It’s a windscreen wiper… For your motorbike helmet!

Interesting new product.


Helmet wiper system

And just when I've got to an age where I thought I'd seen everything Back in the 60s here in the UK I had a Turbo Visor. It was a round perpex visor fitted to the helmet and it spun around while you were riding and the rain would just spin off and you could see through it quite clearly. They were probably available in US as well. I'm sure I've seen an advert somewhere showing that they are still available to buy. Happy days

What really amazes me about this review and the accompanying video is that they don't tell you how the thing actually operates. I presumed it operated by way of a lateral swipe, but the reviewer didn't state that. Also in the video, the simulation shows something moving from side to side...but how about showing us the thing operating from the outside on the helmet itself! Am I missing something??
Oh and BTW, where does the blade sit when not operating - down the centre of your nose and field of vision? Distracting if so. And what about providing extra blades or getting replacements? I suspect after tried a couple of times it ends up in the 'wish I'd saved my money' box in the corner of the garage.

terrier wrote:

Back in the 60s here in the UK I had a Turbo Visor.  It was a round perpex visor fitted to the helmet and it spun around while you were riding and the rain would just spin off and you could see through it quite clearly.  They were probably available in US as well.  I'm sure I've seen an advert somewhere showing that they are still available to buy.

I just did a search for the Turbo Visor to see what you are talking about. Actually looks pretty ingenious. Uses wind power to rotate so no power source. Probably does the basic job just fine. Still on sale for $110.00. Not sure I want it though. Wouldn't want to permanent mount it on my helmet, and anything else would be a rather flimsy attachment. Also doesn't look Nearly as cool.
PeterC, you bring up a lot of good points. If it reaches its crowd funding goal and is produced, I'm sure you would get all your questions answered.

Dan

I think anything wiping across a polycarbonate visor continually is eventually going pick up grit and scratch it. A motorcycle visor isn't like the toughened glass of a car windshield where you can wash road crap off before clearing it. In my case the combination of Airflow screen and adjustable Wunderlich spoiler means I am very rarely bothered by a build up of rain droplets on my visor, and an occasional quick turn of the head removes any. I keep a packet of Cycle Wipes handy to remove road crap from my visor, very rarely wipe it with my glove, and I certainly don't want a metronome like device continually going back and forth across my visor.

Apart from the old V-Wipe thats's been around for years and fits over the left index finger of your glove, many high end gloves have a visor wiper blade sewn onto the left index finger of the glove. So there's already low-tech solutions out there.

I'm with Meldrew on this one, point for point
I don't have the cycle wipes, but I insist on using a terry towel to wipe the visor clean, as paper products will scratch

Try Rain-x

https://www.rainx.com/product/plastic-water-repellent/rain-x-plastic-water-repellent/#.VuALefDEiK0

Originally developed for aircraft. Works great and no batteries ;-)

Bob

Rain-X! It promises a lot but doesn't deliver. I've tried it on visors, motorcycle and scooter screens, and on car windscreens. It works in a fashion for about a hour and that's it. I went over to Northern Ireland a few years ago on a 650 Burgman and cleaned and prepared the screen and my helmet visor then treated them with Rain-X, knowing from previous visits that the fine rain droplets over in Ireland don't clear off screens and visors like normal rain I'm used to. I wasn't expecting great things from Rain-X but it was better than nothing

Within a hour of riding off the ferry it started to rain and didn't let up for about 3 days. I was in full waterproofs the whole time and the Rain-X simply didn't work on visor or screen as the fine rain droplets just stuck there. I had to press into service the old red V-Wipe I carry in my top box to clear my visor and I've never trusted Rain-X since.

have to disagree on Rain-x
I use it on my car windscreens and it works very well
I seldom need the wipers
I don't use it on helmet visors because they're not glass, but plastic, and I've heard from a great many sources that rain-x will damage clear plastics

Art wrote:

have to disagree on Rain-x
I use it on my car windscreens and it works very well
I seldom need the wipers
I don't use it on helmet visors because they're not glass, but plastic, and I've heard from a great many sources that rain-x will damage clear plastics

Then why post about it at all in a topic about motorcycle helmet visor wipers, and include a Rain-X link that includes the words 'rain-x-plastic-water-repellent'?  

RainX works pretty well on a car's windshield that has a good smooth airflow to keep the droplets blown away but not so well if the shield doesn't have a good airflow. It doesn't work well on my Jeep Wrangler but does on my wife's Checy Equinox. It pretty much depends on travel speed and windshield shape.

That circular rain screen, or Clearview Screen, has been a common device used on marine vessels for at least a century. Kinda bulky for a scooter though.
http://www.bosunmarinegroup.com/marine-clear-view-screen/

Speaking of rotary windscreen wipers; during trials with the Class 52 diesel-hydraulic 'Western' locomotives, it was found that conventional windscreen-wipers lifted off the screen at high speeds.
Two locomotives were fitted with rotary wipers, like the ones often found on ships.
Although these type of wipers swept away the water, they produced an opaque film on the windscreen and this restriction to the drivers vision cancelled the project.

I have a Clearview windshield on my 08 SWing and use RainX on it. I checked with Clearview and they said it wouldn't hurt the plastic. I do put it on gently with a very soft cloth tho. Since my wife passed away she can't complain about me using a few of her flour sack dish towels in the garage. Old T-Shirts work well too. The rain blows off real well at highway speeds.

I find cleaning my visor clean with Plexus keeps the rain build up to a minimum. Plexus Plastic Cleaner.
The best price seams to be on Amazon.

Dale, my wife just put a worn out flour sack in my tool cabinet. She told me to make sure I take care of it.