Using tear-offs on the street?

[ilikefood]

My commute is 60 miles per day, so my helmet's face shield gets pitted and scratched pretty quickly. I was thinking about using tear-offs, so I can just tear off a layer when it gets scratched up instead of getting a new face shield. Would that be a good idea? Would applying Rain-X on a tear-off work? Or is that just a totally crazy idea?

 

[superhawk]

that's called littering

 

[Kornholio]

Mine is 70 miles a day...where are you riding? I maybe have to clean my shield once a week. :dunno

 

[ilikefood]

that's called littering

Ha. I figure I'd tear off a layer once a month or so, at home, not while riding.

 

[ilikefood]

Mine is 70 miles a day...where are you riding? I maybe have to clean my shield once a week. :dunno

101 south from SF. When I commute during daylight hours, I don't clean my face shield very frequently either. But now that it's getting dark earlier, riding with a pitted, a bit scratched up face shield is more of an issue. And rain will make it worse too.

 

[Butch]

Ha. I figure I'd tear off a layer once a month or so, at home, not while riding.

That sounds like a brilliant idea, actually. Do a test for us, please.

 

[Kornholio]

101 south from SF. When I commute during daylight hours, I don't clean my face shield very frequently either. But now that it's getting dark earlier, riding with a pitted, a bit scratched up face shield is more of an issue. And rain will make it worse too.

I guess 101 must be really dirty. I'm on 880/80 from Fremont to SF and back. Leave the house at 6:30 in the morning.

 

[rsrider]

Do like Bruce Anstey does during the TT, connect a small cut off plastic bottle bottom to your bars, put favorite cleaner in bottle, add sponge (real one), and when your shield gets too buggy just grab the sponge out and clean your shield. Bugs aren't really a problem right now, but spring.....yeah, major suckage.

 

[injun]

DO IT write a book about it make bank and then tell us about it.

 

[Map8]

Ha. I figure I'd tear off a layer once a month or so, at home, not while riding.

I doubt a tear off would survive for a month. Difference in temp / moisture would mean water and dirt would get under it during that time rendering it useless for improving vision. Forget the tear offs and just clean your visor more often, like daily or every other day. A clean visor will shed dirt and water pretty well. Ride safe. :thumbup

 

[zixaq]

Mine is 70 miles a day...where are you riding? I maybe have to clean my shield once a week. :dunno

I do 70 miles a day commute, but only two days a week (the other days are much shorter). My shield is glare garbage within a day of cleaning. I want the magic shield you have.

Seriously, I can clean it that morning and it will still be terrible for the ride home.

 

[Gawernator]

I go for weeks at a time without cleaning my BELL shields lol

 

[SlideSF]

If you are at home anyway, why not just clean your shield with a cloth? Less landfill whether littering or not. I thought the purpose behind a tear-off was to clean your shield while you are riding.

 

[mrzuzzo]

Just carry Windex wipes under your seat. That is what I do.

 

[ariacode]

FFS guys he's talking about a protective layer for pits and scratches not bugs and dirt.

 

[Gawernator]

Get a better brand of faceshield. They shouldn't break down that fast...

 

[lunchbox101]

It may actually scratch the visor faster by trapping dirt etc between the tear off and visor.

 

[felixthecat]

Maybe it's a quality issue with the shield? I have an RF-1200, commute 70miles every day (280S out, 101N back in), and haven't noticed any scratches in the 1+ month since I started commuting with the moto. The only "issue" is the bugs from 280 so I clean my shield once a week.

 

[fast4d]

I give mine a quick wipe with detail spary/microfiber everyday. damn arai shields scratches very easily I used to replace every year. I have medium size windscreen now so it has improved.

 

[ScottRNelson]

Shoei shields don't get scratched unless you do something really stupid and rub dirt around on them or something. I've had multiple Shoei helmets wear out while the original shield was still good and mostly scratch free. And it usually takes me about ten years before I'm really ready to toss one of those.

A week ago I was out near Coulterville on Highway 49 at dusk heading back to the Bay Area. It took about 15 minutes for the bugs to completely cover the shield. I had to make a choice between wiping them off with the little rubber squeegee thingy on my Held glove and leave a tiny smear each time or let them collect and hope there is enough clear space between them to still see. I swapped shields part way through from a smoke shield to clear, then stopped for gas and washed the clear one again. Fortunately the bugs are only out for about an hour then it was clear riding the rest of the way. (I wrote about this somewhere on here.)

If you can stuff a tear-off into a pocket or something, I think it sounds like a good idea. My First Gear riding pants have pockets in the legs that would work for that, if I could remember to unzip one and just leave the velcro to hold it shut.

I think I'll look into getting a few tear-offs myself.