Tinted visors, good or bad?

[slofox]

I use a dark tint visor for most riding. I also have clear visors for night time riding.

Certain ocular problems mean I have a slightly lowered ability to see through areas of high contrast, A dark tint visor helps with this. e.g. Riding in early morning (something I do a lot), the sun is low and there are times when I move from bright sunlight into deep shade. I get better vision into the dark patch with a dark visor - seems to lower the level of contrast. The clear at night is pretty obvious.

Although. I did once ride up to Auckland and came back at night. Dumbarse forgot that it would be dark on the return journey so forgot the clear visor, eh...had to ride all the way home with the dark one. Tried to ride with it open but is was a hell of a stormy night (some of the worst weather I ever rode in) and the rain made my glasses impossible to see through with the visor open. So closed it had to be. To be honest it wasn't as bad as I expected. The night vision kicked in after a few minutes and it wasn't too bad - especially on the highway. Mind you, it was a pretty slow ride home.

Oh and of course, wearing a dark visor puts doubt into the minds of errant motorcar drivers as to just how mean a muthafucka you actually are in there...when you are an ole grampa man like me, that's probably a good thing.

[bosslady]

Oh and of course, wearing a dark visor puts doubt into the minds of errant motorcar drivers as to just how mean a muthafucka you actually are in there...when you are an ole grampa man like me, that's probably a good thing.

haha I think the ponytail, the bike and the L plate ruin it all for me lol

[FJRider]

haha I think the ponytail, the bike and the L plate ruin it all for me lol

ONLY ... if there's a pink ribbon in the ponytail

L plate riders are fearless .... and GN's are BOSS ...

[TheTengTheory]

ONLY ... if there's a pink ribbon in the ponytail

L plate riders are fearless .... and GN's are BOSS ...

Too bloody true. I've seen some GN riders own the street dam any cars near them. RIde it like you stole it

There's something very intimidating about not see the eyes. Its not the same with those flip downs....no offence to you flip visor owners but lets face it...Visors make you look like a Boss.

[R650R]

Tinted visors rock. Sometimes wear my prescription sunnys underneath also in HB summer! Being a former night driver I could ride home with no lights anyway as I've learnt how to really see in the dark.
Even adventure riding I take the tint, you can have it half open when riding into the sun to use it like a sunvisor while everyone else has one hand up and blinded. Also find tint gives more contrast on wet roads.
On a long trip if your struggling for nightvision... take the time to clean your headlight at the garage when you fuel up, a lot of people don't realise the difference that makes.

[FJRider]

Too bloody true. I've seen some GN riders own the street dam any cars near them. RIde it like you stole it

There's something very intimidating about not see the eyes. Its not the same with those flip downs....no offence to you flip visor owners but lets face it...Visors make you look like a Boss.

The really tough chick around here ..... have barbed wire instead of a ribbon ...

[TheTengTheory]

The really tough chick around here ..... have barbed wire instead of a ribbon ...

Grandma Cagers beware!

[\m/]

Haven't used a regular tinted visor so can't comment. Dual visor helmets are great however, flick the visor down when the sun is low, flick back up when it gets dark.

[Wingnut]

Cant stand using sunnies.

Full dark visor is ideal in my experience. Have taken a clear as well if on a multi day ride....

[FJRider]

I often read in these forums ... about riders returning home later than they expected. The last few hours riding with the visor up. Forgot their visor was tinted.

Even on the dark/wet and stormy days riding ... the tinted visor can make it difficult.

[Woodman]

Used to think that the drop down sunshades were good too until last week when I had a wee spill and landed on my head. All ok but the sunshade that was in the down position sliced the end of my nose off and took a chunk out of the side of my nose.

Prior to that i thought they were great.

[DEATH_INC.]

I hate jamming sunnies inside a helmet too.
I use, and have done for 15+ years either dark tint, or more often these days an iridium tint visor.
The dark one's can be a bit of a challenge when it's dark and shitty, but lets face it, even clear ones suck with lights and shit reflecting off raindrops.
The Iridiums though, are still good to see out of , the only thing I notice is you don't see the oncoming cars lights lighting things up before they get to you.
But, be aware that I have very good night vision, and struggle with bright sunny days....so this may not be for every one.

[Zedder]

I do the sunnies thing, too poor to do anything else...

[bosslady]

I'm not even allowed to ride when it's super dark anyway

[caspernz]

Well it comes down to what works for you Bosslady, try the various methods and you'll find the one that suits you best.

I used to run only with sunglasses, but found that a pain. Switched to tinted visor and I actually liked that, but it got to be a nuisance to carry the clear visor all the time when out on those epic, just around the block in about 900 kms kinda rides...so when it came to replacing the last helmet I went for a Shoei Multitec with the internal flip down visor. Suits my 24/7 riding hours

Quite apart from the colour of the visor, all my visors have had a strip of electrical tape applied to act as a kind of sunvisor for when the sun is close to the horizon. That bit of electrical tape, quite innucuous in itself, makes riding at dawn and dusk much easier