shoei visors are shit - here's why

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Cos they just don't stay crystal clear - i dunno why

after many - too many - yonks of blundering through life with a Box BX-1 i thought ok, fine. Let's splash cash on something decent. Hence a GT Air 2. But within weeks the visor went slightly less clear, very vaguely milky. Wtf. I clean it same way i cleaned any other lid i've used - bit of fairy liquid and some water on a sponge specially reserved for lid cleaning, and a nice soft towel to wipe dry.

With the pos Box, this would very quickly restore the visor to lovely, clear condition and off we toddled. The Shoei seems to want different treatment. But what.

Ten times difference in price. Not impressed.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Freddyfruitba...]

Well I've just pensioned off my old Neotec 1, still on it's original visor IIRC after years - it's absolutely fine other than the odd tiny surface scratch
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KC100->CB100N->CB250RS--------->DL650AL2->R1200RS->R1250RS

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Serendipity]

Yeah the visor on my Neotec 1 lasted well. It was used daily in all weathers for 7 years and just over 70,000 miles. It picked up a few scratches, but no loss of clarity. Still on the original Pinlock too.

New Neotec 2 is 8,000 miles down and visor is still like new.

Normally just wipe the outside of the visor with a glove or clean hand, depending on what's on it and how dry it is.

Then occasionally I'll remove the visor, pop off the Pinlock, wash both with warm water and a sponge with a hint of washing up liquid. Then dry the visor with a clean tea towel and pat the Pinlock dry and leave it to dry thoroughly, preferably overnight indoors. The Pinlock needs to be bone dry to perform at its best.
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2016 CBF1000F - Commuter heaven | 1994 CBR600FR - Awaiting defibrillation

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Well, it just does not seem to be faring as well as its stupidly cheap competitor. It could be a filmy sort of thing that's going on - but because it seems to always be there, i'm not sure it actually is.

I watched a quite long presentation by a shoei rep, who showed films and stuff from the shoei factory and tbf it seems like a really good company, who do seem to put a load of effort into their lids. Which is partly why I'm a bit miffed that a very inexpensive visor was noticeably better, for many many thousands of miles. I abused that piece of shit no end. Whereas the shoei gets mollycoddled.

it did occur to me, though, that maybe the shoei is nigh on bullet proof, whereas the old Box effort was nowhere near as strong....and, further, that this might also have something to do with what i always feel is a less crystal clear finish/surface of the shoei.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[jeremyr62]

[Freddyfruitba...]

[struan80]

Helmets, biggest rip off from the major brands. There is only so safe a helmet can be within the given dimensions of a head sized helmet. My helmet is quite large but that's not important right now.

Surely any half decent manufacturer would have a product that passed and bettered the safety requirement. I bought and Arai for £540 back in the day, I smell shite. Now I just pick the one with the fanciest design. Regardless of make.

I have
1 Aria
2 HJC
1 LS2

I like HJC, good quality, light and well priced.

On topic. Visors are another rip off. I think I look good with my cruiser and dark visor. Bikers go I smell shite.

Karen Dunbar.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gM8vOcxatsI

[to v or not to v]

may be a daft question, but are you sure its not fake?
just about everything is copied theses days.

ive mostly used dirt cheap helmets from 1990 to present and only ever cleaned the visors with washing up liquid and water. i find it helps with fogging.

ive never had any issues.
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current bike Yamaha Thunderace.
its old and fat, but its a damned good ride. the bikes not bad either.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

I don't know that it's not fake - that's a good question. For instance, I felt like the cheek pads went loose really f***ing quickly. It went from being a really great fit to an okay fit in less than a thousand miles iirc. That was another disappointment (esp. compared to the Box which was an excellent fit for best part of ten years!). Just searched shoei in my email - got it from Sportsbike shop last Feb. Dunno if that means it can't be fake, or if it IS fake, or if it might be fake.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Ste]

The logo and the visor mechanism will be what stand out as being wrong on counterfeit versions.

Whilst the retailer you mention isn't some questionable unheard shop, the textbook answer for how to avoid counterfeits is to only buy from official dealers. https://www.shoeiassured.co.uk/stockists

[A100man]

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

On balance, I honestly don't think it is. I appreciate fakes can be really "good" these days - but the packaging, the bumf that came with it, the level of detail, the pinlock, all the bobbins, the bag, the everything - it all "felt" right. I went through this with a DID chain couple years ago - turned out that was kosher too, after fishing the online authenticator out of the green bin. The fakers are good, and getting better, but i still think (hope?) fairly sensible and reasonably intelligent/experienced people are probably going to suss it. I dunno. I could have been outflanked by the c*nts.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[Ste]

You could in theory have been outflanked but realistically, the chances of cheap knockoff lids ending up in genuine boxes in their warehouse whilst the genuine lids are flogged on eBay is quite close to zero and the scam would get noticed very quickly.

Send the retailer and Shoei an email asking for advice as the road ahead is not clear when you're looking through the visor?

[MCN]

[Kentol750]

As a youngster I was told not to use fairy liquid to clean visors or glasses.
Interweb seems to agree.
Bottle of cleaning spray lasts months. Costs a fiver. Never had a shoei go bad, have used several. Have 3 still oldest is a neotec 2 had from release and still fine.
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Some bikes.

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

[Howling Terror]

That's a sod ts-c-g. Contacted Shoei and/or Sportsbike shop?

Although not used a Shoei I have like many here used plenty of budget lids and none had a visor that went milky. Cracked..broken clips and bendy... sure.

Unless it was some nasty chemical or left out in direct sunlight for a year or so I can't understand why it'd degrade like that.

As for the cheek pads I found some keep shape and fit better than others and it didn't appear to be linked to the price or indeed the model.
Case in point being the Schuberth R3 vs S1. The R3 was cheaper but the cheekpads held shape better.

For cleaning I drip some water onto kitchen roll and drape it over the visor/lid. If I'm on a trip I'll use anything, wet-wipes kind of thing but sometimes, like soaps and washing-up liquid, they put in some moisturiser (oily) so the visor has to be Isle of Man TT racer level of filthy if I resort to that.

Massive pollen laden bee or a dobbin' blood filled horsefly then it's the usual smear it with a finger until I can clean it.

Aye..damp kitchen towels on visors...screens and leading edges work a treat if you don't mind waiting an hour for the baked-on body fluids to loosen.

Let us know how you get on.
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Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[trevor saxe-coburg-gotha]

Cheers Pat - the filmy kind of finish that now seems a permanent thing with this visor is pretty minor in the grand scheme. But it's annoying, especially after so many miles and years with a very cheap lid. I would guess that you might not notice it, were you to try it on. However, I can - all the time (there's just an ever-present slightly cloudy finish). And after such a big spend I can't help but feel a bit disappointed. Good point about the cheek pads btw.

My reason for choosing the shoei: I wanted quick release, plain white, no sun visor, and top of the list, great fit.

I thought there would be many lids that would tick those boxes but nope. When it came down to it there seemed to be very, very few. I had to double my budget, in fact. Also, I think the shoei does have a sun visor - I'm such a steadfast refuser of these bloody things that I can't remember. I much prefer less weight, and fewer things to go wrong - my Acerbis internal visor started to drop half way down sometimes, that coupled with the fact I never used it, swore me off them.
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"Life is a sexually transmitted disease and the mortality rate is one hundred percent."

Mobylette Type 50 ---> Raleigh Grifter ---> Neval Minsk 125

[MCN]

No one has asked yet.

Did you remove the protective films from the visor?

Asking fir a friend.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Howling Terror]

^^^Surely would make fail of the year if that's the case.

<aside> I bet he checks.
____________________
Diabolical homemade music Bandcamp and Soundcloud
Singer songwriter, Artist and allround good bloke Listen to Andrew Susan Johnston here
The Harry Turner Project

[MCN]

I used lens cleaning solution to clean uvex safety glasses.
The were fooked immediately.

The glasses had a posh coating. The isopropyl alcohol lens cleaner reacted with the coating. Very disappointed.

Uvex told me I should use uvex cleaner. As they would say.

Pinlock visor inserts have a thin moisture absorbant coating on the inside surface of the insert. When fitted to the inside of a visor the thin layer has enough oomph to suck up any excess moisture in the layer of air trapped between the insert and the visor.
They are usually fit one time so rarely need to be removed.
But they are easier to clean is separated and cleaned individually.
I avoid dish soap.
If its not good for your hands it's not a good thing for you glasses, visor or your Oakley Coolios.

There are better hand soaps to use. But I would avoid bar soap as that is a base oil/fat mixed with a caustic compound. It can leave a greasy film.

Anyway once clean, dry using a soft microfiber cloth.
And leave a few minutes to air-dry before assembling the insert again.
The moisture absorbant coating should be reactivated.
If pernickety, store it all in a big tupperware with a desiccant bag. Silica gel. And leave for a few hours.

A new visor is about £60/70 pinlock ready. Pinlock insert handout £25-30.
I bought my last Schuberth Pinlock ready iridium and insert about two years ago.
Still good.
I like perfect clear vision.
I will throw a tantrum if my visor gets crazed/scratched.
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Disclaimer: The comments above may be predicted text and not necessarily the opinion of MCN.

[Kentol750]

"ok but have you got any other lids to gauge it against? or used others?"

Use an arai quantic and a shark spartan in work. Commute in winter in an agv k3sv and a Nolan n70x (sun visors). Now its lighter and brighter I commute in an xlite x803 with a tinted visor and an hjc rpha 11.

When doing cbts with mopeds I use my scorpion exo tech (neotec 2 retired) exo better in warm as chinbar sits behind head.

Quantic put away for summer now... visor change is faff. Shoei nxr 2 with photochromic visor or x spirit 3 with tinted.

There may be an agv ax9 for green laning next to my proper crosser helmet too.

So, in answer to your question... yes.

Only scratched visors by being clumsy.
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Some bikes.