Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer ... in gold! 

Ride safe, and look out for the Rainbow of Death!

^{There're only 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count, and those that can't.}

^{Roses are red, Violets are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic ..... and so am I!}

^{Take pity on the man who invented the drawing board, when he screwed up, he had nothing to fall back on.}

^{Stuff everything, I've always got my bike.}

Yes they are illegal, but so are small number plates, race pipes, speeding pulling wheelies etc. Personally if you want one I think you should be allowed to have one, most people wearing them want them for style over function anyway. I don't like wearing sunnies either, I just find them bloody uncomfortable.

The only reasonable argument I can think of is the journey east early and return west late, especially in winter.

Bob Heath used to offer visors with a graded tint, but alas Old Bobs visors are definitely inferior to an OE visor. Also a strip of leccy tape across the top of the visor helps alot, (bit like a car flip down visor).

Sideways through time

Not sure I agree with you there.  If you're facing low, bright sun, the last thing you want is something in front of your eyes that interferes with your eyes' ability to pick out detail.  The problem is that if the sun is directly in your eyes, your pupils contract and the shadows get even darker in comparison.  If you look away from the sun, even slightly, your eyes are actually pretty good at re-adjusting and seeing the detail.  If you wear shades/tints, the overall level of light is reduced, and although the sun seems less bright, the shadows get darker too.  The addition of a lens in front of your eyes tends to reduce contrast as well, which makes things even worse - and worse again if it's scratched or hazed.  The only time I wear shades is when the overall lighting level is too high (like a bright cloudy day) and it stops me wrinkling my brows and getting a headache.

At one point on my morning commute, I go up a slight rise and go through a double blind S-bend where there is a farm on one side (open gates, animals, farm vehicles, mud on the road) and a care home on the other (vehicles in and out, residents wandering in the road).  In December, just as you are 200m from this comedy collection of hazards, the sun appears between the hedges exactly at road level as you crest the hill.  You cannot avoid looking directly at it.  I've tried it all ways, both car and bike, shades, sun-visor, squinting, shutting eyes, doing nothing.  The only way to see anything at all is to slow down to ~10 mph, use the naked eye, get the car's sun-visor as low as possible and stare straight at the shadows.  Tints, shades etc. all make it worse, not better.  Your idea of a bit of tape across the top of the visor is one I will try.

On another point, although I reckon black visors look cool, I wonder if they are a problem in another way, by preventing eye-contact with car drivers and therefore making the rider seem anonymous and perhaps hostile (a bit like those foreign policemen who wear mirror shades).  I find eye contact with cagers and as much of a smile as you can transmit in a full-face lid work wonders in traffic.

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2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

In my early biking days, I used to wear a pisspot helmet with a flip-up visor (yeah, I know).  I bought a yellow visor and used it for about 6 months.  Whenever I got on the bike, I had the impression that it was about to rain.  Apparently, when the air is laden with moisture (as it is when rain is imminent), the light is refracted by the water vapour (or something) and moves towards the yellow end of the spectrum.  A yellow lens over the eyes gives the same effect and fools the brain into thinking it's going to rain.  (Mind you, I was living in North Wales at the time, and so it probably WAS about to rain.)

One of the many benefits of sharing a house with a Physics undergraduate.  The home brew was another.

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2003 ST1300 Pan Euro
1995 Yam XT600E
http://goingfastgettingnowhere.blogspot.com/

I used my Gold tinted visor for the first time yesterday. I was getting my bike out and looked up a very wet road with masses of glare coming off it. "Sod it' I thought, "just wear it and see what happens". Now, I know that the Police frown on these tinted/blacked out visors and can pull you over for it. So, to be on the safe side, I put my clear visor in a visor bag and clipped round my waist. That way, if the Police did pull me over, or I go home late, then I can change it.

I have to say, it worked well! It's not really dark in there, but it does reduce the sun glare and helped me to see where I was going.

Yamaha FZS 600 Fazer ... in gold! 

Ride safe, and look out for the Rainbow of Death!

^{There're only 3 kinds of people in the world, those who can count, and those that can't.}

^{Roses are red, Violets are Blue, I'm a schizophrenic ..... and so am I!}

^{Take pity on the man who invented the drawing board, when he screwed up, he had nothing to fall back on.}

^{Stuff everything, I've always got my bike.}

What are you doing in your sunglasses to make them mist up? Mine never mist up in any weather......Shoei do a pinlock visor for your helmet best bit of kit I have ever used it actually works no matter how hard you pant not alot of things work but this actually does....

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Its not the years of your life but the life in your years...or thanks to Black Dog, Its not the men in your life but the life in your men"....

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