What 22.06 added over 22.05
ECE 22.06 is the current version of UN Regulation No. 22, the European homologation standard for motorcycle helmets. The headline change over 22.05 is that the test protocol stopped being purely linear. 22.06 added oblique-impact testing, which measures rotational energy transferred to the head in an angled strike — the kind of impact a rider is far more likely to have than a clean vertical drop. It also broadened the test matrix: more impact points on the shell, a wider range of impact speeds rather than a single one, and testing of accessories such as drop-down sun visors rather than the bare helmet alone.
That last point is worth holding on to, because it is the reason a 22.06 mark tells you more than a 22.05 mark about the helmet as you will actually wear it. It is also why a 22.06 helmet and a MIPS helmet are not the same kind of claim. MIPS is a design feature a maker fits; 22.06 is a result a testing body issued. Our MIPS guide works through that distinction properly.
The honest limit of this page
ECE is a European regulation, and none of it is required to sell a helmet in the United States. What is required here is DOT FMVSS 218, and DOT works on a completely different model: the manufacturer self-certifies to the federal standard and NHTSA buys helmets off the shelf and re-tests them. Nobody hands out a DOT certificate. So the practical reading of a helmet that carries both marks is this: the DOT mark is the legal one and the ECE 22.06 mark is the evidence that someone independently put that shell through a rotational test. One is the floor, the other is the extra.
And the version matters more than the mark. If you are choosing between a helmet that publishes “ECE 22.06” and one that publishes “DOT/ECE”, you are not choosing between a certified helmet and an uncertified one — you are choosing between a known test generation and an unknown one. The unknown one may well be 22.06. It may equally be a 22.05 homologation from 2018. A listing that does not say is not evidence either way, and we will not fill that gap with a guess.
Every ECE helmet in the registry, by what its maker publishes
This is the table we wanted to find and could not, so we built it. Read on 18 September 2026 from each entry’s recorded certification.
| Published certification | Helmets | What you know |
|---|
| DOT + ECE 22.06 | AGV K6 S, HJC RPHA 12, Shoei Neotec 3 (P/J), Bell MX-9 Adventure MIPS | Tested to the current protocol, oblique impact included |
| DOT + ECE 22.05 | HJC i90, ScorpionEXO GT930, Simpson Speed Bandit | Certified, to the previous generation of the test |
| DOT + “ECE”, no version | GMAX MD-01, TORC T27, KLIM Krios Pro, ScorpionEXO AT960, Fly Racing Trekker, ScorpionEXO T520, ScorpionEXO R1 Air, ILM B-711, Simpson Ghost Bandit, Simpson Mod Bandit | ECE homologation of an unstated generation |
Two things jump out of that table. The unversioned group is bigger than the other two put together, and it contains some genuinely good helmets — the KLIM Krios Pro is the top pick on our dual-sport ranking and the Simpsons are the whole of our Simpson page. This is not a list of bad helmets. It is a list of helmets whose maker has not told you which test they passed.
And every helmet on this page is also DOT-certified, because that is a legal requirement for US road sale rather than a selling point. If you see a helmet advertised as ECE-only, that is a helmet not built for this market.
A correction: the ScorpionEXO Covert 2
When this page was first published on 18 September 2026 it named the ScorpionEXO Covert 2as a fifth 22.06 helmet, unranked only because it had no buyable offer that day. On 20 September 2026 we re-read ScorpionEXO’s own US and Canadian product pages for the Covert 2, plus the RevZilla, Cycle Gear and Amazon listings, and every one of them publishes DOT FMVSS 218 only— no ECE rating of any version. We could not find a source for our earlier claim, so we have withdrawn it here and on every page that repeated it. The Covert 2 still holds a place on our open-face and cruiser rankings as a DOT helmet; it does not belong on this one.
Which of the four to buy
These four are not four versions of one helmet — they are four different helmets that happen to share a test result, which is precisely why a certification list is a starting point rather than a shortlist.
- Sport-touring, on road, one helmet for everything: the AGV K6 S. It is also the lightest helmet in the whole registry at a published 1,255 g, which is the single spec most riders feel at the end of a long day.
- The same idea for less money: the HJC RPHA 12. A composite shell and 22.06 at a mid-tier price is an unusual combination, and it is the reason this helmet is on our full-face ranking as well.
- You stop a lot, or you want a flip-front:the Shoei Neotec 3. Its ECE homologation is P/J, meaning it is approved both closed and open — a distinction that matters on a modular and that most flip-fronts do not carry. Our modular vs full-face guide covers what you give up by choosing one.
- Dirt in the middle of the day: the Bell MX-9 Adventure MIPS, which is the only helmet here that carries a rotational test result and a rotational design feature.
One last thing, and it outranks everything above: a 22.06 helmet in the wrong size protects you worse than a DOT-only helmet that fits. Work through sizing and head shape first, then use this page to break the tie.
