If you want the open-face experience and you want the best-certified way to get it, buy the HJC RPHA 91 - a flip-up carrying ECE 22.06 with P/J dual homologation, which means it was impact-tested with the chin bar both closed and open and is approved to be ridden either way. It is for the rider who likes air on their face in town but wants a chin bar on the highway. If what you actually want is a true 3/4 shell for classic style, the Bell Custom 500 is the one we would buy - and the rest of this page is about what that choice costs you.
We have not crash-tested any of these helmets and we do not run a lab. Certifications below come from the standards bodies and each maker's published homologation, and they describe the US-market build, which is frequently not the European one. Everything is cited at the foot of the page.
What "open face" means, and the three things it costs you
An open-face (or "jet" or 3/4) helmet covers the top, back and sides of your head and leaves your face and jaw exposed. Our helmet types explainer covers the whole format landscape; here is the part that matters when you are about to spend money. First, there is no chin bar, so your jaw, teeth and chin are unprotected in exactly the impact a full-face is designed around. Second, the testing picture is thinner: no open-face helmet carries Snell, and SHARP - the UK government scheme whose star ratings we cite all over this site - does not rate this class at all, so you cannot comparison-shop open-face helmets on independent impact data the way you can a full-face. Third, an open face is loud, and it leaves your eyes exposed to wind, grit and bugs unless you add a shield, a snap-on visor or glasses.
None of that makes an open face a bad choice. It makes it a choice you should make deliberately - for low-speed town riding, for heat, or because you genuinely prefer it - and not because a page like this one glossed over the trade. If any of those three costs bother you, the next section is the fix.
The P/J mark: an open face when you want one, a full face when you need one
Under the ECE standard a flip-up can be homologated three ways and they are not interchangeable. P (protective) means the helmet is approved only as a full-face, so the chin guard must stay down while you are moving. J (jet) means it is approved only as an open-face. P/J means it passed both, so the same helmet is simultaneously an approved full-face and an approved open-face and you can legitimately ride with the bar up or down. That mark is the single most useful thing on this page: it is how you get the open-face experience without permanently giving up a chin bar. Our modular safety guide goes deeper on the latch data behind it.
HJC RPHA 91 - the best-certified way to ride with your face open
This is the pick for most riders who want an open face. The RPHA 91 carries genuine ECE 22.06 with P/J homologation and an independent SHARP 4/5 score, in a PIM EVO composite shell at about 1,740 g, with a drop-down sun visor. Nothing else on this page combines a current standard, independent testing and approval to ride open. Who it is for: the commuter or tourer who wants air at the lights and a chin bar at 70 mph. The honest cons: it is a flip-up, so it is heavier and has more mechanism than a true 3/4, and it is not cheap - see the full RPHA 91 review.
LS2 Advant X - the lightest P/J we cover
If the weight of a flip-up is what puts you off, the Advant X answers it: DOT + ECE 22.06 with P/J homologation in a forged-carbon shell at about 1,550 g, with a drop-down sun visor and Cardo-ready comms channels. That is close to full-face weight with open-face approval. Who it is for: the rider who wants P/J but refuses to carry 1,800 g. The honest con is noise - it is louder than a premium touring modular, as the Advant X review says plainly.
Scorpion EXO-GT930 Transformer - the one that becomes a genuine open face
Every other flip-up here keeps the chin bar attached when you raise it. The GT930's chin bar comes off entirely, so the helmet converts into a real open-face with a drop-down sun visor, and its P/J homologation means that open configuration is a tested, approved one rather than an improvisation. Who it is for: the rider who wants one helmet to be a full-face on the highway and a true 3/4 around town. The honest cons: it is certified DOT + ECE 22.05, not the newer 22.06, so it lacks the rotational (oblique) impact test, and at roughly 1,890 g it is the heaviest helmet on this page. Full detail in the EXO-GT930 review.
Bell Custom 500 - the classic 3/4, honestly described
If you want the low-profile vintage silhouette, this is the one we would buy, and the reason is fit engineering rather than styling: Bell builds the Custom 500 in five shell and EPS liner sizes, where cheap open-faces stretch two shells across a whole size range and pad out the difference. It is DOT (FMVSS 218), with a stainless double-D ring and the industry-standard five-snap visor pattern. Who it is for: the cruiser or cafe rider who wants a genuinely well-made 3/4 and accepts the protection trade. The honest cons: ECE is not something we will assert on this model - retail listings disagree with each other and Bell does not publish a revision for the US unit, so check the label on the helmet you receive - and you get no chin bar, no shield in the box and no independent impact data, because none exists for this class.
So which one?
Want the open-face experience with the best certification available? The HJC RPHA 91. Want that, lighter? The LS2 Advant X. Want a helmet that is genuinely a full-face some days and a genuine 3/4 on others? The Scorpion EXO-GT930. Want the classic shape and nothing else? The Bell Custom 500. And whichever way you go, get the size right first with our head-measuring guide - fit is what makes any certification real.
What to check before you buy an open-face helmet
Eye protection is not optional. An open face with no shield leaves you at the mercy of grit, rain and insects at speed. Either buy a model with a face shield fitted, add a snap-on visor (the five-snap pattern on the Custom 500 is the standard), or commit to goggles or wrap-around glasses every ride. Decide this before you buy, not after your first highway mile.
Count the shells, not the sizes. A helmet offered in six sizes across two shells is mostly padding changes - the outer shell on a small head is the same object that sits on a large one. More shell and EPS sizes means the shell sits closer to your actual head, which is both more comfortable and, because the EPS is the part that manages an impact, better engineering. This is the main reason we rate the Custom 500 over cheaper 3/4 helmets.
Expect noise, and plan for it. Open-face helmets are the loudest class there is, and wind noise above about 40 mph is dominated by air rather than the engine. Earplugs are the single most effective fix - see how to make your helmet quieter - and they matter more here than in any other format.
If you are buying open-face for heat, read the alternative first. A P/J modular you are approved to ride open gives you most of the airflow with the option of a chin bar, and a well-vented full-face gives up less than riders expect. Our hot-weather helmet picks cover that route, and ventilation explained covers why vent design beats vent count.
