow in open-face helmet design, so the Traditional-V has a hidden air flow system inbuilt. A one-piece multi-density EPS liner absorbs laborious knocks, and it’s wrapped in an anti-microbial liner.

Aria gives prospects the choice of including a snap-on visor, and there’s a clasp on the again for holding the strap of your goggles in place. The Arai Traditional-V Groovy is available in Groovy White, Groovy Brown Frost, and Groovy Tan Frost. Every helmet is completed utilizing a retro-looking fake leather-based edge with contrasting stitching.

• Options: ventilated shell / Snell M2020 & DOT licensed / premium building / 2.10 lbs
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla, Amazon

Schuberth M1 Professional

The Schuberth M1 Professional is an undeniably fashionable helmet. It’s filled with wonderful tech and security options, however that didn’t deter us from including it to this retro-skewed lineup. Any open face helmet has an air of basic styling to it, and the M1 isn’t any exception.

Schuberth pulled out all of the stops when growing the M1 Professional. Using their very own in-house wind tunnel, they developed a singular shell form. They then mixed it with an aerodynamic face defend to maintain wind drag and buffeting to an absolute minimal.

On the within, in addition they put in a luxurious liner to push consolation ranges even larger. The M1 Professional additionally boasts pre-installed audio system and a microphone to combine with an optionally available Bluetooth SC1M unit that mounts instantly into the rear of the helmet.

Add to all that an built-in solar visor and a large alternative of colourways, and also you’ve bought your self one significantly feature-packed open confronted helmet.

• Options: built-in solar visor / built-in audio system / optimised aerodynamics
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla
• webBikeWorld evaluation: Schuberth M1 Professional

Bell Customized 500 Carbon RSD Checkmate

Sure, there’s a lot of Bell on this checklist—however we might hardly embrace the Bullitt within the full face helmet class after which snub the three/4 shell Customized 500 when it got here to open face choices. That’s as a result of Bell has completed its utmost to dominate the open face helmet market with the Customized 500 sequence.

It is a superbly easy helmet that doesn’t try and be something greater than it’s. The Customized 500 contains a smooth fibreglass shell backed up by a multi-density EPS liner.

Regardless of the inexpensive worth level, Bell hasn’t scrimped on supplies. The plush quilted liner is made out of an anti-bacterial materials and there are leather-based accents each inside and outside.

That brings us to this specific design: the Carbon RSD Checkmate. Boasting a vintage-inspired checkerboard sample on the shell, this helmet is begging to be paired with a set of goggles or one among Bell’s visor choices so you’ll be able to flip it into the quintessential cafe racer mind bucket.

• Options: suede inside liner / built-in 5 snap sample for aftermarket shields and visors / DOT licensed
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla, Amazon

Modular Retro Bike Helmets

Can’t resolve whether or not to purchase a full face or open face cafe racer helmet? These modular options supply the very best of each worlds in a totally retro styling bundle.

Simpson Mod Bandit

Simpson helmets are greatest recognized for being the producer of the helmet worn by High Gear’s Stig. Their helmets function a singular, angular and overtly aggressive fashion that’s certain to seize peoples consideration out on the road. Simpson additionally has an extended historical past in automotive racing, so you understand you’re shopping for a helmet that’s benefitted from years of monitor expertise.

The Simpson Mod Bandit helmet takes one among their hottest designs, the Simpson Bandit, and provides a number of latest options. Geared toward touring riders or those that like the choice of often liberating their face, the Simpson Mod Bandit capabilities as a modular helmet.

Because of this all the chin bar could be slipped as much as convert the helmet into an open face configuration. What’s most spectacular, although, is that Simpson has managed to do that in a design that shares the identical profile and dimensions because the non-modular various.

Moreover, the Simpson Mod Bandit comes with an built-in inside flip-down visor, inside pockets for comms gear, tool-free defend elimination, a great deal of free-flowing air flow, and detachable nostril and chin air dams for winter using.

Bell Broozer Skull

One in every of Bell’s newest modular helmets, the Broozer has confirmed to be an enormous hit. The styling is hard and distinctive, the graphics are daring, and the worth level is excellent. At a contact underneath $230, this can be a great-value, feature-filled design that would be the go-to helmet for riders of all kinds of customized bikes.

The twin-certified (DOT & ECE) Bell Broozer helmet contains a detachable chin bar reasonably than a flip-up design for a extra conventional open face look. This, after all, means you’ll have to stow the chin bar in a backpack, however that’s no deal-breaker for us.

The Broozer’s primary visor is built-in into the brow of the helmet. This provides the helmet a extra conventional look when it’s up, however when circumstances change, the visor drops down in seconds to maintain your eyes secure.

Constructed from polycarbonate ABS, the Broozer ideas the scales at a mere 2.97 lbs. Its visor is anti-fog, anti-scratch, and UV protected, and could be simply swapped out for a tinted choice. The liner is machine cleanable, and it makes use of a quick-release ratchet-style closure for improved comfort.

Color choices are restricted to totally different black finishes or one matte metallic gray choice. Our choose of the bunch could be the lightning bolt Broozer Arc or the skull-look Broozer Skull.

• Options: inexpensive worth / low weight / DOT & ECE rankings / 2.97 lbs
• The place to Purchase: RevZilla, Amazon

Uncommon Gems (Lesser-known Skid Lids)

These retro helmets aren’t as available because the others on this checklist, however that doesn’t make them any much less interesting. So if you happen to’re on the lookout for a helmet that’s as uncommon as hen’s enamel, however nonetheless appears to be like and capabilities because it ought to, one among these may very well be simply the ticket.

Peruna 2.0 Helmet Sundown Yellow

Roeg is a Dutch motorbike way of life attire and using gear model. Their merchandise are impressed by “the customized motorbike trade and different adventurous out of doors actions,” as they put it. Amongst their choices is the MX-inspired Roeg Peruna 2.0 helmet.

The styling twists distinguish the Roeg Peruna 2.0 from its MX-styled rivals. Contemplate the snap-fit visor on the helmet. As a substitute of utilizing opaque plastics like different manufacturers, Roeg has used clear plastic to create fashionable solar visor peaks in a wide range of shiny colours. The Peruna’s viewport and chin guard are formed in another way, and the helmet lacks vents, leaving the shell strikingly easy.

As for security, the Peruna 2.0 gives ECE R22.05 rated safety. Out there in just a few colorways, I’m loving this Sundown Yellow model.

• Options: Uncommon discover / clear silhouette  / daring & shiny colorways / ECE rated
• The place to Purchase: Roeg

Ruby Castel Shibuya

Premium French retro helmet model Ruby Helmets entered the scene again in 2007. On the time, they have been the good helmet model round. Together with taking a look that was in contrast to the rest obtainable again then, they have been constructed to the extent of high quality you’d count on from high-end vogue and automotive manufacturers.

This, after all, all got here at a worth—and if the shortage of a visor didn’t make your eyes water, reflecting on the fee absolutely would. Proudly owning any Ruby helmet requires a hefty funding, and also you received’t be seeing any change from $1000 USD for even their most cost-effective helmet.

Nevertheless, if you happen to’re keen to spend the cash, relaxation assured you’ll be using round in a premium helmet that’s not often seen within the wild.

Certain, the total face Ruby Castel helmet’s extravagant price ticket is partly on account of it being a premium model, however the end on these helmets won’t disappoint. From the metallic, resin-filled Ruby emblem on the forehead to the color matched fasteners, hand-sewn, quilted sheepskin liner, and jewel-like gildings, the Ruby Castel oozes high-end craftsmanship.

Each Ruby helmet can also be constructed from carbon-fibre and all of the paintwork is completed by hand.

The Ruby Castel Shibuya is a nod to Japan’s Rising Solar flag—and, greater than probably, to its many unimaginable motorbike producers. The hand-painted crimson and white stripes wrap boldly across the whole carbon fiber shell, giving it unmistakable presence.

Air flow comes by way of the extensive viewport and mesh crammed vents within the chin bar. To complete issues off, the Shibuya is lined with fashionable and opulent sheepskin leather-based.

DMD Rocket Golden

For those who’re trying to make an announcement out on the road, the DMD Rocket Golden helmet received’t allow you to down. The attention-catching design leverages a mixture of matt black and vibrant gold finishes that divide the shell clear in two. To prime it off, DMD’s Rocket helmet has the type of Seventies racer styling that’s all the fashion proper now.

The DMD Rocket Golden isn’t only a present pony. Beneath that slick paint scheme, you’ll discover a carbon kevlar shell that’s ECE authorized. The oval viewport is roofed by a retro clear visor that secures with interval look press studs. Peer inside and also you’ll discover a luxurious detachable/washable liner and a padded D-ring closure chin strap.

As with most helmets that purpose to authentically recreate classic kinds, the DMD Rocket Golden lacks the air flow you’ll discover in fashionable sports activities bike helmets. However let’s be sincere: feeling cool would be the final of your worries sporting a lid this groovy.

• Options: funky 70s fashion / carbon kevlar building / ECE & DOT licensed
• The place to Purchase: DMD

Blauer HT 80s

For those who haven’t heard of Blauer, that’s most likely since you’re not within the US army or police power. Blauer has been producing technical put on for these industries for years, however within the motorbike scene, they’re comparatively unknown.

This doesn’t imply they don’t produce a great product, although. Blauer applies the identical method to creating motorbike using gear as they do their tactical put on.

As hinted by its identify, the Blauer HT 80s takes styling cues from Nineteen Eighties racing helmets. The complete-face helmet contains a barely squared-off jaw, oval viewport, and a clasp secured visor, all of which distinguish it from different helmets on this checklist.

The Blauer HT 80s achieves an ECE security ranking, due to a Tri-composite shell made out of a mixture of Dyneema, Carbon, and Aramid Fibres. On the within, Blauer has additionally utilized various densities of EPS foam to supply optimum safety towards impacts.

Together with its distinctive form, what makes the Blauer HT 80s so interesting is the way it’s completed. Out there in both a white or metallic gray base shade, the helmet contains a trio of velocity stripes that basically drive house its 80s vibe.

Regardless of its superior look, this helmet’s button-down visor received’t be for everybody, as it may be a tad fiddly to function on the transfer. Don’t say we didn’t warn you.

• Options: radical 80s styling / tri-composite shell / 2.42 lbs
• The place to Purchase: Blauer USA