Motorcycle Journeys Trip Logs

Tinting strip for motorcycle helmet visor

Written by

Gale

in

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

Comments

3 responses to “Tinting strip for motorcycle helmet visor”

  1. roflol Avatar
    roflol

    Brilliant tip, thanks so much for all the info! Will be taking off for my first long trip in the very early morning so using my clear full-face visor for the first time, and didn’t want to bring the smoked visor along. Local Hancock has this stuff on sale for less than $3 a yard right now, bought a whole yard to play around with. Covering the whole visor with this stuff did not work well imho – too many imperfections visible from inside the helmet no matter how smooth it appears from outside, but the strip at top of visor will help cut down on eyestrain from light as you said. Will still need to find some sunglasses that fit inside the helmet and “sit” well. Thanks again.

  2. bartman Avatar
    bartman

    many thanks, for the tip… i will be going by and picking a yard up. i do have a question, do you soap up the visor, to get a better cling? or just “dry” apply it?

    thanks again,
    bartman

  3. Gale Avatar
    Gale

    I didn’t use soap, but I did get the film wet so it floats on the visor. I was afraid using soap would leave a visible residue under the film. You could use Windex too — it’s surprisingly slippery.

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