02-21-2025, 10:25 AM
My new commute has me riding East in the morning, and with the low sun this time of year, it's right in my eyes. I imagine I'll have the same issue coming home riding West once the time change happens.
I had this issue several years and a few jobs ago, and came up with a solution that was cheap and effective. Even with drop-down sun shades on a few of my helmets, the morning and evening sun was way too distracting for safe riding. Since I'm now facing the same issue, I dug into my box of supplies marked "Moto Stuff" in the garage and pulled out what I had used back then, to outfit my newer helmets for the current commute.
Motorcycle-specific sun strips are available to put on the upper edge of your face shield, but those are pricey for what's basically a decal. I didn't want to use something solid like electrical tape.
Here's a cheap and easy solution. Go on Amazon and buy a small roll of shaded or tinted cling vinyl, the type you'd stick in the side window of your car to keep your small child from roasting in the bright sun. Like this:
[url=https://www.amazon.com/KwikShade-Quality-Window-Sunshade-Windshield/dp/B07DNZV68J?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A2YSX3ESRMZEGL&gQT=1&th=1]https://www.amazon.com/KwikShade-Quality...gQT=1&th=1
Just make a pattern with some paper to form a sun strip that will fit across the top of your face shield, then cut out as many as you need for however many helmets you have. I find that a 12" wide piece of cling vinyl is the perfect length for a sun strip. Then, stick the strip to your CLEAN face shield. Since it's cling vinyl, you can remove and reposition it however you need to to put it in the ideal position.
The example I have hear is a dot matrix pattern vinyl that lets some light in, not distracting, but I also have full-see-through tinted vinyl. Both work great to block out the sun.
Works great, and you can cut dozens of them from one piece of vinyl shade. Cheap too! Only bugaboos are to be careful wiping off your face shield not to catch the edges of the strip and pull them up, just wipe from the middle to the sides of the shield. And, have a spare on hand... Once or twice, when I didn't stick them down well enough, they've flown off when I did an extreme head turn at high speed for a head check, but if it's stuck down well enough they don't leave your helmet.
I had this issue several years and a few jobs ago, and came up with a solution that was cheap and effective. Even with drop-down sun shades on a few of my helmets, the morning and evening sun was way too distracting for safe riding. Since I'm now facing the same issue, I dug into my box of supplies marked "Moto Stuff" in the garage and pulled out what I had used back then, to outfit my newer helmets for the current commute.
Motorcycle-specific sun strips are available to put on the upper edge of your face shield, but those are pricey for what's basically a decal. I didn't want to use something solid like electrical tape.
Here's a cheap and easy solution. Go on Amazon and buy a small roll of shaded or tinted cling vinyl, the type you'd stick in the side window of your car to keep your small child from roasting in the bright sun. Like this:
[url=https://www.amazon.com/KwikShade-Quality-Window-Sunshade-Windshield/dp/B07DNZV68J?source=ps-sl-shoppingads-lpcontext&ref_=fplfs&smid=A2YSX3ESRMZEGL&gQT=1&th=1]https://www.amazon.com/KwikShade-Quality...gQT=1&th=1
Just make a pattern with some paper to form a sun strip that will fit across the top of your face shield, then cut out as many as you need for however many helmets you have. I find that a 12" wide piece of cling vinyl is the perfect length for a sun strip. Then, stick the strip to your CLEAN face shield. Since it's cling vinyl, you can remove and reposition it however you need to to put it in the ideal position.
The example I have hear is a dot matrix pattern vinyl that lets some light in, not distracting, but I also have full-see-through tinted vinyl. Both work great to block out the sun.
Works great, and you can cut dozens of them from one piece of vinyl shade. Cheap too! Only bugaboos are to be careful wiping off your face shield not to catch the edges of the strip and pull them up, just wipe from the middle to the sides of the shield. And, have a spare on hand... Once or twice, when I didn't stick them down well enough, they've flown off when I did an extreme head turn at high speed for a head check, but if it's stuck down well enough they don't leave your helmet.