To wipe or not?

[unhingedlizard]

I find the best thing to keep your visor clean in the rain is to take the car.



(dons flameproof armour)

[Pixie]

The best?
I carry two 3M Scotch Brite Hi Performance cloths,$3.00 at the supermarket.
These are micro fibre fabrics that can clean glass with no detergents - better than a lens cloth.
One is kept damp in a zip lock bag.This is used to wipe the bugs away and can be laid onto the visor for a few minutes to loosen dried bugs.I also carry a small spray bottle with a weak solution of Simple Green to deal to those particularly oily bug smears.
Once the bugs are wiped away,I use the other cloth,which is dry to wipe the visor dry,leaving it smear free.
I rinse the wet cloth after each ride.
Every once in a while I wash the cloths in a residue free detergent like Sport Wash or Nik Wash.

[Pixie]

I use Rain-X is really good. The water beads off the visor and doesnt "stick" to it. But use is sparingly it's meant for glass. Some people say its makes the Lexan the visor is made of brittle...i havent had any problems with it at all though. Great stuff.

GE the maker of Lexan specifically advises against the use of Rain X,windex,etc.
actually any product that contains alcohols,aliphatic hydrocarbons,petroleum distillates.Which basically rules out most glass cleaners and furniture polishes.
This info is printed on the protective film that is applied to virgin Lexan sheet.

If you want to risk a visor which may be a $100 plus Arai part ,go for it.

As for not having any problems.You probably don't want to wait for a 50mm rock to embed itself in your face to find out,eh?

[Steam]

The best?
I carry two 3M Scotch Brite Hi Performance cloths,$3.00 at the supermarket.
These are micro fibre fabrics that can clean glass with no detergents - better than a lens cloth.
One is kept....
I also carry a small spray bottle ....
I use the other cloth...,
I rinse the wet cloth...
Every once in a while I wash...

Jeez, you are organised. Are you sure you aren't female? I'll try the Hi Performance cloths on my sunglasses, didn't know they were even better than a lens cloth. Thanks!

[vifferman]

The best?
I also carry a small spray bottle with a weak solution of Simple Green to deal to those particularly oily bug smears.

Hmmmmm....
Did you know Simple Green is caustic, and is not recommended for use on plastic instrument panels?

Did you know this:

Deep green in color and with an aroma of fresh sassafras, Simple Green is a popular household cleaner marketed to environmentally concerned consumers. It bills itself as nontoxic, the ''safer alternative" to other cleaners.
But one of Simple Green's key ingredients is the same toxic solvent that can be found in traditional all-purpose cleaners such as Formula 409 and Windex, a fact that consumers cannot discern from the products' labels.
.....
A key ingredient of Simple Green is butyl cellosolve, a substance considered toxic by the federal government that can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled, possibly destroying red blood cells, among other potential dangers. Concentrations of the solvent in household cleaners are not thought to pose an immediate danger to people. But some environmentalists insist the cleaners should not be labeled ''green" because the federal government considers butyl cellosolve toxic.

[vifferman]

If you want to risk a visor which may be a $100 plus Arai part ,go for it.

I've been using Plexus on my visors for about 5 years with no problems. For travelling, I have a small spray bottle (coincidentally, a "Simple Green" sample one, which I refilled with very diluted detergent). THe "Simple Green" sample was the most useless cleaner I've ever used.

I make sure I never use anything but a soft cloth to wipe/wash the visors, including the current one which is mirrored/tinted and was fine (apart from a couple of very small chips from stones) until I tried to use a footpath to wipe the top of it while I was still wearing it. Even Plexus didn't remove the abrasion in the top of it. D'Oh!!

[ceebie13]

Better living everyone!

[mazz1972]

Following on from my earlier post....Cat Crap has been around for about 15 years - this is what the website says:

* Cleans and polishes glass and plastic
* Repels lint and dust
* Prevents fogging of lenses (mine still fogs)
* Safe on all lenses and coatings
* It is suitable for use on all types of visors, sunglasses, binoculars and other optical lenses as it is a mild cleaner and is safe for use on all types of lenses and coatings. One container is good for hundreds of applications.
* Cat Crap comes in a handy snap close container that will easily fit in your bag or with any gear you might carry along with you.

It's a solid waxy sort of stuff in a pottle and is it's more like a polish or conditioner. You need to clean off the dirt/bugs first or you will scratch the visor.

I always clean my visor with wet bog roll and a bit of liquid soap (easily done at McD's) and then put a really teeny bit of Cat Crap on and buff it off with more of McD's bog roll - the visor polishes up really nicely and is bloody fantastic for beading water in the rain. We've had our pottle for ages and still most of it left.

Haven't tried anything else but some of the other products mentioned here sound good.

[XR250 Si]

I've got a pottle of the Cat Crap too. I also have issues with it fogging.

[Pixie]

Hmmmmm....
Did you know Simple Green is caustic, and is not recommended for use on plastic instrument panels?

Did you know this:

Deep green in color and with an aroma of fresh sassafras, Simple Green is a popular household cleaner marketed to environmentally concerned consumers. It bills itself as nontoxic, the ''safer alternative" to other cleaners.
But one of Simple Green's key ingredients is the same toxic solvent that can be found in traditional all-purpose cleaners such as Formula 409 and Windex, a fact that consumers cannot discern from the products' labels.
.....
A key ingredient of Simple Green is butyl cellosolve, a substance considered toxic by the federal government that can be absorbed through the skin or inhaled, possibly destroying red blood cells, among other potential dangers. Concentrations of the solvent in household cleaners are not thought to pose an immediate danger to people. But some environmentalists insist the cleaners should not be labeled ''green" because the federal government considers butyl cellosolve toxic.

Very weak solution e.g. 100 to 1
It is applied to dissolve the "oily bug guts" and wiped off immediately.
Butyl cellosolve is actually one of the no noes mentioned on the Lexan film.
I don't think you will find a totally innocuous cleaner in existence.
I applaud the way Simple green,suckers the Greenies into thinking it is environmentally safe ,by using the word green.As do the Mother Earth brand of toxic cleaners.
Green targeted marketing is based on the Japanese discipline of Buru Shitsu.
I use straight simple green to degrease my swingarm and rear sprocket.
I don't have red blood

[Busy]

I sit here reading these great replies and the cat crap comes up, next thing the cat walks past. Is it fate ... ?

Ok I'll try it ...

Can't see how it keeps the water off, unless the swarm of flies does it. Very hard to see through and trying to get the cat to crap on demand is not an easy task. Some have mention fogging with cat crap, I wonder if that was before or after the hurling.
I guess it could be worse, could be cow dung ...

[rocketman1]

I try not to touch the visor if you do it will soon be covered in scratches,and will piss you of when going into the sun.$45 for a new one.. I wait till i get home and wet with the tap running gently use a soft cloth & a bit of detergent & rinse off.
If it raining and you are doing over 80kmh turn your head, from side to side the rain drops will blow away, works well.
I have one of those blue reflective visors, good on sunny days, but not good at night..

[peasea]

It's hard to resist the temptation to wipe the visor with the back of your glove but in some circumstances it's far safer; you NEED to see. Sure, you'll get some fine scratches if you wipe with the back of your glove but a visor (my last one was 45 bills) is cheaper than a wipeout. If it's a no-choice situation and I've been getting 'truck muck' thrown at me, I clean the visor with forecourt tissue and whatever is in the windscreen washing bucket at the next gas station. As I said, visors are cheap when compared to bike, life and limb. I consider them to be a consumable.

Also, don't leave dead bugs on your visor after a summer's day out. Wash them off when you get to your destination; many bugs have quite corrosive content in their bodies. The same trick applies to your car/bike radiator. Bug bodies will corrode that too, hose it out from the rear from time to time and carefully pick out their remains with an old toothbrush, bbq skewer or similar.

[Roj]

I polish my visor with silvo to take out the fine scratches, then use beeswax as a polish, takes a bit of effort sometimes but don't normally have a problem with rain, though I am riding alot less than I used too...

[w650 fan]

I found in heavy fog yesterday if I passed my hand in front of the visor closely without actually touching it, the moisture would actually be pulled off very well as the air curled behind the hand. I was travelling at 100 k's at the time so not sure if this would work at slower speeds.