AGV GP-Tech Year Update
Well well well.
Yet again this post has nothing to do with my GSR as I had promised, again…
The reason is that it broke again just before the weekend there, so that’s being added in to the mix. Anyway, in the meantime I thought I would update you all on how the GP-Tech is performing after a year of every day use. The polls are in and it is as thus….
Not so fresh as a daisy, more like a stale egg...
White helmets are good for a few reasons. Firstly they are bright, allowing traffic around a small glimpse of a white ball moving around in their mirror, thus attracting attention to yourself. Secondly white makes for a really smart looking helmet, although I would extend this no further than the GP-Tech and perhaps 1 or 2 other helmets. Lastly white shows up the dirt easy to it’s a cinch to clean. However this last point is also a negative, as the dirt on this helmet is easy to see. It’s ok once you clean it off the easy parts, but all the grooves and holes trap the dirt and make it nigh on impossible to get to. This means that you have a constantly dirty looking helmet which can be annoying.
Dirt in the grooves means annoyance...
Comfort levels on this helmet are still fantastic, even more so now that the interior has moulded itself perfectly to my head. The addition of the foam strip under the roof of the helmet is still the original and it’s still making the helmet sit perfectly on my head, as if you remember I mentioned that the GP-Tech sits naturally low on the head.
Finish on this helmet is a bit of a downfall to be honest. I will say again that I got one of the first batch of these so perhaps the finishes have improved now but if I had spent £400 on this helmet I would not be impressed. So far the front vents have fell off, the buckle pull has ripped off, the visor latch is not snug meaning rattly visors when up, the badges fell off the neck curtains and now the materials are separating from each other at the back of the helmet.
The build quality is tearing me apart. That was shit, sorry.
It’s a shame as this helmet in my opinion is the best helmet around at the minute in terms of comfort, ventilation, safety and looks. It’s the best, end of. But the niggling build quality issues take some points from what is a 10/10 helmet.
Don’t get the wrong idea though as I wont ever be going back to my Shoei XR-1000. The build quality of the GP may be falling apart, but in terms of finish, the GP is streaks ahead of Shoei. The blend of velvet, perforated and smooth materials are sublime and the attention to detail is superb.
So that’s that. But I have one more thing to say and it’s the same old problem. The visor. I have gone over the reasons that it’s crap, mainly fogging/misting issues, and I stand by that if AGV were to get Pinlock or Fog City involved in their helmets they would sweep the floor…thoroughly. It’s crying out for it, and although I have been informed that AGV think their “Anti-Fog” coatings work fine, I don’t believe they are testing them in the conditions that cause the issues. Yeah in Italy they have rain, but it’s a damn sight different in Fife than it is at AGV HQ in Valenza, weather tunnel or not.
What they need to do is send their designers over here for a few weeks in December/January and I guarantee they’ll get far more information that they can utilise in their helmet designs.
Anyway after all that is said and done, I still love this helmet and it’s gave me nothing but a reliable, comfortable safe environment for my head. Once this helmet falls apart to the point of non-use, I will definitely seek another one immediately.
I love my AGV and there's no denying it, it's still feckin smart.
The GSR yearly update will commence very soon, after I have resolved the issues that happened at the weekend. It’s not looking any better I can tell you that.
Thanks for the visits all and sorry about the lack of images over the past few months. My camera has been out of commission (my small pocket one.)
Cheers
Gordon
EDIT:
Just a quick image to show what it looks like on my head.
I have the xr1000 and it’s my first helmet.
On a scale of 1 to 10, how would you compare the comfort level of the 2 helmets ?
On my GSR, wearing my xr1000 with the optional neck and chin pieces installed, the helmet is very very noisy above 100-120km/h and without the pinlock, the visor fogs up even at 160km/h on the highway, with the vents open (tested 2 nights ago).
I was expecting more..
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 17:07
Hey Sixx,
I wanted to get new cheek pads and chin curtain after I got the AGV but haven’t got round to it.
I would say any helmet is noisy at that speed with the exception of the Schuberth C1 or S1 (can’t remember) that my Brother has. My AGV is well noisy above say 60mph but the Shoei is more noisy.
Comfort wise I always thought the Shoei was a perfect fit for my head, but again after having the AGV I find the Shoei a bit cramped at my forehead. However when I did have it I found it say 8/10 comfy, whereas the AGV is 9-10/10. It’s just sublime feeling and has to be experienced to be believed I guess.
Pinlock is the business and I would always have one if I could.
I find ventilation on the Shoei good because the air rushes up through the space where my chin is, I don’t have the chin curtain. However on the AGV you can really notice how much air is getting pumped up across the visor as my forehead is always freezing. The chin vents are also straight through meaning that you get lots of air that way too. I love it.
It’s unfortunate you aren’t chuffed as when I wore my Shoei, even though it wasn’t the best, I loved it.
If you are worried about noise the only solution is earplugs and for those I suggest only 1 brand and that’s Laser Lites. They are pink and yellow and are the business and I often wear them on the bike. They certainly cut out all of the wind noise without reducing your engine note or environmental sounds.
Hope this helps!
Cheers
Gordon
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 17:28
Thanks for info !
I need to test ride a couple more helmets, so I can really tell where the shoei stands. Several people recommended Schuberth already, got to give them a try too.
Never tried ear plugs. Always been afraid that they might cancel too much of the sound and I wouldn’t be able to hear car horns and sirens and such.
I also need to put the silencers back onto my Yoshimuras. Cruising at 80mph keeps the revs high enough for the cans to really mess my head up.
Wouldn’t http://tinyurl.com/dclw4o + http://tinyurl.com/cafagb work for you ?
BTW, I’m a big fan of white-ish helmets too. Here’s mine: http://tinyurl.com/c3mmuh
Cheers,
Chris
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 17:59
Hi Gordon,
glad to hear you didn’t get eaten by sharks.
Personally, I wear a Schuberth C2 and it suffers from some of the same flaws. It’s an *excellent* helmet in terms of usability and comfort and it’s ridiculously quiet – I hardly ever use ear plugs these days. In fact, if I had to buy a helmet right now I’d buy another C2. Having said that, the anti-fog coating is crap. No, let me rephrase that: if you ever actually wear the helmet, it’s crap. It was just fine at first but if you so much as touch the coating, it rubs right off. It’s something I can live with since, unlike you, I don’t ride year round (and there’s something Schuberth call a “city mode” where you keep the visor closed but move the it a quarter of an inch forward which actually works pretty well) but it’s still annoying and the only way to fix it is to buy an aftermarket pinlock visor.
Looking forward to your GSR review. I still have the GSR, the Hornet and the Bandit 1250 on my short list. Take care,
Steve
Tuesday, March 17, 2009 at 22:14
I want to buy this helmet, does you still recommend it?? It looks very nice, and what do u think about about shoei x11?Can u post more pics of AGV GP tech on your head?
Friday, March 27, 2009 at 20:53
So this is what the helmet looks sitting normally on my head. This is with the foam insert in the roof of the helmet. See previous posts about the AGV about the riding naturally low on the head issue.
Hope this is what you are after.
G
Tuesday, March 31, 2009 at 21:40
Thank you very much, i think that i am gonna buy this helmet, but still considering shoei rf1000…
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 12:41
And one more question, how u wash your helmet?
Wednesday, April 1, 2009 at 14:21
I just bought this helmet in black for £320. That tear on the neck lining that you photograph, was evident on mine as soon as i got the thing home, curiously it was on both sides, i took it straight back to Hein Gericke and they said, ‘oh yea – we have had a batch of them come in like that’, you may therefore be able to get this changed if it is a accepted fault, in my case they just robbed a new lining from a different lid and plugged it in. Anyway, nice site and some stunning photo’s, nice one…David.
Tuesday, June 2, 2009 at 14:28