prolonged visor use

[GSPeter]

Driving from shadow to direct low sunlight the other day I was more or less blind as my visor has gradually aquired a mass of small scratches. It's not something you notice until a critical moment, and I was leaving for a five day ride the next day.

I went to my local BMW dealer, said I wanted a new visor for a Schubert C3. They actually had it in stock - "That will be Nok 740," which is like Euro 90, or £ 70.

"No, no, you misunderstand, I just want the visor, not the whole helmet!"

Everyone laughs, and I pay up.

On the way home I recalled a road racing friend who polished his screen with furniture spray polish. My in-laws use it. I tried it on the old visor when I got home, and it really worked. There is silicon in the polish, which must fill in the micro scratches. I recomend the clear polish rather than the teak. I sprayed, let it settle, and buffed it hard - great result.

This wont help major scratches and damage, but the tiny scratches from sand and daily use are filled in,

Hope it works when you need it

Peter, in Oslo

[mollydog]

Yea, good visors are expensive. My Shoei and Arai ones are about $65 usd each.

I would be a bit careful about using furniture polish on your visor. Some are OK but others can ruin plastic ... it will eventually get dull. Many guys here use Windex ... also BAD for plastic over time.

I use a product specifically for Plastic, it's called Plexus. A bit expensive but if you use it sparingly, lasts a long time.

Your Schuberth helmet may have an internal pull down tinted visor? I've had helmets with those, but the pull down visor is cheap plastic and scratches up badly. Soon, you can't see through it. I took mine out on my HJC. My older Multitec does not have an internal pull down visor.

On my Shoei Multitec main visor I use the trick I've used for 25 years. I put a strip or two of black electrical tape across the top of the visor. When Sun is low the tape mostly blocks most of the Sun. Works great for me!

But a clean, scratch free visor is essential. Here is how I get 4 years out of one visor:
1. Never wipe off visor when dry ... always wet with water first.
2. After fully wet, wipe off dust/dirt gently, rinse. Wet again, add a bit of soap and wash. Rinse. Dry visor with SOFT cloth.
3. Spray with wax cleaner product (I use Plexus) lightly. Rub in with CLEAN, soft cloth, polish up gently. Never hard as even ONE grain of sand or grit can RUIN your new Visor.
4. Do the same on inside of visor.
DONE.

[PanEuropean]

One more tip for visor maintenance that I would add to Mollydog's post:

At the end of the day, when the visor is all covered with bugs, dirt, etc., wet a facecloth with warm water so that the facecloth is soggy, then lay it across the outside of the visor for 20 minutes or so. This will soften up all the debris on the visor so that you don't have to rub (and thus risk scratches) to get the debris off.

THEN, after 20 minutes, wipe the bugs and dirt off. Almost every time, 100% of the crap will come off with one gentle wipe of the wet facecloth.

Michael

[KirkFord]

Hi GSPeter....My neighbour has a black Ford car that shows up scratches in the paintwork from just sitting in the garage....he uses a furniture polish regularly on it as well and I've got to say it realy works a treat...eliminates the scratches.

(Don't know why he doesn't persevere with a good car polish though)

[Bucket1960]

Originally Posted by KirkFord

(Don't know why he doesn't persevere with a good car polish though)

He's probably used it all on the furniture

[oldbmw]

You might want to try using polarised glasses. they really eliminate most of the reflected light. Only odd thing is light reflected off ivy appears blue ???

[DaveGetsLost]

Originally Posted by mollydog

Yea, good visors are expensive. My Shoei and Arai ones are about $65 usd each.

While visors for premium helmets do cost more, the hard coating seems more resistant to scratches than visors for cheap helmets.

No matter how carefully I clean my visor, I'll still be out in the rain wiping some sort of squeegie across the visor. It's not all clean water either. That's when the higher cost of a quality visor ends up being a bargain

I used to go through a couple of $20 visors a year but a Shoei visor can last 2 years with plenty of rain riding.

[mollydog]

Originally Posted by Grinnin

While visors for premium helmets do cost more, the hard coating seems more resistant to scratches than visors for cheap helmets.

No matter how carefully I clean my visor, I'll still be out in the rain wiping some sort of squeegie across the visor. It's not all clean water either. That's when the higher cost of a quality visor ends up being a bargain

I used to go through a couple of $20 visors a year but a Shoei visor can last 2 years with plenty of rain riding.

This is certainly true. Arai and Shoei visors last the last ... if you take care of them! But for SURE the coatings are tougher and the clarity is better too, no distortion and all good optics and such!