AGV GP-Tech

AGV GP-TECH

Mileage: 0

Picked up new AGV GP-TECH from Scott Murray Motorcycles and left my beloved Shoei XR-1000 behind. After trying on all the AGV helmet’s in the shop I was a bit worried that this wouldn’t fit. However upon trying it on it felt great. The problem with the other AGV helmets was the forehead area. I had a Shark S800 when I first started riding and I assumed that the tightness around the forehead was down to the helmet being new and that it would “bed in.” After 4 months of sore heads, it seemed unlikely that there was much more bedding in to do, so bought the Shoei. Therefore when I tried on the AGV’s and the forehead was tight, it was a straight no-way-jose. The GP-TECH is a different story. The forehead feels snug yet roomy, soft yet clamped. It’s a bizarre sensation and one that I felt to some extent with the Shoei when I first got it. The AGV takes it one stage further and offers a brilliantly secure yet all day comfort level far superious to the XR-1000.

After breathing a sigh of relief, I then noticed how clamped my face felt. The Shoei was the only helmet to fit my odd head before the GP-TECH, and even though I love my Shoei, the helmet was still able to be shook side to side. I wanted to get new cheek pads but didn’t get round to it. The cheeks in the AGV make my face bunch up and it is amazing how secure the helmet feels. It’s not a bad clamping, far from it, as it makes the helmet rock solid on my head. I think the overall feeling of this helmet is that of security. The blend of top level materials that furnish the interior of the helmet makes an instant impression. Luxury and comfort are top of the tree with this helmet.

Upon investigation in to the blurb that came with the helmet, I noticed that AGV have used a barrage of cutting edge materials in this lid. I’ll start from the outside and compare where relevant to my tried and tested Shoei XR-1000.

The shell is a “SSL (Super-Super-Light) Karbon Kevlar construction.” I don’t care what you say, that’s pretty cool. It doesn’t feel that light to be honest, and until I get my Shoei back from SM I won’t really be able to say if it’s lighter than the Shoei, but weighing it against my brothers Schuberth and the girl’s K-Series/AirTech AGV’s, it didn’t feel light at all. Once on the head though the sensation of weight doesn’t really matter. The fact that both Kevlar and Karbon are used in the shell gives me nothing but reassurance. I know both are mega tough and I can’t imagine anything better to protect my head. The Shoei was an “Organic Fibreglass” which they make boat hulls from I think? The AGV shell is elongated at the chin, which is a godsend. The Shoei fitted me like a glove, but my chin rested up against the inside of the chin bar. It was irritating as I couldn’t close my mouth, but the fact that it was so comfy over-ruled the chin situation. The AGV has a longer chin, so my chin can’t touch the chin bar even if I stick it out as far as I can push it. It’s another reason why the GP-TECH fits me so well.

The visor on the AGV is a visor…..It has a mist retardant layer on it which I have to say works like magic. When I had the Shark I had to go along with the visor open to de-mist myself. When I got the Shoei it came with a Pinlock, and from then on I swore by the Pinlock inserts. So to get an AGV who don’t support Pinlock, I was a bit apprehensive, but after a mammoth downpour the visor remained crystal clear with not even a hint of mist. I think that is also down to the breathtaking! ventilation, but I’ll get on to that in a jiff. The visor has tear off posts, which are not really useful on the road apart from bugs, and I can imagine feeling really guilty tearing off a bit of plastic and letting it go in the middle of the road. They look smart though… There is one thing that I don’t like about the visor and that the mechanism is really…what’s the word…clunky. On the Shoei there is obvious ratchet points and the last point has a little resistance, so should you want to keep it “just” open, you can. With the AGV there is little resistance and it snaps shut with a low-tech feel to it. It has also blown shut a few times which startled me a bit. Once shut though it allows the ventilation to come in to play and boy-oh-boy is it something else.

One of the main reasons I liked the Shoei was the un-interrupted supply of air coming up through the chin gap. I remember trying on my brother’s Schuberth S1, which is like stuffing your head in to a soft fish bowl and there was not that much air coming in. Don’t get me wrong, you could hear a pin drop inside that helmet at motorway speeds, but it felt just a little too claustrophobic. Now take the security of the AGV, add in the chapel quietness of the Shuberth and throw in the ventilation of the Shoei and you have what the GP-TECH delivers. The fresh air however doesn’t come up through the chin, as there is a chin cover. It’s coming through the vents, and it’s truly amazing. I have never, in the 29,000 miles I have covered, had a face as fresh as I did with the AGV on. It was a wake up call. It’s raining, but muggy. So what, close the visor and there is instant fresh air blown in to your nose and mouth. Staggeringly efficient and one of the contributing factors to the mist free visor, I would guess.

Heading inside then, there is a “Coolmax” material on the cheekpads which, so far, I haven’t noticed working. I think that’s to do with the lack of warm weather in Scotland at the minute but I can’t wait to try it on the Scotland trip in 3 weeks. The areas where flesh meets material is covered in an almost velvet cloth. It’s beautiful against the skin and is pillow comfy. The top of the head is a funny material, I don’t know if it’s Coolmax or not, but it’s nice and soft. The back of the head is a nice AGV embroidered logo, which sets it apart. Another design touch on the roof of the visor opening, with GP-TECH in red is superb, if a little attracting. I’ll explain more.

On the Shoei the aperature roof sat just above my eyebrows. It offered nice vision and it felt right. With the AGV the aperature roof also sits just above my eyebrows, but for some reason the field of view is significantly less…or so it seems. Now for the record, I love the feeling of being enclosed at the eyes. It’s the reason I got the breath guard for the Shoei, it made the aperature smaller, yet the field of view was significant enough to be safe. With the AGV, because of the aperature roof logo being bright red, I think it makes the roof feel lower than it actually is. The Shoei has a black aperature, my brother’s Schuberth also has a black aperature. It’s a small point, but it’s not really a negative as I really like it. I like the logo in bright red, it makes me feel good when I am riding along and the logo reminds me that the helmet I am wearing is the best. I tried lifting the aperature up so that the roof was sitting halfway between my eyebrows and my hair and it felt fine. I’ll know better in a few months after I have had a good amount of road time with it.

The various design flairs are what make it for me. I have spoken a lot about how the little details show what product has been really thought about. There is an AGV logo embossed in to the lip at the back of the helmet. There is AGV logo’s on the neck guard panels, the GP-TECH logo on the aperature, the mesh grills covering the rear exhaust vents, the embroidered logo on the inside back of the helmet, the trick nose/breath guard, the logo on the DD. It makes it for me, but I am funny like that.

There is one wee niggle that I found, and that’s the strap popper. Once you have adjusted the strap wih the DD rings, you then snap the end of the strap to a popper, but it;s tucked away inside the neck panels. It’s a two handed affair and I still haven’t got the technique sorted so I am spending 2-3 minutes faffing around. I get there in the end though. I was like that with the Shoei, where the strap snapped on to the DD itself, and I got the technique down in a matter of days.

I think that’s all for now.

 

Mileage: 150

All day riding with not an ache in sight. Went out riding all day Sunday with my new lid on and it felt great. The vents were brilliant as mentioned before and the comfort level is astounding. I have nothing to add really, this helmet seems to be the best I have ever tried.

 

Mileage 220

A ridiculously wet morning today, with the rain bouncing 2ft off the ground.