Shoei JO Carburettor TC8 helmet in matt black with orange stripe

The Shoei JO is not your traditional, classic, open-face, jet helmet. Most of the helmets on the market are still very much based on the design of the original Bell from the 1950s. The JO is an updating of that original concept. In profile it has a more sloped shell that falls to a little upturned Kama tail at the neck. It has no poppers for a peak, but what it does have is a built-in, and adjustable, drop-down visor. The shell is the same Matrix composite fibre shell you find on many Shoei helmets. For a relatively low-profile fit, the shell comes in three sizes. The Bell may have more but, in terms of comfort and fit, there’s no comparison. But what makes the JO such a brilliant helmet is that retailers have the ability to fit three different sizes of cheek pad and three different sizes of headliner into every single size. A perfect fit can never be totally guaranteed, but no other open-face on the market offers such scope for custom fitting. You’ll find the full specification in the bullet points, but if you’re looking for the last word in open-face sophistication, the JO is pretty much it.

Read our Shoei J.O helmet review.