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Dark smoke, mirrored, or clear visor for your helmet?

20K views 38 replies 24 participants last post by  Sargent_Horse 
#1 ·
so i just bought a brand new CL-16 Hellion HJC helmet on craigslist. got it for $45 it has never been used. i was debating on which visor i should go with. what do you guys think? im leaning more towards the dark smoke visor, but i really like the way the mirror one looks.
 

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#10 ·
I just did this for the 1st time last night and surprisingly it wasn't that bad. It looked like I was in a dream and the street/headlights were like really prominent or prevalent (whichever of those words fits in there lol) and everything else was a shadow for the most part. I kind of had to focus more on the details of the road and what was up ahead. Overall not bad though
 
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#4 ·
I have dark tint shields for the day time and clear shields for the night. It get's rather expensive when I have to have two shields for four helmets. They have a transition shield available for my Ninja helmet but I hear that the shield does not get very dark in bright sunlight. I may buy one anyway and wear some sun glasses. That should make it dark enough.
 
#5 ·
I've got some bad news for your wallet. All of the above. I love my mirrored visor on my Scorpion helmet, but at night it's a pain to have since anyone who says that a mirrored (or tinted) visor at night doesn't seriously reduce visibility isn't being totally honest. I would love to leave my mirrored visor on permanently, but if I have to ride at night I always regret it if I don't put my clear visor on or carry both. Lucky for me, most Scorpion helmets have an integrate drop down visor (sunglasses), so clear is really all I need (but not all I want). Now while it would be tempting to say that you could just keep the clear and buy mirrored, mirrored have a problem of their own. They are extremly scratch prone, or at least in comparison with non mirrored visors. That said, I still recommend buying mirrored and keeping clear to use both. Also, get one of these:

http://smile.amazon.com/Master-Select-Visor-Motorcycle-Helmet/dp/B009216FO8?ie=UTF8&keywords=helmet%20visor%20bag&qid=1462068430&ref_=sr_1_1&sr=8-1

It's a great way to store your visor between uses, and must have for long trips.

Regarding tinted, I barely use mine since I always have the option of mirrored/clear + dropdown dark tint, but keep in mind that while mirrored looks awesome, it isn't comparable to your average dark sunglasses.
 
#6 ·
Last thing...I just saw your pic and definitely mirrored all the way! It would look killer with your bike and helmet. Just don't try tricking yourself in to thinking that you won't need the clear visor. We have all tried and regretted it, even though the 30 seconds needed to change a visor are a pain.
 
#7 ·
If I were you I would def get the mirrored especially if you don't ride at night. I have the Bell Qualifier DLX helmet which comes with a transistions visor. Its clear but transisitions to dark smoke in the daytime which is super nice. I only use that visor a few days a week when I ride to work in the afternoon and leave at 10pm. Before I got this helmet i would ride to work with a dark smoke visor and had a clear one in my back pack to switch for my ride home at night. On a daily/ regular basis and weekends though I rock a dark gold iridium/mirrored visor.

 
#8 ·
but i really like the way the mirror one looks.
The mirror finish on the HJC visor(which I own) is prone to "wearing out". Its basically a kind of paint on the surface & over time mine started wearing off with just a damp(water) soft cloth I use to wipe it down with. It still looks good from a distance though.

Another thing I had to get used to while using it was seeing my own reflection on the visor.

Regards,
Kaustav
 
#9 ·
One of each.

I have a CL-16 helmet from HJC and the mirrored visor hides my face better. The smoke visor lets way too much light in and shows my face too well in my MeCam (for my vlog). The clear is for night-use. I wouldn't try to use a dark visor at night.
 
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#12 ·
It can depend on the maker. I remember with my old scorpion helmet, the chrome mirrored was OK at night and good in the day, but the dark smoke and the gold mirrored were too dark at night.

For my Arai, the factory chrome is OK at night but an aftermarket one I got is too dark at night so I switch to clear.

For my GF's Shoei, the dark smoke is OK at night even though it looks black as hell from the outside.
 
#13 ·
I find hjc smoke shields to be too dark for comfort at night. I usually regret not having my clear one at night. On well lit city streets it's OK tough.
 
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#14 ·
I drive home 5 nights a week and I always have my dark smoked on. It's an HJC as well. Visibility is reduced, but definitely nowhere near making it dangerous. A mirrored silver shield would look with your current helmet imo OP.
 
#17 ·
Have you ever tried a helmet with an integrated drop down visor? (An example is the Scorpion EXO-1100)
 
#20 ·
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#22 ·
Something like this is how I carry my clear shield if I need to ride at night later. You wear it around your chest and shoulder like a holster, under your jacket.
Yup, I think I linked that same model in one of the first posts. I know some Joe Rocket jackets had it integrated inside the jacket. I wish that would have caught on...
 
#24 ·
I originally got a Bell SolFX Photochromatic visor with my Qualifier helmet. Noticed lately now that we're getting sunstrike here because of the changing of the seasons that I need something darker, so I'm thinking about going with a proper dark smoke visor permanently. Have a clear one to go back to at night, but I don't ride at night much except for doing shopping and such so it may not see much use. I'm sorta thinking the SolFX may have become less dark over time.. I doubt it helps that I use RainX Anti-Fog on the side and RainX Repellant on the outside.
 
#25 ·
Arai Signet-Q with a Pinlock, clear visor and pro-shades system.

Get that Pinlock guys, it's amazing. One negative though. I guess it depends on your personal perception (I have varied experiences compared to others who use the Pinlock) at night, light seems to reflect off the Pinlock and creates starbursts. Not sure why, but it just does. Simple fix though. You can easily pull it out and stick it flat in your backpack or tailbag.
 
#26 ·
But isn't Pinlock only for anti-fog? I mean we're talking about tints here, and I'm from Florida where fog is a non-issue. But I don't know, maybe there are tinted pinlock inserts?
 
#34 ·
I love my smoke visor! Most of my riding is east/west so that sun is gonna get me either way. I don't do any night time riding but if I do I still have my clear visor.
 
#37 ·
So after reading through an old thread, i came to the conclusion...am i the only one wearing an icon airmada helmet?

Anyways back to the visor question, I have 2 visors, clear and dark smoke. Most the time I'm wearing the dark smoke one unless I'm at home and going out at night then I just switch it up. Visibility isn't all THAT bad at night with the dark smoke one but sometimes it does get hard to see especially if there's no street lights.

I also have this bag I bought from Revzilla which when I know I'm going on a long ride that I'll be out all day/night or going somewhere for the weekend or anything like that where I take my extra visor in.

https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/revzilla-face-shield-visor-bag
 
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