Tinted Visors

[FROSTY:Me]

I prefer a clear visor and sunnies for road riding.With the crap weather lately Im using a clear view visor--orange which makes for sharper definition

[Velox]

I pretty much always use a dark visor unless it's been raining for a few days and pisses me off enough to swap it over to the clear one. I just ride with it up when I can't see as well (my road has no street lights, which is a bad combination with a tinted visor at night).

[scumdog]

Hi Thread, i was just reading your post on tinted visors and they are safe to use at night. I ride day and night all year round have done for the past eight years, personally I have'nt had any problems with using a tinted visor, my first visor was black and that was ok, but of late im using a blue iridium i find it helps at night, as when cars come at you with there lights on full or just on the mirror tint helps to reflect the light and not blind you like a normal visor would. but at the end of the day i suppose it comes down to each persons personal choice. Me i dont mind, plus it looks cool too.
Later dude,
SwamoRat.

Wait until the first time a grey car with no lights (when everybody else has theirs on) appears from nowhere one evening just as you pull out of the drive.....

[Lou Girardin]

Hi Thread, i was just reading your post on tinted visors and they are safe to use at night. I ride day and night all year round have done for the past eight years, personally I have'nt had any problems with using a tinted visor, my first visor was black and that was ok, but of late im using a blue iridium i find it helps at night, as when cars come at you with there lights on full or just on the mirror tint helps to reflect the light and not blind you like a normal visor would. but at the end of the day i suppose it comes down to each persons personal choice. Me i dont mind, plus it looks cool too.
Later dude,
SwamoRat.

Is it also the personal choice of the pedestrian you don't see and kill?

Sometimes I despair at the sheer stupidity of some of these posts!

[Biff]

My recent(ish) experience with an iridium visor: http://www.kiwibiker.co.nz/forums/sh...=brown+trouser
There's also some useful information in this thread from a 'lightabsorbtiontypeboffin' from KB.

IMO you should never wear dark or tinted visors at night, they shut out too much light, and it only takes some kid on a pedal bike with little or no visible light to cross you path.......

PF - You're correct about your statement about the use of tinted visors in the UK. If I remember correctly for a visor to be legal it must not cut out any more than 50% of visible light. And iridium visors are a definite no no from what I recall.

I own both a clear and tinted visor for my lid. I never where the tinted one at night or in low light conditions.

[Beemer]

I knew tinted visors were illegal in the UK and just assumed they were illegal here too, but I can't find any confirmation of this. However, when you see how much light they cut out, only an idiot (and looking cool when you're dead still makes you an idiot) would willingly wear one at night.

I've been caught coming home a bit later than expected and I certainly wouldn't want to do it on a regular basis - it's really tiring trying to concentrate and ensure you see everything. Is there a difference between mirrored and irridium? Mine is actually a gold irridium one but I find I still get burnt in summer if I don't use sunblock.

Photochomatic ones would be great, but they'd be pretty expensive I reckon. Also, I'm not sure if they would work on such a curve. Some aren't quick enough to react when you go into a tunnel for instance, so they could be even worse than tinted ones.

[vifferman]

Is there a difference between mirrored and irridium? Mine is actually a gold irridium one but I find I still get burnt in summer if I don't use sunblock.

Photochomatic ones would be great, but they'd be pretty expensive I reckon. Also, I'm not sure if they would work on such a curve. Some aren't quick enough to react when you go into a tunnel for instance, so they could be even worse than tinted ones.

Iridim visors are just another form of mirrored surface (different coating). My wife's iridium visor looks a lot less mirrored than my one does. It does cut out a fair chunk of the UV though, because my wife got quite cooked with the clear one on, but finds the iridium one much better. She still wears her sunglasses with it though, as it doesn't cut out enough glare.

There are photochromatic visors or inserts, but they're too slow to adjust, so I reckon they'd be a liability.

[2_SL0]

I have a tinted visor, plus it has a antifog shield inside it. It was great in the summer. But I found in the winter it has been nothing but a pain in the ass. I put my clear back on. Problem I found is if it rained, from behind my visor it would look like a full on thunderstorm, (As in the the skies had darkened to black.) I couldnt make out the road condition very well. It made it very hard to tell when the road had dried out or when there was a visable slippery patch.
I end up going slower and slower because I cant make out the road surface.

[BM-GS]

Depends on the tint of the visor - not all are the same.

Arai do a light & a dark tint, as well as clear. I had an iridium Arai one once, but this was a clear visor coated by some 3rd party, and they it was utter crap - but it came in an Arai bag (from the original clear visor). Yes, I bought one, but never again until Mr Arai calls me up & says he's doing them himself. The Shoei one I had a few years earlier was brilliant - a coated tinted visor which repelled water like crazy, and if the coating got scratched I couldn't tell from inside the helmet, as the tint didn't change. A shame my head's the wrong shape...

I use a light tint Arai visor and that does me most of the time. In the summer I commute wearing sunnies cos I leave my visor up. If I'm out & about in the summer I'll wear sunnies behind the tinted visor so I can still see and I don't get my face burned. Arai & Shoei say their tinted visors are uv-proof, and I've been riding with mates with clear visors to prove it.

The tinted visor gets retired in the winter for a clear one. This has 2 advantages:
1. I can see a bit better in the dark, though it made less difference than I expected and the tinted one is perfectly useable at night.
2. The scrapes & scratches are spread between the 2 visors, so each one lasts longer.

[JohnBoy]

all i just have is a black smoke tinted visor and a clear. i dont get into all that iridium/ chrome stuff.

a mate got me into them a couple of years back and have never look back, only get caught out at the begining of winter when it starts to get darker early and i forget my clear visor.

[Hitcher]

I have a tinted visor, plus it has a antifog shield inside it. It was great in the summer. But I found in the winter it has been nothing but a pain in the ass.

That's arse around here, sunshine. The neurological condition of your donkey interests us not.

This message has been brought to you by the BDOTGNZA.

[Big Dave]

I have a pair of wiley X sunglasses that have interchangeable clear and dark lenses. Nifty little pouch slips in jacket pocket.

http://www.wileyx.com/noTearsSeries.php

actually these ones - XL1
http://www.wileyx.com/ntInter.php

I leave the dark visor on the helmet and if the sun sets whilst still out on the bike - pop the clear lenses in the sunnies and ride with visor open.

Not cheap - but excellent product and good enough as stand alone sunnies.
Highly commended.

[unhingedlizard]

I use a tinted one during the day but if going anywhere where i might be heading home in the dark or rain I carry the clear one with me. I never used to have trouble in the UK with tinted visors. Mind u, i did live in the back of beyond. I have mates in the Uk with fines for tinted or mirrored visors.

[Odin]

Back in the 90's when i started out i had a helmet with a tinted visor but i don't think thats all that safe in the dark. Maeby it was tinted to much. Now i preffer to just put on the sunnies. I know it appeals to the wannabe cool people (hence i had one) to have a tinted visor but i would not advice it.

[bgd]

In the UK all visors have to meet some British standard regarding shatter protection and (I assume) light transmission. They don't approve tinted visors so they aren't legal to use, even for a pillion. No such approval required for sunnies so you can happily wear them as dark as possible with no shatter protection and it's fine - go figure.

As long as you aren't wearing tinted at night plod generally won't worry about the visor and I've never heard of a pillion being ticketed.