4th Gen Airflow Question

[elizilla]

Something about how the air flows through my helmet, irritates my eyes. A couple hundred miles on the VFR leaves them red and sore. Sunglasses solve it, but I don't like wearing sunglasses under my helmet - they add pressure points at the earpieces, and they screw up my peripheral vision. I have a tinted face shield so I won't have to wear sunglasses.

My VFR is a 4th gen. I don't have this trouble on either of my other bikes. I wear a full face helmet, a Shoei RF1000, and I keep the face shield closed while I'm moving. Doesn't seem to matter how I set my helmet vents. I've tried the stock windshield and a Givi shield that is about 3" higher - the eye irritation doesn't change.

Has anyone else struggled with this and found a solution? Should I look for a different windshield, or some sort of helmet chin curtain, or for more comfortable wrap sunglasses? Or try doing something to the fairing where the wind rushes up from below?

Ideas?

[Monk]

Something about how the air flows through my helmet, irritates my eyes. A couple hundred miles on the VFR leaves them red and sore. Sunglasses solve it, but I don't like wearing sunglasses under my helmet - they add pressure points at the earpieces, and they screw up my peripheral vision. I have a tinted face shield so I won't have to wear sunglasses.

My VFR is a 4th gen. I don't have this trouble on either of my other bikes. I wear a full face helmet, a Shoei RF1000, and I keep the face shield closed while I'm moving. Doesn't seem to matter how I set my helmet vents. I've tried the stock windshield and a Givi shield that is about 3" higher - the eye irritation doesn't change.

Has anyone else struggled with this and found a solution? Should I look for a different windshield, or some sort of helmet chin curtain, or for more comfortable wrap sunglasses? Or try doing something to the fairing where the wind rushes up from below?

Ideas?

I'd look into a chin curtain, or a nose divider. I took a piece of leather and fit it to go over my nose and close out air flow from my mouth and nose to my eye area. I'll see if I can take a pic of it and get it on here in a 1/2 hour or so..... Monk

[soichiro]

I wear very well fitting oakleys and have a tinted shield. I still get the draft to the eyes that carries bugs and dirt into my eye. I even wear clear glasses at night, stylsh safety glasses, it helps.

[Burns]

+1 on the Oakley's.. Only glasses I've worn under a helmet that don't bug me. I have some older M-frame Pro's that slip right in - straight, thin arms and the lens wrap around to the sides of the eyes nicely..

I also have a Givi, but don't really like it.. think I'm gonna give a DB a shot next. The chin curtain sounds like a good idea.

[Monk]

Here's the pic's.

The hard nose piece that comes with, can easily be popped out. Cut the leather to fit in where the hard piece goes. Once you have it cut and shaped to your liking, soak the leather in water insert into slot,then reinstall the hard nose piece. While wearing the helmet use your fingers to shape around you nose/face, take helmet off(or not)and let dry..... Haven't had any trouble with it since.... No fogging either(which is why I made it in the 1st place)..... Good luck..... Monk

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[Baileyrock]

I've had great results from a chin curtain! :cool:

There are many brands, some more open mesh or fabric than others, but in general I've found it reduces noise, dirt, bugs and unwanted air flow all of which help my eyes and fatigue levels. There like $15. :biggrin:

[superfunkomatic]

I'm just tall enough that the wind hits me under the chin and it was making things noisy and my eyes sore/dry. bought a windjammer - a neoprene skirt that goes under the helmet and seals it off. works really well - in fact the helmet vents on my HJC helmet work much better now.

Have a look -

http://www.webbikeworld.com/r2/windjammer/...ind-blocker.htm

[Lee 2002]

Monk, you gotta' get off the caffeine!

If you aren't interested in starting your own upholstery shop, the Respro Foggy breathguard does what Monk was trying to duplicate. Effectively seals the upper and lower halves of your helmet into two sections with no airflow between them.

As a glasses wearer it completely stops fogging. But for you, it would prevent air from coming up from the chin area.

I buy mine at Aerostitch.com but I can't find it on their website any more. I guess they stopped carrying them.

[Monk]

Lee.... Did they steal that idea from me..... It looks like it sticks with 2 sided tape on the inside. Is it kind of hard except for the part that touches the face?

[Monk]

Here's a link to lee's suggestion.

http://www.cyclegear.com/spgm.cfm?L1=&...NC_485-RFG01BLK

[YoshiHNS]

I'm finding that it may be more the helmet than the windscreen. I've just switched from a well-used HJC CL-15 to a Skorpion EXO-700. I've noticed two important things about the helmet switch. One, is that the EXO is terrible in the rain, and that the EXO seems to let a lot of air in from the bottom, but oddly tilting my head up reduces this, while tilting the head down makes it worse.

Point being, it could be the helmet more than the windshield. I remember someone posting a long time ago something that actually went on the bottom of the helmet that would sort of fit snug around your neck to prevent wind from the bottom of the helmet. It helped with wind noise and comfort.

[YoshiHNS]

Got it. Its called The Windjammer. I believe there is a Windjammer II out there as well.

And here is a VFRD Topic about it.

[Monk]

Got it. Its called The Windjammer. I believe there is a Windjammer II out there as well.

And here is a VFRD Topic about it.

Now go to the top and look at "all" the posts til you come back to yours :fing02:

[Lee 2002]

It looks like it sticks with 2 sided tape on the inside. Is it kind of hard except for the part that touches the face?

It is made of neoprene, so it is very soft and pliable. There is a springy plastic part on the bridge of the nose to help it form to the tight curves in that area.

It attaches with velcro so it can be removed when not needed. (There is a fuzzy velcro pad that must adhered to the chin bar)

I leave mine in all the time due to volatile Kansas weather. I find it very comfortable, although sometimes a little sweaty.

[rjstaaf]

Shoei has something called a breath guard for the RF1000.

http://www.shoei-helmets.com/store/index.php?cPath=36_33_89

I use it during winter to help prevent fogging but I think any other time (warmer weather) it would adversely affect venting in the RF1000.

Shoei also makes a chin curtain for the RF1000 that I think would fix the problem without affecting the venting of the RF1000.

http://www.shoei-helmets.com/store/index.php?cPath=36_33_89

I think you may also be able to find these at Cycle Gear in their helmet accessory section....

[DDO-VFR]

I got the "whisper kit" which is made specifically for Shoei helmets. It works Great, for sound reduction and air turbulence inside helmet. But be forewarned...it gets a lot warmer inside your lid with the kit installed. In fact it is part of my cold weather gear. When I use it, I usually just use the rear portion, and add in the chin curtain for the REALLY cold days.

The helmet fogs up much more, which is why I also changed the visor to a "Pinlock" version. The visor is virtually unfoggable with the inner shield in place. I remove the inner shield for warm weather.

Find the 'whisper kit' here. I cringed at the price when I bought it, but looking back I don't regret it all. BTW, it goes on and comes off in seconds and is so comfortable you don't feel at all.

http://www.racevisors.co.uk/product/access...oei-whisper-kit

DDO-VFR

[elizilla]

Thanks for all the ideas! Doesn't sound like there's a windshield to solve the problem.

I own both the Shoei chin curtain and breath guard. The chin curtain is installed right now - I like it, it keeps bugs out of my helmet without making the helmet any hotter, so i leave it installed all the time. But it doesn't help with the eye irritation. The breath guard doesn't help either, and it's irritating, so I don't wear it. It might make a good base for a breath guard like the one Monk made, though - I could make something softer and more closely fitted to my face.

I had a Quiet Rider chin curtain, ages ago, before I got the VFR. It worked pretty well but it was kinda warm and got stinky fast in hot weather, and it was a pain to reinstall after I removed it to clean it, so I got out of the habit of using it. Not sure what I did with it. The Windjammer looks similar but maybe it's easier to install and remove. I will take a closer look.

Or maybe I'll create something of my own. I used to do a lot of sewing, before I took up motorcycling, and I have all the equipment, plenty of fabric to experiment with, and I know the tricks.

And if none of it works, I'll start shopping for some less annoying glasses. I had lasik in 2006 and before that I wore glasses for year, so I know it's possible to get non-annoying ones if you just look farther than the $5 rack at the truck stop.

[SLO97VFR]

I have tried and own just about every windshield you can get for a 4th gen. I like the Cheeta one the best. It will also differ for different people to how tall you are and how you sit on the bike.