Visibility

Hoping for some tips from the more experienced Riders for wet riding conditions. Had a frustrating Sunday - Weather cold, wet & misty, occasional bits of rain. Went out on bike, but almost immediately found glasses covered in water droplets, visibility about 10ft. :shock: Down with visor & then that mists up. Best compromise was visor down when moving, visor up and/or stop breathing when stoped at junctions. There must be a better way!

F_Magna said:

Hoping for some tips from the more experienced Riders for wet riding conditions. Had a frustrating Sunday - Weather cold, wet & misty, occasional bits of rain. Went out on bike, but almost immediately found glasses covered in water droplets, visibility about 10ft. :shock: Down with visor & then that mists up. Best compromise was visor down when moving, visor up and/or stop breathing when stoped at junctions. There must be a better way!

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How about a car? :lol:

Where were you riding the weekend? It was brilliant Sat & Sun....10c and sunny. I got out for a 30min shakedown Saturday and would have carried on but had family business. If you want to ride in all weather try a "Fog City" visor insert. They are brilliant. Infinity at Farnborough sell them. Alternative is an open helmet and goggles! See you around.

There is stuff to coat the windshield of a car and that works too on a visor...think it is called Rain-X or something...had it on the car windows last year and it worked well.

The old way to keep the goggles/glasses clear was to spit in them and rub it about...just have to hope you ain't one of those nasty old baccy chewers..... :wink:

potato juice

While I was at Norton, I got a couple of experimental visors to try. English market helmets didn't have built-in visors.

They were circular acrylic disks with small vanes around the edge, mounted in a precision bearing on a band that went round the helmet. They worked on the principle of the clear-vision windows on ships, rotate the window fast enough and water is thrown off.

The first one worked fine. Even at 15 mph in fog, it stayed clear. The problem was at high speed, where the disc distorted enough to touch the end of my nose - very uncomfortable! The second one had a spindle 3/8 inch longer - problem solved. The only minor drawback was the gyroscopic force when you tried to turn your head.

After all these years, I can't remember the manufacturer. I think it went on the market, but for how long, I'm not sure.

frankdamp said:

They were circular acrylic disks with small vanes around the edge, mounted in a precision bearing on a band that went round the helmet. They worked on the principle of the clear-vision windows on ships, rotate the window fast enough and water is thrown off.

After all these years, I can't remember the manufacturer. I think it went on the market, but for how long, I'm not sure.

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They were called 'Turbo' visors.


And you can still buy that type of visor as go-karters appear to use them (although I doubt they would be road legal in the UK now, as UK visors and goggles have had to conform to British Standard as a legal requirement for some years now.
http://www.zipkart.com/acatalog/OMPhelmetetc.html -scroll down

I use Rain-X on the outside of my visors and a demister spray like the Bob Heath type on the inside, and normally keep my (full face helmet) visor open slightly, in rainy or foggy conditions.

Thanks for the tips guys - I'll skip the one about wiping the visor on a car, so it looks like to infinity & beyond to get some chemical aids!