Ducati AGV AX9 Helmet Review

With light weight, comfort, and versatility, the AX9 ticks most of the boxes for street riders who occasionally venture off road.

AGV has been building quality motorcycle helmets for more than 50 years. These days it's owned by Dainese, and by most measures that partnership has worked out pretty well; the helmet designs are fresher and more user-friendly (and benefit from Dainese's extensive racing experience), build quality is improved, and the helmets are easier to find in stores. So when AGV offered to send me one of its latest models for the North American market a couple of months back, I gave it the thumbs-up.

Out of the box, the AX9 looks like a straight-up dual-sport or adventure lid along the lines of a Shoei Hornet X2 or an Arai XD4, which makes sense given the fact that it succeeds the dirt-friendly AX8. Along with the previously released SportModular model reviewed here, AGV says the AX9 fleshes out its latest touring line, but it also improves on the AX8 hat with refinements like improved comfort, better ventilation, and revised aerodynamics. In other words, it's more skewed toward on-road touring riders.

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With a reshaped peak, a huge new eyeport, and improved ventilation, the AX9 is big improvement over its AX8 predecessor.

The hard sell on the AX9 is its versatility—the lid can be run in four configurations just by keeping on or swapping off the visor and/or the peak, which admittedly sounds pretty handy whether you’re a hard-core enduro guy or a streetfighting speed demon. Another thing that struck me about the AX9 is just how lightweight it is. In hand, the composite shell (made of carbon, aramid, and fiberglass) feels much lighter than it looks, weighing in at just 3 pounds, 10 ounces on my trusty Salter kitchen scale for a size medium shell, making it one of the lightest helmets in its segment. Thankfully that weight doesn’t mean a sacrifice in safety—the AX9 is ECE and DOT rated. True, it doesn’t carry a Snell sticker like the Arai and Shoei lids, but that’s probably why it’s so light.

Popping it on wasn’t a breeze though—I had to squeeze my mostly round noggin pretty tightly in there, but once my fat head was in, the sweet comfort of the plush Ritmo lining against the skin felt worth the struggle. What’s more, the AX9 now gives you 190 degrees of horizontal and 110 degrees of vertical vision and that new view from the fog-and-scratch-resistant shield’s definitely an improvement of panoramic magnitude. The thick shield seals positively against the gasket, and offers three incremental settings that engage positively (maybe a little too positively; it’s a bit sticky opening the shield from a fully closed position).

As we said, you can set up the lid with or without that shield on, and with or without the adjustable peak for added roost or sun protection as you like—or rock any combination of the two. The AX9 can accommodate goggles if you want to leave the face shield at home, which we recommend; while you can squeeze in a pair of goggles with the shield on and in the open position, it’s a struggle. That said, everything comes off pretty easily if you want to customize things: Just unscrew the metal screws (we used a quarter) for each item, pop it off, reinsert the screws, and off you go. Simple. I’ve also heard people ask why there isn’t a drop-down sun visor if it’s more of a road helmet, and personally I think that would limit this lid’s versatility. Also, once you go off-road the visor mechanism (and the visor itself) can easily get trashed by the added dust (in my experience).

The chin port is adjustable from the outside as well as the inside, and the front cap comes off for more airflow off-road or lower speeds.

AGV says the AX9 is designed to accommodate long trips as well, and while I didn’t log any rides longer than 85 miles in my three weeks with it so far, on the road its comfort stood out thanks to that noticeably premium interior lining and padding (definitely more plush than the SportModular). The top liner and cheek pads are moisture-wicking and smooth to the touch, and I could slide sunglasses easily into the temple area without pinching or pressure points, which is always a nice bonus. Unlike the AX8, the AX9 finally gets cutouts for speakers and can accept most generic communication systems. There’s even a water-resistant Nubuck and Shalimar neck roll that prevents moisture from getting absorbed into the interior.

Ventilation? AGV says that's also vastly improved, and we had to admit, the five-vent system flows air really well. The setup includes three adjustable front vents—two brow vents under the peak and one large port at the chin—which direct in tons of air to keep the upper part of your head and your face breezy when open. The adjustable chin port can also be opened from the inside to tweak internal airflow, and the front part of it pops off completely, revealing a charcoal filter underneath as another layer before the air comes inside. Feeling angsty? Channel your inner hooligan by running the helmet with that front chin piece off and you'll get that unsettling Bane-from-Batman look. Two nonadjustable extractors out back spew out the inner air.

The AX9 also manages to dial in the aerodynamics on the newly designed two-position peak which is shaped to reduce the sail effect at higher speeds, even though there’s still a little lift if you’re hooning out at speeds north of 55 mph. Buffeting is far less intrusive than I was expecting, especially when you run it at the lower of the two settings.

All in all, it’s been a pretty satisfying couple of weeks with the AX9. It’s geared to the more adventurous touring riders than the SportModular, is more street savvy than the older AX8, and, even though it gets a few subtle dual-sport/motocross features, it’s probably more at home with Bell Moto3-wearing hipsters than hard-core enduro riders.


Buy the Ducati Desert Full-Face Helmet by AGV from our online store now!