The Caberg Ghost iterates the “streetfighter” motorcycle helmet trend with a unique new design. The Ghost is available with a tri-composite shell or as the Ghost Carbon shown here. The Ghost Carbon in size XL weighs just 1188 grams, which makes it one of the lightest helmets we’ve ever reviewed.
What’s unique about it? The visor is spring-loaded and has a clever rotating mechanism. Pull it forward slightly and then rotate it up, like a flip-up helmet. The semi-soft vinyl “bug guard” along the bottom actually does a good job at blocking air and gnats. There’s a soft foam breath guard nose cushion along the bottom of the visor and it’s available in 3 different foam thicknesses for bespoke comfort.
The Ghost is a four-way helmet: with the visor and bug guard in place; with the bug guard removed; with or without the foam breath guard installed or if you’re really ambitious, with the visor completely removed. This is illustrated in our photos below and briefly in the video we included also.
The Ghost isn’t all about looking cool either. It feels about like a cross between a flip-up and and open-face helmet. The visor is similar to wearing goggles with an open face helmet, but without the pressure of the goggle strap and with the convenience of simply flipping the visor up and out of the way. There is a goggle strap holder at the lower rear, however, for Old Skoolers.
The Caberg Ghost is perfect for the times, what with the huge retro/custom/ café racer trend currently in vogue worldwide. It combines modern technology, design and safety with vaguely sinister, retro style.
See Also: Helmet Buyers Guide, Helmet Review Home and all Caberg Helmet Reviews.
Background
We have published many Caberg helmet reviews, but just to note that at this point, Caberg helmets are not imported to the U.S.A. That is unfortunate, but die-hard Caberg fans know it’s a fairly easy problem to overcome, what with the magic of the internet. The Ghost is a unique design and Caberg has added their typical design flourishes and expertise to what might be called the “streetfighter/retro” look.
There are a few helmets of this genre around and perhaps one of the first was the Shark Raw (review) of 2014.
That helmet really wasn’t successful because it had too many compromises that put style over substance (and practicality). The Ghost adds a sort of “automatic” feature to the visor problem on the streetfighter helmet type.
It’s spring-loaded and rotates out and up to move the visor out of the way, just like the rotating visor on a flip-up helmet.
While the vinyl “bug guard” covering the chin may not be to everyone’s liking, overall the Ghost design is actually very successful.
We’ve been riding with it over the past few weeks as the weather has turned cooler and only when the temperatures drop below 60 F or so (15 C) do the disadvantages of what is virtually an open-face helmet come into play.
The visor design on the Ghost is especially noteworthy.
To be honest, when we first looked at it, we didn’t hold out much hope that it would be anything other than a novelty.
Surprise! It works really well, completely blocking the (cold) air and the installed Pinlock anti-fog insert Caberg installs as standard equipment works really well.
But the biggest surprise — or make that two — is that the visor design somehow doesn’t crimp on outward visibility.
In fact, the Ghost has better outward visibility for the rider and sight lines than most full-face helmets.
The second surprise is that even big eyeglasses or sunglasses, like the Randolph Engineering Aviator sunglasses (review) with their oversized glass and straight temples, fit into and under the Ghost visor with no problems at all.
Shopping Now? We Recommend
webBikeWorld has worked closely with RevZilla over the years to provide our testers with products to review. In addition to being a great site to shop from, they’re also a great partner. Both Amazon and Revzilla have a big selection of helmets from the great helmet manufacturers.
The Caberg Ghost: Paint, Graphics and Overall Quality
The Caberg Ghost is available in a tri-composite (fiberglass/Kevlar/carbon fiber) version of the Ghost Carbon shown here.
Carbon fiber has come a long way as used in motorcycle helmets. Back around 10 years ago or so, the use of carbon fiber was a novelty and the construction methods could be a bit rough around the edges — literally.
The carbon fiber version of the Ghost is beautiful, however. It’s a simple design — basically an open-face “Jet” style helmet with a retro style, and that may help simplify construction.
The carbon fiber has depth and the seams are near perfect and the helmet has an overall solid but very lightweight structure.
The liner and even the moving parts for the clever rotating visor design are also nicely made, without what could have easily been a “cheap” feel.
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Fit, Internal Shape and Liner
The Ghost has two shell sizes to span the head size range.
The smaller shell fits the XS (53-54 cm) to L (59 cm) head sizes and the larger shell fits the XL (60 cm) and XXL (61 cm).
Our Ghost is a size XL and it fits pretty much to size. It has more of a “Neutral” internal shape than other full-face and flip-up Caberg helmets, which can tend towards the European “Slightly Narrow” internal profile.
This Ghost fits both Burn (narrower) and Rick (rounder) head shapes, although it’s probably one size too big for Burn, who usually wears a size large.
An open-face helmet design sometimes (usually) masks the internal shape profile.
That’s because the sides do flex a bit, so based on our single example, we’d say that the Ghost runs true to size and it should fit the vast majority of head shapes.
The removable “sanitized” liner is nice and comfortable with a quality appearance.
It has a sort of 3D printed effect that looks upscale and somehow adds to the comfort, making the helmet easier to slip on and off.
The bottom of the helmet is some type of faux leather that’s a pretty close approximation — although Caberg mentions the word “leather” but we’re not sure where or if it’s really used.
There are a few nice but subtle styling touches also, like the perforated leather-look chin strap covers and the real metal drain/vent holes at the back of the neck roll.
The Ghost just feels good to wear and the light weight of the Carbon version helps — it feels like you could wear this all day long and not even know it’s there.
More information on helmet fit can be found in the webBikeWorld Motorcycle Helmet FAQ page.
Also, there’s a chart that lists the helmet weights of webBikeWorld reviewed helmets and also by shape on the webBikeWorld Motorcycle Helmet Shapes page.
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Visor
The Ghost has a rotating visor, not a strap-type goggle system.
The visor is spring-loaded and has plastic “arms” that slide in a slot under the covers on the sides of the helmet.
Pull the visor forward slightly and it can be rotated up on to the helmet, much like the rotating front of a flip-up helmet.
The vinyl bug guard can be removed; it has vinyl posts along the top that match the holes in the bottom of the visor. The foam breath guard can also be removed.
Overall, we are pleasantly surprised at the amount of visibility provided by the visor.
Normally, something like this would block horizontal and vertical sight lines, but because the visor on the Ghost fits into the recess formed by the helmet shell, this isn’t the case and, in fact, the visibility is better than average.
Visor Removal
The Ghost really isn’t designed to be worn without the visor, but the visor can be removed and replaced with optional tinted visors and/or optional visors with different colored frames (photo below).
We briefly discuss this in the video below; it’s a bit complicated and you don’t want to lose the springs — this happened to us the first time we tried!
Once the narrow plastic cover is removed from the large side plate, two Phillips head screws are removed (Phillips 0 screwdriver only) and the cover can be removed.
The covers are marked L and R.
Internal Sun Visor
The Ghost does not have an internal sun visor.
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Ventilation and Air Flow
There’s not much to say about ventilation. The Ghost does not have vents through the shell, but as an open-face helmet, you get plenty of air flowing from underneath, even with the bug guard in place.
The bug guard does a pretty good job of blocking the wind over your mouth, but its vertical height is less than a standard chin bar, so air does flow in from underneath.
Since the weather is now cool, it’s not possible to know how the Ghost performs in the summer, but the helmet liner and the size and light weight of the helmet should result in similar performance to any open-face helmet design.
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Noise Levels
Here’s another surprise: the Ghost is actually surprisingly quiet. We anticipated a lot of noise entering through the seal around the visor, but this isn’t the case.
Possibly due to the lack of any vent holes through the shell, the Ghost is quieter than average.
There is some noise generated around the bottom, where air flow causes some noise around the bottom of the helmet when riding a motorcycle without a windscreen.
If you’re riding behind a big windscreen on a scooter or touring bike, the helmet is very quiet.
Note that our helmet evaluations are a combined effort of several riders over time on different types of motorcycles with and without windscreens. Evaluators wear correctly fitted, high quality ear plugs (even when evaluating motorcycle intercom systems).
Always protect your hearing when riding a motorcycle. See the wBW Earplug Reviews for more information on choosing and wearing earplugs. Note also that perceived noise levels will vary, depending on the individual.
Noise can be caused by many factors, including helmet fit, the type of motorcycle and windscreen, wind speed and direction and even the rider’s clothing.
For more information on helmet noise, visit the wBW Motorcycle Helmet Noise page.
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wBW Video: Caberg Ghost Helmet
Caberg Ghost Promotional Video (by Caberg)
Helmet Weight
The Ghost Carbon is one of the lightest motorcycle helmets of the 300+ we’ve reviewed. Even in size XL, this one weighs just 1188 grams (2 lbs. 9-7/8 oz.). That’s light!
Note that all of the helmets reviewed on webBikeWorld have been weighed and the weights are available on the wBW Motorcycle Helmet Weights page.
Also, please refer to the chart that lists the helmets by weight and shape on the wBW Motorcycle Helmet Shapes page.
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Miscellaneous
The Ghost has a “microlock” quick release chin strap retainer and the chin strap padding is comfortable and adequate. The Ghost meets the ECE 22.05 safety standard only and is not distributed in the U.S.A.
| webBikeWorld Opinionator: Caberg Ghost Carbon | |
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| Picks… | …and Pans |
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Conclusion
The Caberg Ghost could have easily become a novelty helmet with good looks but disappointing real-world performance. Surprise! It actually works really well and it’s one of the best “streetfighter/retro” helmets we’ve tried.
The ultra light weight of the Carbon version makes the Ghost a joy to wear; it’s like wearing a baseball cap instead of a helmet. One downside, however, is the price…
But overall, the Ghost would be the perfect helmet choice for rugged cruisers or custom café racer riders.
Buy the Caberg Ghost
webBikeWorld has worked closely with RevZilla over the years to provide our testers with products to review. In addition to being a great site to shop from, they’re also a great partner. Both Amazon and Revzilla have a big selection of helmets from the great helmet manufacturers.
Owner Comments and Feedback
See details on submitting comments.
From “S” (April 2017): “I’m currently wearing a Caberg Ghost Carbon helmet, and it’s easily the best helmet I’ve ever owned. It’s basically as light as the plain half helmet I own, with the benefits of a full face shield and a mouth guard.
Buying was as easy as finding an international seller online, and it arrived, from Italy in about 10 days.
Clearly, the Italian design shows through, and I enjoy using the ratchet strap as opposed to the old fashioned “D” rings. Thanks for the reviews and great information you provide at webBikeWorld.”