Motorcycle Journeys Trip Logs

Tag: motorcycle helmet

  • Tinting strip for motorcycle helmet visor

    I don’t know about anyone else, but I have sun sensitive eyes. If riding into the sun at the start or end of the day, or when when the sun tends to be lower during the winter months is very hard on my eyes.  So I was looking for a solution.

    tinting strip from front

    I researched and found the strips of visor tinting sold for $14.95 online and thought that was a ridiculous price for a slender strip of plastic cling. I headed to Hancock Fabric and found they sell 54″ wide static cling window tinting (no adhesive) by the yard for $3.97. Tough decision. For a buck you can buy enough to experiment a few times. If Hancock has it, I’m sure other fabric stores do as well.

    Link to UV window tinting at Hancock

    I traced the top curve of my visor on paper and made a pattern for the strip. I ended up trying a variety of widths. On riding tests I felt 1″ was too narrow and didn’t help my eyes enough and 2″ was way too much, so I settled on 1 1/2″ across the top of the visor. It doesn’t obstruct my vision at all.

    I wasn’t sure static cling would stay on the visor at highway speeds but I can tell you after thousands of miles not so much as a corner has lifted up. But if I want remove it I just pick up a corner and the strip lifts off with no residue  left on visor. When I clean my visor with a microfiber cloth I clean the bugs off the strip as well and it doesn’t move.

    It’s made a big difference on how tired my eyes get in bright sunlight and I think it helps with the glare on cloudy days as well.

    If you don’t mind paying postage, I’ll send you some to try (I have plenty). Or go to a fabric store and buy a 1/2 yard and you can have a visor tinting party with all your friends. Seriously — if you belong to a riding club you should get some and share it with the other riders. Anything that makes your eyes less tired after staring at the road for 10 hours is a good thing.

    tinting strip from side
    tinting strip from side

  • Nolan N103 visor mechanism replacement

    This post is more about my great experience with Nolan than it is about the repair. I purchased my Nolan N103 at the motorcycle show in November 2009 and immediately loved it. It had all the features I wanted — comfort, flip front, interior visor, padded neck straps so my neck doesn’t get raw, room for speakers.

    Difference in noise

    I have an Autocom  system with helmet speakers and with my previous helmet (a Caberg Justissimo that fell apart) I’d had a difficult time listening to music when riding at highway speeds and if it was windy I could just forget it; the helmet noise drown out the volume no matter what it was set at. Even under good conditions I would have to set the volume so high for the road that it was too loud when I slowed down through towns.  (Factor in that I never ride without ear plugs)

    Before buying the Nolan I had read the review on advrider.com that told people to never buy this helmet because of terrible wind noise.  Granted I don’t have a ton of experience with motorcycle helmets since this is only my third one, but if I’m not happy with the Nolan I think maybe I need to be riding in a car.

    With the Nolan the difference in my music volume is barely discernible whether on the highway and riding 20 MPH and I can even hear the music with the visor open. That never happened before. The simple joy of being able to hear my music just the way I like — set low so it’s in the background.

    Seal repair

    I put a lot of miles on a helmet and figure the Texas heat probably isn’t the easiest thing on them, so I wasn’t entirely surprised last spring when a small section of the seal around the visor came loose. I called Nolan for how to repair it myself, but they insisted I send it back so they could do it and make sure the seal adhered properly. I don’t think the entire process took  a week; I shipped it, they received it, repaired it and shipped it back  the same day. All of which was covered under warranty. I was impressed.

    New visor mechanisms from Nolan

    Visor mechanism worn

    Another feature I love about the helmet is that I’ve been able to have the visor partially open and even at highway speeds it stayed put.

    In the summer heat of Texas I can’t hardly breathe with the helmet fully closed, so this has been one of the most valued features of the helmet. So I was a little disappointed on the ride last weekend down to the hill country in mid 80’s temperatures and the visor wouldn’t stay open even at slower 60-65 MPH speeds.

    New mechanism in place

    I called Nolan when I got home and they knew exactly what the problem was and no questions asked they shipped replacement visor mechanisms at no cost and told me to call for help if I had any problems while replacing them.

    I did call for instructions on how to remove the old mechanisms and they suggested a plastic screwdriver to pry them off. I used a plastic putty knife.

    I snapped the new mechanisms in, snapped the visor back on and was good to go.

    Nolan believes in Customer Service

    I don’t know about anyone else, but this isn’t the level of customer service I experience when I call most places. Seal replaced for free and quickly. Visor parts sent at no charge and followed by cheerful help over the phone.

    When it’s time for a new helmet I will get another Nolan, not just because I like the helmet, but because they stand behind their products.