Tag

AGV

Browsing

Another San Marino GP means that we have another special helmet design from Valentino Rossi. Celebrating his home grand prix, The Doctor this time riffs on the movie Back to the Future, borrowing the movie’s typeface for his “Back to Misano” title, and throwing a nod to the DeLoren time machine.

The new design for the Rossi’s helmet is also a reference to last year’s edition of the San Marino GP, which Rossi had to miss because of a training incident where he broke his tibia and fibula bones

Another year, another Italian GP. That’s right, it is another special AGV Pista GP R helmet from Valentino Rossi at Mugello. This year’s design though is rather fetching, and riffs on the Italian tricolore flag – which seems fitting for the big MotoGP round in Italy, right?

The graphics continues Rossi’s SoleLuna (sun & moon) theme, which have been the symbols of choice for the 2018 MotoGP Championship. Aldo Drudi’s design here is clean and basic, helping end the rather graphic-intensive motifs from the past.

Check out the high-resolution photos after the jump, and expect AGV to make this special helmet available to the public in due time.

AGV has a new helmet out for the 2018 riding season, which by itself isn’t a big news item. But, this isn’t your typical helmet, as the Italian brand has made the first all carbon fiber modular helmet. They call it the AGV Sportmodular.

The advantages of a carbon fiber helmet design should be obvious, as there are significant weight savings that come with composite construction designs. AGV calls the Sportmodular the lightest modular helmet on the market.

By our scales though, the Sportmodular is lighter than even the featherweight Pista GP R – the AGV’s top-of-the-line track-focused helmet that Valentino Rossi wears – which would make the AGV Sportmodular one of the lightest helmets on market..if not the lightest.

Within the motorcycle industry, Asphalt & Rubber has earned itself a reputation for breaking stories from our so-called “Bothan spies”, as insiders often tip us off to intriguing stories and happenings in the two-wheeled realm.

Just a few weeks ago, we got one of those interesting tips, one that said that Dainese was being put up for sale. So, we called the bossman himself, Dainese CEO Cristiano Silei (an announcement too that A&R was able to break because of our Bothan spies), to see what the story was all about, and indeed if the rumors were true.

The call resulted in a terse answer, and perhaps an expected response, but Silei also provided an interesting explanation of Dainese’s current investment position, and what results the company has seen since its purchase three years ago (another story that our Bothans were first to get the word on).

It is another winter testing period for the MotoGP riders, and that means that Valentino Rossi has another special “Winter Test” AGV helmet design for us. This year, The Doctor takes his inspiration from Huichol bead art, after he visited the region on a recent vacation to Mexico.

As such, Rossi’s winter test AGV Pista GP R helmet features a hand-painted bead design that plays on the winter motif, with the Italian’s usual affinity for symbols.

The FIM is getting into the helmet certification game, creating a new protocol – as part of the FIM Racing Homologation Programme (FRHP) – to test helmets that are worn in FIM-sanctioned motorcycle races.

Previously, the FIM had relied upon domestic testing criteria, such as DOT standards in the United States, ECE standards in Europe, and SG/JIS standards in Japan.

With those standards varying in how they test motorcycle helmets though, the FIM Technical and Circuit Racing Commissions saw a need to create a single unifying helmet crash test protocol that will be used at any event the FIM sanctions, starting in the year 2019.

You may have noticed during the Italian GP at Mugello, that Valentino Rossi was once again wearing a special AGV Pista GP R helmet for the event. Created by designer Aldo Drudi, this year’s Mugello’s helmet pays homage to Nicky Hayden and Francesco Totti.

To remember the American motorcycle racer, Rossi’s #46 morphs into the shape and colors of Hayden’s #69, complete with the star that precedes Hayden’s number.

The top of Rossi’s helmet also portrays a soccer pitch, where the nine-time world champion is wearing the blue jersey of the Italian national team, and saying “Mo’ je faccio er cucchiaio” which translates (with a Roman accent) to “I made it spoon” – the spoon referring to a type of penalty kick that sees the ball arching into the goal.

This scene too pays tribute to another athlete – Francesco Totti, who played his last match with the A.S. Roma team last week. On the back of the helmet are “Un capitano…C’è solo un capitano!”, which translates to: “One captain… There’s only one captain!” 

This is another nod to Totti, as the chant is something his fans would yell to him while he was playing.

Dainese/AGV and American Flat Track announced their partnership today, with the Italian apparel brands becoming the official safety and race apparel brand of flat track racing in the United States.

What is more interesting though is that according to the announcement, Dainese and AGV will develop products that are specifically designed with flat track racing in mind.

This should be a huge boon to flat track racers, who often have to compromise and adapt apparel from road racing and dirt disciplines for their unique needs.

New for 2017, the AGV Corsa R is the Italian company’s update to its top-of-line sport bike helmet offering. Building off the success of the Corsa that proceeded it, the Corsa R makes a number of modifications to the already robust helmet package, thankfully listening to the feedback of customers.

As such, it is evolution not revolution for the AGV Corsa R, but we think that riders will enjoy the bevy of changes made to the Corsa R. Standout improvements include a liner that is more plush, improved air ventilation, and a more stout visor package.

For this review, we took the AGV Corsa R helmet for a spin at the race track (Buttonwillow Raceway), and the street (PDX), to see how the Corsa R compares to its predecessor, and we came away pleased with the result.

The AGV Corsa R should be on your short-list – that is, if you are in the market for a near-$1,000 sport-focused helmet.

Episode 40 of the Two Enthusiasts Podcast is a busy one, as we are back in the studio (my living room) after our live show in Portland

The show starts with a talk about the new A&R Pro premium accounts on Asphalt & Rubber, and then morphs into a discussion about the changing media landscape. Obviously, that makes it a good time to talk about the changes occurring over at Motorcyclist as well.

We then turn our attention to a recent press launch with AGV, where I rode with the new AGV Corsa R and AGV Pista GP R helmets. Quentin gets his first taste of them on the show, which is funny in a way only Quentin can make it.

We wrap-up that conversation with a discussion about heavy metals near Bakersfield, CA – home of Buttonwillow Raceway, as well as my first impressions of the new Michelin Power RS street tires.

Lastly, our final topic turns to MV Agusta, which is about to sign a financing deal with Black Ocean, a Russian investment group the hopes to make Italian motorcycles great again. All in all, it’s a jam-packed show.

You can listen to the show via the embedded SoundCloud player, after the jump, or you can find the show on iTunes (please leave a review) or this RSS feed. Be sure to follow us on Facebook and Twitter as well. Enjoy the show!

AGV is at the San Marino GP this week, showing off its latest racing helmet design. As you can tell from the photo above, the AGV Pista GP R is an evolution on the AGV Pista GP, with AGV claiming that “R” has better aerodynamics, venting, and field of view over its predecessor.

More significant changes come in the form of a Pinlock that comes as standard, along with revised spoiler and visor locking system designs.

The reason though we are bringing you this story today though is that the AGV Pista GP R has the first integrated hydration channel, straight from the factory.