Next-gen safety: Best kids’ motorbike helmets

A kids’ motorbike helmet should be the very first thing on your mind before you let your little one loose on a motorbike for the first time.

Most parents would put their children’s safety and protection before that of even their own. And when it comes to youngsters getting involved in bikes – either as a pillion or passenger on-road or as a rider off-road, top of any parent’s shopping list should be one of the range of protective kids’ motorbike helmets on offer.

With helmets, fit and security is vital – which is why getting a purpose-designed children’s, youth or junior helmet, rather than palming them off with an oversize adult version, is important – and there’s a bigger choice available than you might expect.

Typically, proper children’s motorcycle helmets will use smaller shells than comparable adult versions so that the correct amount of impact-absorbing material is used inside and the overall size is not too large or heavy and hence, put undue strain on young neck muscles.

We’ve looked at kids’ off-road helmets recently but here, we’re looking more at traditional road-style helmets for when they want to go out with mum or dad on the back, as a pillion. In this case, there is a number of ‘junior’ full-face types available, to make sure your little ones are fully protected.

Related: Top kids motorcycle boots

With all, ensure you get the correct size, ideally buy a reputable brand and make sure you get the safety features to the correct standard you (and junior) require. Also make sure that you look for ECE22.05 approval, indicating they are legal to use on British roads and are made to proper quality.

Here are some of our favourites.

About the author: After qualifying as a mechanical engineer, Jim Blackstock began working on magazines in the early 1990s. He remains passionate about product testing to ensure readers know what products offer good value and why. He relishes torrential rain to see if riding kit keeps water out and an hour or two to tinker on a project bike in his workshop.

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