Help with a scuffed visor
 

Hey everyone, I had to travel via truck in northern Kenya for a spell lately. My helmet (a nice new Arai) rode in the back and the visor rubbed against something in the back of the truck. I now have a lightly pitted rough spot dead center (of course!- it creates 2 annoying smudges in front of my eyes) in my visor. I tried to rub it out with a wet t-shirt and then a towel, with no effect. I know there are kits to help buff out such things, but alas- I am in the field and unable to skip down to my local "authorised BMW dealer" to pick up a repair kit. As always, any help is appreciated. H.

Toothpaste to the rescue
 

The classic, often recommended, never tried by me, very fine abrasive polish for this sort of problem is toothpaste. Good luck.

Norm

Thanks for the input- I'll keep an open mind...guess it's better than Preperation H!! Thanks again...H.

Hi Hook

Sorry to be negative, but I dont think you can satisfactorily polish out that scratch. I hope I'm wrong.

You've been on the road a while -sounds good - how are things going?

Good roads!

Unlikely you'll get rid of it. The laminated platic used in visors is tricky stuff but I have succesfully polished out scratches from other plalstic like my bike windscreen screen and the screen of my GPS by using Basso. It is a very very fine abrasive cleaner and if the scratch on your visor isn't deep it may work for you. You could also try toothpaste if you can't get hold of Brasso. A lot of toothpastes have gentle abrasive qualities so try yours and you might have one that could do the trick. I suggest you try it on a part of the visor that won't matter first - see how it goes and if it polishes up nice and clear then attack your problem area . If it doesn't work then you won't make it any worse.

Talc.
 

try talc! wet it first an rub the scratched area only thats damaged.

Wet and dry sanding and buffing the visor would work on small surface scratches.

Solvent polishing using acetone (found in nail varnish remover) removes fine scratches from the visor but makes fluid flow marks that would distort vision.

Heat polishing using a heat-gun is deemed the most effective, but I guess it would be difficult/risky.

The toothpastes that are abrasive are the ones with bicarb of soda in them - use a damp cloth to apply.

Thanks for all the input guys/gals, I'll try and (carefully) remove the scuff with a light abrasive. It wouldn't be a big deal- but it's DEAD center and thus, very annoying! I have tinted goggles with me, I can simply remove the visor and ride like that. The reason I wanted the visor, however, was to stop using my face to smash insects to death on the faster roads! Oh well, no big deal, I'll try to rub the spot off the visor. Thanks again for the help!