Shoei Hornet ADV Helmet Review

The Shoei Hornet ADV is the successor to the Shoei Hornet and accesses the Shoei's top-range duel sports adventure helmets. While it works as a high-quality full-face helmet on the road, it's also designed for those who like going off-road, leaving the streets behind.

What exactly is in a name? Shoei Hornet X2 Adventure Helmet, Shoei Hornet ADV Helmet, or simply Shoei Hornet Adventure - A rose by any other name would be just as well suited to the street or the trail.

Adventure riding is essentially limitless. The Shoei Hornet X2 Helmet provides the best balance of on- and off-road form and function for serious dual-sport enthusiasts.

The Hornet X2 is a one-off true all-road, an all-weather helmet designed to maintain peak performance without compromising the core values of long-distance touring.

Shoei's Hornet ADV is a long-running adventure helmet that shows the sort of class most riders expect from a top-line brand like Shoei.

It costs from 449 pounds 99 in plain colors to 539.99 for graphics like the sovereign color scheme.

Weight

It has a composite fibre shell with Shoei's advanced integrated matrix plus. That means the medium-sized helmet weighs in at 1560 grams, which is very respectable for this helmet.

Construction

The shell for the Hornet ADV comes in four sizes. First, the smallest covers extra small and small, then medium and large each have their shell before XL and double XL share the larger shell of all.

The hornet has vents at the chin with a rocking switch and a secondary vent on the top.

Ventilation

The vent on the top of the helmet isn't so immediately obvious in how it works. However, sliding the switch back reveals a hole through the shell to the interior.

Air is then drawn through the channel on the top of the peak and into the helmet. It can then escape through outlet vents at the back of the helmet.

In my opinion, venting isn't Hornet ADV's biggest strength. It's more the ventilation that suits a road touring helmet rather than someone doing lots of hustle-bustle and off-roading.

But if you want to use this helmet for off-roading, goggles will fit neatly inside the eye-port. Our riding team who have happily worn a Hornet ADV for off-roading.

The goggles will fit in when the fires are still in place, or it's just a little bit easier if you remove the visor first.

Visor

The visor, protected against missed by the top-grade pinlock Evo insert, is supplied in the box and is easier to remove than many other adventure helmets.

The visor is quick-release like most Shoei lids and can be removed without you having to take off the peak.

I find removing and refitting the visor easier with the peak slightly peeling away. It's really easy to do with this helmet.

A counter-clockwise twist of this mounting screw lets you lift the peak away for easier access to the visor underneath.

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It's really easy to do if you need to remove the peak completely. First, release the screws on both sides, then pop the top cover off.

Removing the cover will reveal the mounting inside. Next, push the section down, which will allow you to slide the peak forward and remove it completely.

The Hornet ADV isn't designed to run peakless or in what's known as street mode.

Theoretically, you could run this helmet without the peak, but the venting hole on the top would be exposed all the time, so it's less than ideal.

Aerodynamics

Street mode on other helmets helps eliminate any aerodynamic drag on the peak, making the ride noisier and less comfortable.

Thankfully, the Hornet ADV is pretty good aerodynamically. Even with the peak fitted, the louvers in the peak help ease any air pressure acting on it.

This helps stop the peak from acting like a sail pushing the helmet back, which you get on some adventure helmets.

Noise Levels

When I first rode in this helmet, I was coasting around at 60 miles per hour, and I thought this was the quietest smoothest helmet I'd ever worn of any kind, let alone the best adventure helmet.

But then, when I turned around and started riding into the wind rather than with the wind at my back, it was a bit noisier and more turbulent, but it was still good.

Upping that pace to motorway speeds made the peak wobble slightly in the wind.

I was riding THE Suzuki V-Strom 650XT for this review, but still, it was as calm and quiet as most adventure helmets and considerably better than some.

Interior

The interior is Shoei's 3d max dry liner. This one is more about moisture management, and some customer reviewers mentioned that it's not the smoothest liner.

Silky smooth touring linings are usually not so good at dealing with sweat, so a slightly coarser-looking liner like this can better cope with moisture.

The cheek pads on the helmet are an emergency release. It's the sort of feature you hope you'll never need, but it might make life easier for a paramedic if you ever need their services.

They hook onto the red-colored loops and pull the cheek pad out while you're still wearing the helmet, making it much easier for them to remove the lid.

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Alternative thicknesses of both cheek pad and skull pad are available to fine-tune the fit on this helmet, which is often the case with Shoei helmets.

Bluetooth

It's easy to remove the liner from this helmet, and there are also recesses behind the cheek pads where you can comfortably stow a pair of intercom speakers.

In standard trim, foam inserts are tucked into those recesses, making life quieter for people who aren't riding with intercoms.

You pull those little pads out, creating space for you to put the speakers in.

Safety

The strap fastener for the Hornet ADV is a double D-ring that is more in keeping with the off-road style of the helmet than a touring helmet.

The helmet comes with optional add-ons in the shape of a breath guard, which slots in on the top of the chin bar, and then there's also a chin curtain.

Both of those are supplied in the box with the helmet, so dig around for those If they're things you want to use.

Safety Ratings

The Hornet ADV meets ECE 2205 for road use and is approved by the ACU for competition and track use in the UK.

It's not rated by the UK government's quick scheme, which subjects lids to impact tests and awards a star rating based on the results.

As I've pointed out in other similar reviews, that's not a big surprise as, for some reason, sharp hasn't included a single-peaked helmet in the 488 lids it's tested.

It is also Snell 2015 and DOT approved for the US market.

In Conclusion

The SHOEI HORNET ADV is the perfect helmet for adventurous motorcycle riders. This lightweight helmet provides superior protection and comfort while remaining affordable.

Its advanced integrated matrix plus multi-fiber (AIM+) shell construction is smaller, lighter, more compact, and extremely aerodynamic.

This helmet also features four shell sizes, ensuring a custom fit. It also features an improved dual-layer multi-density EPS liner that provides variable densities of foam in key impact areas surrounding the head, providing enhanced impact absorption.

This helmet is equipped with a CNS-2 face shield system that is 3D injection-molded and offers a unique distortion-free view.

Innovative ribs on the top ridge of the shell improve rigidity when you open or close the helmet.

This helmet also features a QR-N base plate system that allows emergency personnel to quickly and efficiently remove cheek pads from an injured rider's head.

Additionally, its max-dry system II interior is three-dimensionally shaped to match the contours of the rider's head. This allows a comfortable fit while maintaining a firm hold for high-speed riding.