Icon Variant Pro Bug Chucker

Icon Variant Pro Helmet Product Description

The Icon Variant Pro Adventure Helmet is the new successor to the previous Icon Variant helmet. This is, clearly, designed as an adventure helmet with the distinctive peak at the top and the large visor aperture for goggles.

Though it does come with less frills than some of the upper market adventure helmets like the Arai Tour X-4, it is still a solid entry for the mid-market segment. It is coming in a fiberglass carbon fiber composite outer shell for a light weight and it also comes with many vents for when you need it.

So, with a recommended retail price of about 370 Euros or 440 USD, the Variant Pro will be competing with the Scorpion ADX-1, Schuberth E1, Klim Krios Pro, Shoei Hornet ADV, AGV AX-9, and Arai Tour X-4 at the upper end.

Material

For material, the Icon Variant Pro Motorcycle Helmet is constructed out of a Dyneema, fiberglass, and carbon fiber composite shell to create a strong and lightweight helmet. Dyneema is a tough performance fabric with similar properties to Kevlar. When we weighed the Variant Pro it came in at about 1630 grams or 3lbs and 9oz. This is on the heavier side and closer to where we weighed in the Arai Tour X-4.

Nonetheless, the dual sport helmet comes in 3 outer shell sizes, which will improve fit, comfort, and safety. The helmet’s world standard meets DOT FMVSS 218 US and ECE 22-05 Europe standards and ships with both stickers. Though it does meet the Japanese PSC standard there are no certification stickers unless purchased from an authorized dealer in that country.

Ventilation

Since the Icon VariantPro is an adventure helmet, ventilation is going to be incredibly important. That’s why there are 6 always open metal grille covered air vents in the chin and three more adjustable vents in the brow.

Under the peak, there is one central adjustable vent, and you then get two more on either side of the forehead that can be opened in 3 positions. This hot air will then escape out two exhaust ports underneath the spoiler.

Visor

The visor of the Icon Variant Pro Helmet is anti-fog treated and is not Pinlock prepared. Though Pinlock usually does the best as far as anti-fogging, the visor will still offer a great field of view, which is to be expected with most other adventure style helmets. If you do want to get the best in terms of fog prevention, you Icon do also offer Pinlock prepared visors separately. To remove the fog free visor, you first need to remove the peak.

To do that, you just push on the button at the top to release the peak, and then you rotate it forward gently until the side panels pop out.

With the peak off, you can remove the visor by opening it into the fully upright position. Then, you just apply a bit of pressure on either side to pop the visor off. When doing this, you need to make sure you’re applying the pressure from the bottom where the track with the detentes is.

While this does make it a bit easier as far as removing the visor without any tools, this does come with the drawback that you can’t ride without the peak mounted since otherwise your visor can pop off, so the versatility of the helmet won’t quite match that of the more premium adventure helmets out there.

Interior

For the interior of the helmet, Icon have also added the same level of luxury as with the Icon Airframe Pro, their top sport helmet. So, that means you’re getting a removable chin curtain in addition to a 5-piece sweat wicking Hydradry liner that is removable and washable. What’s unique about this liner, is that it comes with crown lateral fore and aft padding components in addition to a crown pad and two cheek pads. This means you get 27 different combinations in a single shell.

To remove the interior, you first have the cheek pads on either side. And you remove them with 3 buttons and a bit of Velcro. You then do the same with the cheek pad on the other side and you come to the helmet’s double-D ring chin strap.

For the rest of the liner, you have the three crown pieces. The ones on the sides are attached with a button at each end while the central piece uses inserts in the forehead and two buttons at the back.

With the liner out, there are speaker pockets for your choice of communication system and there are a fair number of EPS groove, and holes and the brow vents actually vent directly into the helmet. This strategy did work for the Icon helmet since when we took it out on our Road Test, it showed a strong ventilation performance and it has also been wind tunnel tested.

Summary

The Icon Variant Pro helmet is going to be more focused on riders who are looking to bring a bit more adventure to their rides without breaking the bank. And though the face shield system could use some improvement, you are still getting a clever design with plenty of adjustability inside.

If you want to learn more about the Variant Pro helmet, then don’t forget to check out and subscribe to our YouTube channel where we have our Icon Variant Pro Review and Road Test Video where we’ve taken the helmet out, measured its performance, and brought you the facts.