• Welcome Guest! If you are already a member of the BMW MOA, please log in to the forum in the upper right hand corner of this page. Check "Remember Me?" if you wish to stay logged in.

    We hope you enjoy the excellent technical knowledge, event information and discussions that the BMWMOA forum provides. Why not take the time to join the club, so you can enjoy posting on the forum, the club magazine, and all of the discounts and benefits the BMWMOA offers?

    Want to read the MOA monthly magazine for free? Take a 3-month test ride of the magazine; check here for details.

  • NOTE. Some content will be hidden from you. If you want to view all content, you must register for the forum if you are not a member, or if a member, you must be logged in.

Sun in your eyes

BCKRider

Kbiker
The scariest moments of my ride back home (40 miles of a 335 ride) were riding into the setting sun. I have a fullface helmet, prescription glasses, and magnetic sunglasses that bond to the prescription glasses. I'd used the the sunglasses during the heat of the day with no problem. I'd removed them when riding tree-shaded mountans. Replaced the sunglasses when riding through a mix of sun and shade.

I was never happy. Didn't see that well in the shade. Didn't see that well with the sun in my eyes either. Wished for my old Schuberth helmet with a sunscreen and also sunglasses.

Your solutions to this problem?
 
I always carry a roll of the 1" blue painters tape in my saddlebag. When heading east in the mornings or west in the evenings, having a band of tape at the top of the visor just above the normal sight line, allows me to slightly dip my head to block out the sun. A cheap, but effective sun visor.:thumb



:dance:dance:dance
 
you can do the same thing with the static-cling adhesive window tinting- just run about 1" of it at top of visor on the inside. doesn't stop the sun glare, but does diminish it.
my morning commute has me riding straight into the sun for much of the year, and then the same thing on my ride home. a clean faceseld really helps- thank you Plexus.
 
Didn't see that well in the shade. Didn't see that well with the sun in my eyes either. Wished for my old Schuberth helmet with a sunscreen and also sunglasses.

Your solutions to this problem?

I no longer need to wear sunglasses now that I use a Scorpion 1000XE (?) helmet with the drop down sun shade. It goes up and down constantly in mountainous areas as I travel in and out of the shade.

A strip and a half of electrician's tape along the top of the visor eliminates most of the problem of riding directly into the rising or setting sun.
 
I always carry a roll of the 1" blue painters tape in my saddlebag. When heading east in the mornings or west in the evenings, having a band of tape at the top of the visor just above the normal sight line, allows me to slightly dip my head to block out the sun. A cheap, but effective sun visor.:thumb

:dance:dance:dance

I really miss an external visor like on the Bell Magnum of years ago for this very reason.

From an old project I have a roll of 1" black auto body trip tape. There is lots left over so I put a strip on the inside at the top of my helmet face shields. To get the location correct, I put the helmet on and mark the shield with a grease pencil as to where the optimum point for the sun shade should be. Then I remove the shield and apply the tape. Being applied to the inside, it is hardly noticeable from the outside. It is the very first thing that gets done to a new helmet and lasts the life of the face shield.

You can see it here:
DSCN1702.jpg
 
Last edited:
One big advantage to the blue painters tape is that it comes off clean (unlike other tapes). If, in the middle of the day, you are in an area where all the scenery is up high (Yosemite Valley for example), you just peel it off and replace it as needed later.


:dance:dance:dance
 
I use 1" electrical tape. It doesn't matter if it gets wet. I have two strips on at all times. Riding east Monday morning in Columbus OH in rush hour traffic I had to use my left hand as a visor to see anything for several miles. I had to shift up & down with out using the clutch.

I missed my exit because I didn't want to change lanes until I could see better. After I could see I let my GPS take me to US 33. The sun in my eyes happened so quick all I could do was stay in my lane & hope I didn't run into the car in front of me at 60+ mph.
 
solas

Painters' tape lets a little light sneak thru. Instead, i've used solas reflecto tape from riderwearhouse on a couple visors. it's pretty much permanent, but it's also reflective for oncoming traffic.

Not the entire width of the tape, but about an inch; whatever seems useful. tho it doesn't really interfere with normal vision, when i want to feel like i'm seeing more i just lift the shield a little.
 
Last edited:
I use both window tint film on one shield and Shoei gradient shields that are darker at top for models for which they are available.

I wish we would see some FF touring designs with decent visors like the old Bell style- built in sunscreens add to helmet size and weight and most are not very well shaped either- too much cutout in center...

The currently marketed add on visors are pretty poor...
 
from the OP

I just described this situation today to the friend I rode to. His observation: I've done it too (in a car,) had a headache the next day, and wondered "why not take a half hour rest stop." In my case, it was because I had forgotten my cell phone at at my friends place which he deliverd today, and I was already going to be late for dinner hour.

But better to be very late coming home than not come home. I think I made a bad decision to keep riding into that sun, and got away with it.

Lots of good advice on this thread, and as usual, nothing that fits all.
 
Good point about that being the right time of day for a riding break, if you can do it.

What I've not seen anyone mention is that while we have challenges seeing in the low sun, same applies for all the cagers around us. Especially those behind us, because we are nothing but a slim shadow in their forward view. Our hard to see taillight, brakelight and turn signals are even harder to see looking into the sun.

Also, same for those cagers at an intersection waiting to turn left as we approach from their left. They look, left (clear at that second), right (into the blinding sun, constricting their pupils), then back left and don't see us, and pull out. They claim, "I never saw the bike!" and they probably aren't lying.

Anytime the sun is low in the sky, morning or dusk, is a high danger time for us due to the limited visibility it causes on cage drivers. Sun visor down = high danger, for the cagers.
 
I feel a lot better reading all of this, I thought it was just my aging eyes giving me so much trouble! This time of year really is difficult as far as sun glare goes.

I'm going to give the Blue Tape a try. I've been using it as a direction cheat sheet, sticking it on my tank for awhile now, and it comes off nice and clean with no residue. It should work great on a face shield!

Thanks!
 
We had a recent similar experience this past week while riding in Utah. The setting sun was right in our path and at the worst possible level. I have a Schuberth with the tinted visor and I put tape on the visor. Still had poor visibility unless I held up my left hand as a shade. Probably not the wisest thing to do; should have just stopped for 15 minutes until the sun went behind a mountain. Got lucky this time.
 
I put on sunglasses then put the Schuberth's sliding shade down HALFway and look under it. The shade acts like a visor. Tape probalby works better.

BTW blue painter's tape is removable for only a week or two. For permanent, 3M makes high quality light-blocking tapes used in photography, graphic design, lithography, industrial applications, etc. Ask someone works in a sign or graphics shop to snag you a foot or two. Aluminum tape used to seal HVAC ductwork is a favorite of photographers for homemade gobos and snoots (shields to modify the field of illumination and control spillover from a strobe). Black gaffer's tape works too; be forewarned, though--if you need to move or remove either or those, you'll be buying a new visor.
 
The scariest moments of my ride back home (40 miles of a 335 ride) were riding into the setting sun.

You ought to try coming in on final approach with the windscreen all wet and the sun low and right in line with the runway.

Wished for my old Schuberth helmet with a sunscreen.

All helmets should have that feature. Its the feature I missed the most after I sold my Schuberth Concept. I learned my lesson and bought another one.
 
Back
Top