AGV K5 & K5S: Review of AGVs Composite Fibre Sports/Touring Helmet
AGVs K5 is designed to fill an important gap for AGV – a mass-market sports/touring motorcycle helmet with a composite shell, at a middle-of-the-road price.
It’s a bit like making a wine to sell at a £6.99 price point – that’s where the majority of the market is so you need to blend everything just right to hit that sweet spot.
And on the face of it, the K5 looks like being a good vintage.
- Sports-touring full face helmet
- SHARP 4 star safety rated (K5)
- ECE 22.05 & DOT certified
- Carbon/fibreglass composite shell
- Double-D ring fastener
- 1.55Kg (slightly heavier than average)
- Sun visor
- Available in sizes XS-XL (with MS & ML)
- Price range:
- K5 £190-£220 (deals to be found – click links below)
- K5S £220-£280
AGV K5 and K5S
In 2017 AGV launched an updated K5 called the K5S. The S version has an improved bottom profile and padding to help reduce the possibility of damage to the collar bone during an accident and an improved comfort liner to reduce any prominent seams (though the standard K5 is a really comfortable helmet). The K5S also comes with a Pinlock anti-fog insert in the box.
Best places to buy an AGV K5S?
Please click below to visit the AGV K5S helmets pages at our recommended stores. And if you buy from one, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).
Safety
The AGV K5 is both DOT and ECE certified and, as of August 2015, was tested by SHARP and awarded four stars, making the AGV K5 one of the safest helmets around (to date only a handful of helmets still on the market have scored 5/5 and you can find them all on this site in our 5 star SHARP rating section). Both the K5 and the K5S share the same helmet shell.
That excellent rating was always on the cards because AGV are one of our safest crash helmet manufacturers, and the most recent AGV helmets that have been tested by SHARP have scored either four or five stars (out of five) we were pretty sure the K5 would be right up there in terms of safety.
AGV have cut corners slightly with the K5 by producing only two shell sizes. However, they do use four different densities of polystyrene lining inside the shell (the EPS lining) which is designed to absorb shocks more effectively. It should also help with making the fit more comfortable.
The shell of the K5 is a composite of carbon and fibreglass that’s designed to be structurally strong yet lighten the helmet. And with a medium size K5 lid weighing in at around a smidge under 1.4Kg, that’s light enough for it to fit into our ‘lightest helmets‘ category. So they’ve done a good job there.
For comparison, the (slightly higher-tech composite) AGV Corsa is about 1.35Kg. But then it’s over double the price.
That’s all reflected in the fact that owners almost universally reckon that their K5 feels nice and light – so if that’s what you’re after, you’ll probably not be disappointed with a K5.
Helmet Noise
The AGV K5 has a nice aerodynamic shape that should help with reducing noise. However, there’s mixed reports from owners as to how quiet it is.
Opinions seem to range from pretty noisy to very quiet with opinions spread equally in between.
As usual, it’s very much down to individual perception, usually based on things like the way you ride, the type of motorbike you ride and how noisy your last helmets have been. So we’ll plump for a score of about average noise.
Like any helmet though, stick in some decent earplugs and not only will you be protecting your long-term hearing but more or less any helmet you wear will feel pretty quiet!
Aero & Ventilation
AGV make a big thing about the wind tunnel design of the K5.
It’s been designed with two chin vents, two brow vents and a crown vent – and with a closeable rear exhaust vent – with the airflow tailored to push air into the vents.
The exhaust sits under a rear spoiler that’s been designed into the shell itself and is there to help with stability at speed, as well as help suck air out of the exhaust. Like other recent AGVs, the front area is fairly pointy, designed to reduce buffeting and improve stability too.
And owners seem to agree that the aero does its job, with little buffeting at speed and a feeling that the aerodynamics help it slip through the air.
As to ventilation, overall, owners seem to agree that the K5 is very well vented, pulling in lots of air and keeping you nice and cool in hot weather.
There are some complaints of stiff vents as well as the two brow vents being difficult to find and open in gloved hands because they’re so smooth and close fitting. Also, a couple of complaints that the chin vent – found underneath and inside the helmet, is difficult to operate in gloves.
But other than those niggles, ventilation seems to be great on the K5.
Visor
The K5 has a clear main visor as well as an internal sun visor. The main visor is designed to be wider than normal for improved peripheral vision and is Pinlock-ready. Note however, a few owners complained that if you’re using the K5 tucked-in on a sports bike with a Pinlock fitted, the top of the Pinlock can get in your line of vision.
If you go for the S version of the K5, you’ll get a Pinlock antifog included in the box (you sometimes do with the K5 but check with your retailer before buying).
It also features AGVs latest quick release visor system (or XQRS GT2) as featured in our AGV GT Veloce review – and owners broadly love it because it’s easy to use (one owner said he could swap visors in under 30s on his K5).
Like pretty well all modern visors, it also protects against UV light.
Sun Visor
The sun visor is good on the K5 but has the usual complaints that you’ll actually find levelled at lots of drop down sun visors.
The main complaint is that it’s too light – something that’s common across drop down sun visors because of legal limits for tinting in lots of countries. A few people wished the area that fits around the nose was tighter too so it didn’t let so much light in.
But again, it’s designed to fit lots of people’s noses so you can only see if it works for your nose by trying the helmet on first.
Other than that, the sun visor works well.
Comfort and Sizing
The AGV K5 is designed to fit the vast majority of head shapes – that’s the intermediate oval (though a couple of folks with longer, narrower heads did say it fits them just fine).
Sizing is just about right with the K5, so you should be able to follow our helmet fitting guide and order the correct one without a problem.
Provided you get a K5 that fits right in the first place, owners say it’s a really comfortable crash helmet. The liner’s fully removable and washable and made from AGVs Dri-lex moisture wicking material.
In fact, saying just how comfortable it is, is the number one comment from owners of the K5 with a few saying it’s the most comfortable helmet they’ve ever owned. So it’s surprising that AGV updated the liner on the K5 with the K5S – they redesigned it slightly so there’s no stitching/seams in sensitive areas.
If you’re a glasses wearer, the K5 comes with glasses grooves to accommodate your glasses’ stems although a couple of owners have said it’s still tricky to get your glasses on in the first place with the K5 as things are a bit tight (though one said it was a minor point and they probably just had to get the hang of it).
Best places to buy an AGV K5S helmet?
Please click below to visit the AGV K5S helmets pages at our recommended stores. And if you buy from one, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).
AGV K5 Video
Other stuff – fastener, communicator, warranty
The K5 comes with a double-d ring strap and – in the UK – it should come with an ACU gold sticker so you can take it on the track if that’s your thing; though as usual, you might want to check with your retailer first as it’s up to the distributor to put the sticker on.
Double-d rings are easy to use and reliable fasteners, and encourage you to tighten the strap up correctly each time you put the helmet on, so that’s all fine.
The K-5 is AGV Share System ready. Share System is a communicator that allows rider-to-rider, mobile phone and GPS connectivity. Owners of other communicators say there’s nice large speaker pockets and a couple of owners said it works well with their Sena 10s systems too.
Finally, the AGV K5 comes with a 2 year warranty.
Overall/Summary
When we previewed the AGV K5, we thought it would tick a lot of the right boxes. But helmets can look great on paper but be rubbish on the road.
Well, we’re pleased to report that owners seem to love their K5s. It’s light, it’s comfortable, the build quality is the usual AGV (i.e. great), the aero’s good so there’s not much buffeting and the visor system works well. Oh, and there’s that excellent SHARP safety result. Of course, there’s one or two niggles (there always is with every helmet) but the AGV K5 appears to work well exactly where AGV hoped it would: it’s probably not for you if you’re on the track all the time, but for sporty and touring riders (not to mention folks who commute on their bikes) the AGV K5 is a fantastic helmet that should prove an excellent buy.
Alternatives to the AGV K5
The HJC IS 17 is one of the best full face helmets around if you’re after value for money and performance. It can be bought for well under the price of the K5 and scored a massive five stars in the SHARP helmet safety test.
If you’re after an AGV, the GT Veloce also scored maximum marks on the SHARP test. There’s one or two niggles reported (see the review), but all round, it’s a very competent full face helmet.
We’d also say, check out the excellent HJC FG-ST. That’s a SHARP 5 star rated full face helmet with sun visor and Pinlock included in the box – for about the same money as the K5. It’s also Ride magazine recommended.
Finally, how about the X-Lite X-702 GT? That’s another SHARP 5 star safety rated touring helmet with a sun visor, this time from another Italian maker X-Lite (part of the Nolan Group). It’s a tiny bit more expensive than the AGV K5 though.
Crash Helmet Buying Guides & Top 10s
For (hopefully!) other useful information to help you when buying your next helmet, check our various Motorcycle Helmet Buying Guides - or have a look at our Top 10 best helmet lists where we've got the top 10 best rated helmets overall along with Top 10 Best Budget/Top 10 Safest/Top 10 Best Full Face/Top 10 Best Modular/Flip-up/ Top 10 Best Sportsbike/Track helmets.
Best places to buy an AGV K5S?
Please click below to visit the AGV K5S helmets pages at our recommended stores. And if you buy from one, we get a small sum from the sale at no extra cost to you – a massive THANKS! (it’s how we finance the site).
I’ll never buy another agv, just purchased a k5 the wind noise is really bad, now have to wear ear plugs, very disappointed
To be fair, you pretty well need to wear ear plugs with any helmet – if you’re riding at any sort of speed and if you want to avoid tinnitus at any rate.