If you're a motorcycle racing fan who also rides motorcycles, then I'm sure you've seen plenty of cool race replica helmet graphics in your time. Marquez? You want Marc or Alex, because you can easily find both. How about Quartararo? Him, too. Acosta, Martin, Miller, Biaggi, Haga ... the list of available replicas, new and old, just goes on. And do we even need to start on Rossi? I don't think you or I really have that kind of time, frankly.
But one thing I've heard in person from some riders recently is that modern helmet graphics that racers choose are too busy. Now, that's entirely a matter of opinion, and it's not one that I happen to share. Like most things design- and art-related, it's totally subjective!
That said, if you're the kind of person who appreciates a super clean colorblock design instead, or you're just a mega Eddie Lawson fan, then you'll want to see the super cool design that Shoei is about to put in its extremely ultramodern X-15 (or X-Fifteen, depending on what geographic helmet market you're in).
I'm familiar with Lawson because I care about racing (and racing history), but he's not a racing hero I grew up with, as I didn't start watching until well after he'd retired. But like a lot of graphic design from that era, there's something about it that's undeniable. I've never been a smoker, but some of those tobacco-based liveries (including his Marlboro-based one) were very, very good. (Don't even get me started on Subaru's 555 SWRT livery, which was absolutely glorious.)
So I think there are two levels of appreciation that are super easy to have for this design, both just as a good design, and also because of the racer and career it represents. The fact that it's now gracing a helmet with modern safety standard compliance (FIM homologation, even!) is just a bonus.
Now for the bad news: So far, Shoei has only announced it for the Japanese market, where it'll be available in April 2026. If you're in Japan, the asking price will be ¥ 103,400, which currently works out to about US $679 at the time of writing. Considering that X-15s retail for closer to $1K in the US market, fans in Japan will be getting a pretty amazing deal here!
