Scorpion ADF 9000 Desert helmet in white / red / blue

The Scorpion ADF 9000 helmet has a composite shell. As with all brands, Scorpion has given their particular shell construction a fancy acronym-derived name, but basically composite means a combination of carbon and other organic fibres. The ADF 9000 weighs about 1600 grams; and that’s more or less what you would expect. Obviously, the helmet meets the latest ECE 22-06 safety standard. Impressively, given its price point, the helmet comes in three shell sizes across its six labelled sizes. 

The ADF 9000 is one of those helmets that can supposedly be worn in a number of configurations. With or without a peak. With or without the visor. And potentially, in the latter case, with goggles. And what makes all these configuration changes so easy is that no tools are required. The main visor just pulls out. Whilst the peak can easily be unscrewed by hand.  The helmet comes supplied with a larger MaxVision Pinlock 120. 

Now one of the reasons we were initially drawn to the ADF 9000 was that it comes equipped with a drop-down, sun visor. Some of the more established helmet manufacturers have been slow to recognise the importance of this on an adventure helmet. The drop-down, sun visor on the ADF 9000 is, it has to be admitted, a pretty clunky affair; but it works.

The venting is also pretty much what you would expect. You get two vents on the sides of the brow. On the chin, there is a rocker button in the centre of the chin designed to allow you to direct air up onto the inside of the visor to combat fogging. To the sides of this are four mesh inlets that feed air onto the face. These vents are controlled by a slider inside the chin piece. Other features include emergency-release cheekpads, a decent chin curtain, and a facility to remove the rocker switch on the chin vent, so that you can replace it with a mount for an action camera.

These days, a lot of people are concerned about noise. Well, the ADF 9000 will be better than many helmets, but if you wanted to cut out noise, you’d go for a flip-lid. Or even a sports-touring, full-face. And that’s partly because the extended chin of an adventure helmet is always going to allow more air to come into the helmet. In terms of comms., the helmet has deep recesses for speakers, which is good.

Which brings us to fit, comfort and so on. The interior padding is very comfortable, yet still feels substantial. The linings are perforated for breathability. There’s a plushness to the feel, but we are still not in Shoei territory here. 

The Scorpion’s USP, however, is the Airfit system. There’s a red pump button inside the chin, just below the vent slider. Press this repeatedly, and air will be pumped into the cheekpads to tighten the fit. In most cases, we feel, the system will help us achieve the ‘chipmunk cheek’ effect that we seek. To release air from the cheekpads there’s a small plunger that you press. Interestingly, there’s a split in the chin curtain that allows you to reach he pump and release valve.