Helmets Pinlock Visor - Worth It?

Shadowfax-ST said:
I had the Fog City lense thru winter with my HJC IS16 and it failed as soon as I breathed; however, combined with their fog mask they did a superb job (including on preventing my glasses from misting if the seal was right).

I've just picked up a BMW with their own 'pin lock'. It works by absorbing condensation and can therefore become saturated - it says in the manual. Ventilation is the only cure.

Taking the chin skirt off my HJC was an effective ventilation technique - even down to sub-zero temperatures. It seemed to prevent the frozen inner sheild I suffered the winter before, which left me riding visor up at -7c. This winter there was no issue down to -9c, and no fogging in rain. This BMW system had best measure up.
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No. It didn't.

I have had two severe instances of failure - one on the motorway with 12-miles to a rest stop and too much rain / spray to stop safely. The seal broke down (from the BMW's leaky ventilator and scuffing on opening) and the steam built up between the pinlock and visor, making clearing it impossible. With my Wife pillion it became a nightmare with only one eye having about an inch of anything to peer through.

Once dismantled and dried on a hand dryer in the gents' everything was fine again for the trip but that seal keeps being opened by the leak and by the friction of the pin-lock being dragged over the top visor seal on opening and closing. The pins have been rotated to make it tight, else.

The BMW's going back having exchanged it alraedy. BMW admit the System 6 has a design fault in the top vent and has offered my money back.

I've missed my Fog-city mask arrangement.
 
Great thread. Thanks for all the information about the pinlock visor. I have had issues with fogging in my helmet and this gives me a good way to deal with it.

Abby
 
I have a dark smoke & a clear pinlock insert for a Shoei X11. Fogging? No problem.
I have had a serious problem with the dark smoke insert when transitioning over and over thru shade and sunny patches on the road, like at the recent BRP event. My eyes cannot keep up. In front of my eyes is shade but in the periphery is sun.

I have no problem with my mirrored shield.
 
Bones said:
Dave, I wonder if my experience with scratching is a function of the size of the pinlock insert, which on the Nolan is bigger with respect to the standard visor than on the Shoei.
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I dunno, I haven't looked a Nolan helmet in a long time. I put a towel on the table or counter and really open up the radius of the visor to remove or replace the pinlock - I flatten the visor alot so the pinlock doesn't have to bend much to pop in. I'll look tonight to see if I have any scratching where the pinlock fits against the visor. Since I never use that visor w/o the pinlock there may be scratches I am unaware of that might show up w/o a pinlock in.
 
Yes, Yes, Yes.

It is an essential bit of kit if you are not a "fair-weather rider" :D

I have had the Nolan n-102, Nolan N-103 and a now a MultiTech.

I once had a HJC Symax, and used an adhesive insert, for visors that do not have a pinlock system.
 
Abby580 said:
Great thread. Thanks for all the information about the pinlock visor. I have had issues with fogging in my helmet and this gives me a good way to deal with it.

Abby
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If the seal isn't "PERFECT" on the pin lock it will fog. Don't ask me how I know this. There are cams to adjust the pin lock lense to fit tight against the outer shield and sometimes can be a pain to get adjusted just right.
Also something to consider is the shield states a warning "do not use at night". Well I don't know about most of you but isn't that when you use your clear shield? I use my tented regular shield during day light ours.


Would I buy another one ?? probably..
Just my .02 cents
 
I have the HJC CL-16. This helmet comes standard with the Pin-Lock shield, and a clear pin lock insert. It works great, and for $81 + ear plugs the helmet is a steal. I'll never spend big bucks on a helmet again.


Who Dey
 
I haven't noticed any scratching with my Pinlock. I take off my screen, lay it on a soft material and bend it pretty flat to get the Pinlock in.

The only bummer I encounter is that I have to remove it before going to work at night, and put it back in for the ride home in the morning.

I would REALLY REALLY REALLY like a photochromic screen.... WITH the Pinlock system.
 
I had the pinlock visor on my Nolan 102. I worked fairly well, but the seal between it and the Nolan outer visor sometimes didn't seal completely and fogged a little. I tended to leave the Pinlock visor out.

I now have a hi-viz Schuberth C3 helmet which also includes a Pinlock inner visor. This one came installed from the factory. The seal is completely air tight and I never removed the pinlock visor from the outer visor. It absolutely refuses to fog. I have ridden this Autumn in some very cold damp mornings. The visor area outside the area the Pinlock covers was completely fogged up but the pinlock covered area was completely free of any fogging.

I absolutely love this new C3 helmet and a part of the reason is the helmet visor is immune from fogging with the pinlock inner visor.

btw, the pinlock visor in the C3 seems to be made of a somewhat harder material than the very soft one in the Nolan and the optical clarity of the Schuberth visors are noticably better though I never thought the Nolan visors were bad.

Another thing I like about the C3 is the inner drop down dark sun visor. My Nolan had the outer sun visor which collected bugs and made wind noise. The inner sun visor stay much cleaner and does not contribute to noise. I'll never own another helmet without a sun visor or pinlock or another bike without abs or an electric windscreen.
 
The_Apprentice said:
Tis called Hyper Optiks, by Fog City:
http://www.motorcycle-superstore.com/1/1/69/11231/ITEM/Fog-City-Hyper-Optiks-Visor-Inserts.aspx
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I used theseFog City Hyper Optics for several years but have to admit that even though they did always prevent fogging I found that they stopped reacting eventually after about 3 or 4 months constant use and were "stuck" at a light blue colour.

I now have a pinlock system on my work and private Multitech helmets and find them coping well with the horrible weather.
 
I have found that using the dark smoke tinted pinlock insert as a substitute for a tinted visor is not an acceptable solution. While the Pinlock insert DEFINITELY defeats fogging and does it VERY well, the dark smoke insert makes things look 'hazy' when the sun is in direct view. When it's behind me, no problems, it looks fine, but in front of me, it just looks hazy.

I went ahead and ordered a tinted visor today (found on eBay for $24 shipped!). I'd like to get a clear Pinlock insert for it, since I'll mostly use that in the mornings when commuting, and it's usually colder then... but I can swap it between my the visors.
 
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