Helmet Shield Color

Shawn

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Just wondering what the best helmet sheild color is ? I have a clear and dark tint for my HJC but I don't like having to carry both sheilds if I plan on being on the road after dark. I was thinking of trying out a mirrored version - I have heard that it gives you the tint in bright light but doesn't hinder your vision at night or low light conditions.
 

rchamberlain

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The mirrored version DOES reduce your vision at night just as a smoke will. I use a gold mirror for daytime riding. The other thing about a mirrored visor is sometimes when riding into the sun, I can faintly see my reflection in the visor which is annoying. I do like the appearance of the mirror, however.
 

Andz

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I have a silver mirror visor on my Shoei and I don't even know where the clear visor is. It is a bit dark at night but I rarely ride after dark so no worries.
 

marke14

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I concur - I believe the mirrored ones are tinted generally, and will reduce nighttime visibility. I hear you - I dislike having to make room for the "light smoke" shield I carry in case I get caught out at night.
 

Shawn

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It would be nice if you could get a transition visor similar to the lenses in eye glasses. Around here this time of the year it starts to get dark around 6:30-7pm. So if you start riding after work you usually have to put up with a bright sun low on the horizon then within an hour or so you have night conditions. So I find myself always having to carry both my visors with me.
 

Stumbles06

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I always carry 2 visors. I start work early, so need the clear to get to work, then change over to the dark-smoke for the ride home. Not sure about your laws over there, but my dark visor has "for daytime use only" stamped into the side and it's illegal here to ride with it after the street-lights come on. Cops can (and will) book you if they see you with a dark visor at night. Yes, it's a pain to carry a spare all the time, but I don't wanna get booked. At least the Shark has a 10 second visor change, brilliant setup.

I asked my wife about the transition visor (she works for Carl Zeiss Vision), and she said it would work, but it would cost heaps to set up a line to run it. After the initial set-up, it would be fairly cheap to do.
If I win the lotto, that's what I'm planning on doing, should make millions :)

:rockon:
 

VEGASRIDER

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A tinted mirror visor is equivalent to a light smoke visor. Not as dark as the dark smoke, but it will still reduce visiblity during the night, just not as much of a dark smoke visor.

Carrying two different visors is a pain in the ass. I choose to keep the tinted visor on at all times, and resot to using safety glasses or goggles for the night. Convenient if your night riding is kept faily short.

Reduciing visiblity is not good, even if it's the light smoke version. You can see fairly well down the road, but for small debris and holes on the roadway that will be in your immediate path, or if the roadway is wet, it could prevent you from seeing them right away.
 

aziebell

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I have a clear and a red mirror visor. The red visor seems to reduce my visibility when it comes to traffic lights, so I don't use it. I find that I have to be closer to the intersection before I can clearly make out the signal at times.
 

mxgolf

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I have the Shoei RF1000 and have the BLEU MIRROR lens and it is sweet any time except dark and rainy situations. I will use a clear fog free lens if I ever need it. I have not had to use it!:cheer:
 

dean2287

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I've had a few mirrored visors and they all got scratched up. I hate them. All I have now is a clear and a smoked one. I can switch them out in about 30 seconds.
 

Erci

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I haven't tried this myself, but people on ninja250 forum highly recommend getting a tinted strip that goes on the top edge of your visor.
This way you never need to swap shields. Just tilt your head down slightly in direct sunlight.
They're cheap too.
Motorcycle Helmet Sun Shade - webBikeWorld
 

chunkygoat

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I use the yellow. It blocks the UV rays so in day time, no glare or squinting - yet at night the yellow doesn't inhibit your ability to see. It is a very neutral color.
 

Smersh

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One clear, one smoke, but i rarely switch to clear. I also wear oakley flak jackets underneath with replaceable lenses - one black mirror, one persimmon.

I don't do much night riding, but it's usually shield up wearing persimmon lenses on local roads and shield down on the highway. During the day, it's just mirror lenses and shield up or down depending on speed. The only problem is removing/putting on the helmet: a) remove glasses b)put on the helmet c)put glasses back on.

About the sun shades: My previous helmet was Nolan N102 monstrosity, it had a sun shade. YMMV, but i couldn't stand that sun shade - it created a color edge with some distortion right across the field of vision, and it really annoyed me, so i just removed it. I tried to get back to it multiple times, but result was always the same - i removed it after about 20 mins max. Once again, YMMV.
 

Erci

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About the sun shades: My previous helmet was Nolan N102 monstrosity, it had a sun shade. YMMV, but i couldn't stand that sun shade - it created a color edge with some distortion right across the field of vision, and it really annoyed me, so i just removed it. I tried to get back to it multiple times, but result was always the same - i removed it after about 20 mins max. Once again, YMMV.

Interesting. It was a separate plastic piece though, right?
 

Smersh

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Interesting. It was a separate plastic piece though, right?

Yup. Nolan N102 N-Com Motorcycle Helmets you can see that piece on the pic - it moved independently of the shield itself and had few positions, not just fully up and fully down. I guess, tinted tape would not have the edge distortion, but it still creates the difference in color/light.
 

FrankieOC82

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Yeah, I have one clear and one silver mirrored. As many have stated, the mirrored does reduce visibility at night. Mine actually is quite noticeable compared to the clear one. I rarely ride with any form of luggage or bags though, so I never carry a spare with me :spank:

That's why I've been looking into getting one with the interior sun visor style. I really dig the look and functionality of em (although I'm gonna miss the sick look of the mirrored visor!). My friend has this one:

Schuberth S1

SICK helmet, but too expensive for me!

I was looking into this though:
Vega V-tune

Has built in interior sun visor and bluetooth, but don't know about the quality... anyone have this one?
 
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