SCORPION EXO-391 BLACK FULL FACE HELMET

Most riders shopping in this price range expect to give something up: the certification, the visor system, or the interior. The EXO-391 is Scorpion's answer to that expectation. It passed ECE 22.06, the current European standard with rotational impact testing, while carrying the same Ellip-Tec visor mechanism and KwikWick C interior fabric that Scorpion puts in helmets costing twice as much. What you get in this black version is a clean, gloss mono-color shell that matches any bike without shouting about it.

The polycarbonate shell is injection molded in two outer shell sizes (XS to M and L to 2XL), so a small head gets a genuinely smaller helmet instead of a large shell padded down. Inside, a multi-density EPS liner absorbs impact energy differently across zones, and the cheek pads carry an Emergency Release System: in an accident, medics pull two tabs and the pads slide out, letting the helmet come off without twisting an injured neck. That's a feature that used to live only on race helmets.

For daily riding in Saudi Arabia, the details that matter most are the airflow and the interior. Three intake vents feed air through channels in the EPS, three exhaust ports pull hot air out the back, and the KwikWick C liner wicks sweat off your skin instead of soaking it up. The whole interior comes out for washing, which after a summer month of commuting is not a luxury.

What ECE 22.06 certification actually means

Every store selling this helmet writes ECE 22.06 in the spec list and moves on. Here is what the certification actually tested before this helmet was allowed to carry it. The shell is struck at low, medium, and high speeds rather than a single test speed, so it has to hold up across the range of real crashes. It also goes through the rotational impact test, which measures the brain-twisting forces of an angled crash that the old 22.05 standard never checked. The shell is tested at more points than the old standard, including the visor area, and the visor itself must stop a steel ball fired at 60 metres per second without shattering. Finally, the strap and buckle are tested so the helmet cannot roll off your head in a crash. Passing 22.06 at this price point is the whole story of the EXO-391, because plenty of more expensive helmets needed a redesign to meet the same standard.

The Ellip-Tec visor, and a compatibility detail nobody mentions

The Ellip-Tec ratchet system uses spring force to pull the visor back against the eye port gasket as it closes, sealing out wind and water, and it releases the visor without tools: cleaning it or switching to a tinted one is a ten second job. The clear visor is anti-scratch, blocks UV, and is prepared for a Pinlock MaxVision anti-fog insert.

Here is the detail that matters for the long run: the EXO-391 uses Scorpion's KDF-16-1 visor mechanism, the same one fitted to the EXO-1400, EXO-R1, and EXO-520. That means visors and replacement mechanism parts are shared across Scorpion's range and stay available for years. We stock the original Scorpion mechanism kit ourselves, so a worn ratchet years from now is a small part, not a new helmet.

Two honest notes most sellers skip: the Pinlock insert itself is not in the box, the visor is only prepared for it. And there is no internal drop-down sun visor on this model. For our sun, the practical setup is a tinted visor for daytime and the clear one for night, and both swap in seconds.

Built for heat: ventilation and interior

Three adjustable intake vents at the front, EPS air channels over the crown, and three exhaust ports at the back keep air moving whenever the bike is moving. In independent European road testing, ventilation is where the EXO-391 scored highest in its class, and that test was not even run in Gulf temperatures where airflow matters most.

The KwikWick C liner is anti-microbial, moisture-wicking, and fully removable for washing. The 3D-shaped cheek pads have channels that let glasses slide in without pressing your temples, there are speaker pockets ready for a Cardo or Sena intercom, and a chin curtain and breath deflector cut wind noise and visor fogging. The buckle is a micrometric quick release: one click closed, one lever open, easy with gloves on.

Weight, compared honestly

Independent testing put the EXO-391 at around 1,580 grams in size M, measured on a scale rather than copied from a brochure. For a polycarbonate full face helmet that is competitive and lighter than most budget lids: a typical thermoplastic full face sits closer to 1,650 grams, and budget full face helmets often run around 1,750 grams, so the EXO-391 comes in noticeably lighter than either.