Clear view ahead: Top motorcycle anti-misting visor inserts

Back in the day, if you wanted to keep your helmet visor free of fog, mist or condensation on the inside, you would wipe washing-up liquid over it, dry it off and hope for the best. Thankfully today, things are a lot more advanced and by far the best way to keep the inside of your helmet visor fog-free – and hence, as safe as possible – is to use an anti-fog visor insert, which will be included with many helmets and available as an option for others.

The leader in the anti-fog visor insert field is Pinlock and it works with helmet manufacturers to develop lenses for their various helmets and visors. Pinlock’s system consists of two distinct ingredients; the lens itself and the pins on which it locates, which are formed into the helmet visor.

There are three types of pin; a simple push pin, that is push-fit in the visor but is eccentric to allow the position of the location for the lens to be altered, to vary the tension across the lens.

The second is the three-component pin, which uses a screw-system to vary the grip across the visor while still offering the eccentric adjustment of the push pin while the top-level is the tear-off pin, which allows fitting a pinlock insert inside the visor while race tear-offs can be fitted on the outside for quick and easy improvements in a racer’s vision.

The lens itself comes in three ‘strengths’, the higher the number, the greater the fog clearance; there is the entry-level 30, the mid-level 70 and the range-topping 120. While the 30 can be a universal fit, the 70 and 120 are custom-designed with the helmet manufacturers to work with specific helmets and visors.

There is also the ‘100% Max Vision’ that is designed to sit inside a purpose-designed cavity in the visor to provide a huge, fog-free area of vision.

All lenses, irrespective of their ‘strength’ or design, feature three elements. The slits at the ends are designed to fit against the pins in the visor and locate the lens against it.

As the pin rotates, it changes the position of the lens location and hence, can vary the tension across the width of the lens, making sure it contacts properly with the visor completely otherwise it won’t work to its full efficiency.

The silicon seal on the front (the surface against the helmet’s visor) provides an airtight seal and this creates a layer of air that separates the inner surface from the outer and insulates the inner surface, acting much like domestic double-glazing. If this seal is not against the visor all round, then this can affect the effectiveness and this is what is adjusted by the position of the pins.

Finally, the inner surface of the Pinlock insert is a dry hydrophilic membrane that absorbs moisture and distributes it so that it does not interfere with your vision.

In addition to the clear Pinlock insert that typically comes with most helmets, there are also coloured and tinted versions and even a photochromatic version for helmets that do not include a drop-down sun visor, such as Arais and some Shoeis.

Pinlock pretty much has the anti-fog visor insert market sewn-up though there are one or two other manufacturers who have some offerings. Here are some of the products available on the market today.

About the author: After qualifying as a mechanical engineer, Jim Blackstock began working on magazines in the early 1990s. He remains passionate about product testing to ensure readers know what products offer good value and why. He relishes torrential rain to see if riding kit keeps water out and an hour or two to tinker on a project bike in his workshop.

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