Visors and rain

[buck91]

Just curious if anybody applies any treatment to their helmet visors (or goggles, I guess) to help with visibility in the rain? I don't ride too terribly much and extremely rarely get caught in the rain... but I was just wondering.

I was considering Rain-X or a fancier wax light Megs UPW, Blackfire Wet Diamond or some XMT stuff I have. What would work best? What have you tried?

 

[SZR48207]

I've used a light quick Wax on my HJC visors and I still needed to wipe the water with my glove while stopped in traffic. No visibility issues once you start moving.

I ride a sport bike, though, so I don't have much front wind protection. I can see how a cruiser with a big front fairing might block the wind from moving the water off while at speed.

 

[hpb]

Nah, I clean my visors (Shoei) with normal domestic spray on window cleaner whenever they need doing, and that's it. I ride all year round, day and night, lots of it in the rain, and don't have any visibility issues.

It sounds like you're a "sunny Sundays" kind of rider, you won't need any special visor treatments.

 

[Atesz792]

What exactly do you mean by visibility in the rain?
Water drops on the outside, or precipitation on the inside?
For the former, turning your head sideways at speed will work like the best windshield wiper.
For the latter, Pinlock is the answer. I got so used to it I forgot about it, and last time I borrowed someone else's helmet it struck me as a surprise.
You see right through it anytime, everytime. Would absolutely recommend it to anyone. Not that cheap, but not that expensive either if you're already riding a motorcycle.

 

[Silk]

I use Pledge, works like RainX on a windscreen.

 

[02SE]

Originally Posted By: Atesz792
What exactly do you mean by visibility in the rain?
Water drops on the outside, or precipitation on the inside?
For the former, turning your head sideways at speed will work like the best windshield wiper.
For the latter, Pinlock is the answer. I got so used to it I forgot about it, and last time I borrowed someone else's helmet it struck me as a surprise.
You see right through it anytime, everytime. Would absolutely recommend it to anyone. Not that cheap, but not that expensive either if you're already riding a motorcycle.


This.

I love the Pinlock visor I use on my Arai.

 

[DuckRyder]

Originally Posted By: 02SE
Originally Posted By: Atesz792
What exactly do you mean by visibility in the rain?
Water drops on the outside, or precipitation on the inside?
For the former, turning your head sideways at speed will work like the best windshield wiper.
For the latter, Pinlock is the answer. I got so used to it I forgot about it, and last time I borrowed someone else's helmet it struck me as a surprise.
You see right through it anytime, everytime. Would absolutely recommend it to anyone. Not that cheap, but not that expensive either if you're already riding a motorcycle.


This.

I love the Pinlock visor I use on my Arai.


Yep....

 

[Bzab32]

I've used rainX before on my visors and the water would bead a little better but traveling at speed I really couldn't tell a difference. As I drive a sport bike the wind usually takes care of the water, and as an owner of an italian bike I usually avoid the rain now as well.

 

[AuthorEditor]

I drive a sportbike, but with a small fairing and windscreen and I find that rain can be a problem if you aren't going fast enough. As some have said, at speed the rain tends to just flow right off. I have some Aerostich overgloves that have a small squeegee on the thumb, and they have proved invaluable in the rain. I too have heard that Lemon Pledge is good for visors, but that you may have a problem with bees--check your helmet before you plop it on your head! I have used some other plastic cleaner for years that works well. Another trick I do is to keep a microfiber washcloth in an easy to get to side pocket on my tank bag. Sometimes I pull it out and use it to wipe down my faceshield, especially when crud is getting kicked up by traffic. Even on seemingly clean roads in the rain I find that layers of crud can build up in the mist of heavy traffic. The cloth comes in handy to clean off bugs and crud once stopped. You can easily wring out excess water and even wash in a restroom sink. Dries quickly too. I often forget about it after a ride and find it is almost dry in the tank bag pocket the next time I go out. Throw it in the washer at home to get really clean.

 

[KrisZ]

Not a problem if you don't look at the droplets and focus your vision several hundred yards ahead. The only time it is noticeable to me is with the fine mist like when riding in dense fog or from the spray of the cars ahead and the exterior of the visor look like it fogged up. A quick wipe with my thumb fixes it.

 

[Jim K]

Originally Posted By: Silk
I use Pledge, works like RainX on a windscreen.
+ 1 , I use any furniture polish that is on hand . Cleans them up just fine and will repel water .

 

[hpb]

I agree with others who mentioned the Pinlock system, they are great - but only in the daytime. At night, not so good. At night, in the rain - terrible! (I think there's actually a disclaimer on the packet saying not to use them at night, but I'm not removing it or changing visors for a 20 minute ride home from work

).

 

[WANG]

I keep a slip on wiper in my pocket. It works well when there is excessive slime in the road spray or speeds are too low to keep the shield clear.
http://www.aerostich.com/aerostich-veewipe-squeegee.html
It isn't essential gear, but is nice to have in certain conditions.

Never felt compelled to put anything on my visors.

 

[AuthorEditor]

Actually, the worst problem in the rain, at least with a full-coverage helmet, is keeping the inside from fogging up due to the condensation of your hot breath on the inside of a visor cooled by the rain. Various anti-fog treatments help, but I have never found anything to be 100% effective. Eventually too, if you ride long enough in the rain water will get on the inside of the visor, necessitating a roadside stop to wipe it off with the microfiber cloth I carry. And, yes, night riding in the rain is miserable due to visibility problems, and I generally try to avoid it as much as possible.

 

[bonjo]

For the outside, I have used rain-x, silicon spray, pledge with success. The aim is for the water slide away easily but once the visor gets covered with road film then these become less effective.
depending on the aerodynamic of your bike, you can find a pressure point where the airflow forces the rain off.

Since I started riding I have certainly a much better vision through rain covered visor and car windscreen (in fact I use the wipers a lot less than I used to) Your brain adapts to the visibility.
One thing, I don't apply the products directly as I don't know if the solvents can attach the plastic (apart from fogtech)

For the inside pin lock is king but sometimes even this gets steamed up in cold and humid season. In this instances and visors that cannot take pinlock, I have used rain-x and also Fogtech (visorvision.co.uk) with excellent results