Making your own VISOR, just as you want it!

Nice stuff AD. The one thing I'm discovering about recumbents, is the added facial exposure to the elements. Helmet visors are almost useless because they are pointed more skyward. I tried a sweatband visor which helped shade the sun but you had to wear it like a 'unibrow'! It also didn't want to tuck neatly under the lower side of the helmet

Then there is the rain; no need to take extra water bottles on a recumbent!

But, I'm lovin' it!

 

I like it. I am going to see if I can find some. If I do, I will post the sites here. If anyone else finds one, please do the same.

 

Found a couple. But nothing like AD's which I like a lot better. AD can you snoop around and see if you can find those again???

http://bikekaps.com/Photos.php

http://www.prorider.com/outlet/p140/Universal-Bike-Helmet-Visor/product_info.html

 

AD. I am going to try to make one and see how it works. If it does work out, I will post specific instructions here so others can do the same (if they want a cheap yet effective visor).

 

Hi AD,

Can you measure from top to bottom on the left hand side and right hand side of your visor and left to right in the middle to give me some idea of the size of this visor??? It will save me a lot of experimenting. Thanks!

 

OK, I'm afraid this idea will really sound some alarms regarding my mental state, but that's fine. I was stirred by the notion that with a longer visor, more sunlight could be kept off the face. But because I ride a lot late in the afternoon, the low sun is directly into my face which would require a very long 'hood'. I also notice the lack of adjustability with 'fixed' visors, or 'what you see is what you get', and the inability to CHANGE protection according to sun angle change. So.................., I tried this.

Some plastic pieces glued together and made adjustable. Two 5mm .8 screws with a rubber washer keep tension on the selected angle, which can easily be moved for up to the minute condition changes. The main piece of Phenolic plastic is 1/16' thk, 6.0" X 2.4" (that was the size of a piece of scrap readily available!) but should have been about 8.0" X 4.0".

BTW: The assembly is secured to the stock helmet with a very small piece of double-sided tape until optimum positioning can be determined.

Is this the end of this R&D? Nope, just someplace to start. I'm hoping a rain hoodie can hook over this concept. The decorative end plates might serve to 'soften' sharp corners when hooking something over this.

 

That would probably work nice with a glass from a welding helmet or brazing glass. Protect from sun but still be able to see through it......

 

OK. I decided to see if I could make one of these since I could NOT find one to buy anywhere.

I went to Office Depot looking for something black, flexible and plastic. I went to the notebook section. The notebooks I saw either had cardboard with plastic laminated over it or real thick plastic. I grab one of the solid plastic notebooks but wasn't thrilled.

So I started hunting around and found presentation kits. One in particular was called a ProClick Do-It-Yourself Presentation Kit. It came with several white pages to print your report on AND 2 BLACK THIN PLASTIC COVERS!!! I took one out of the pack and it seemed perfect. Black, flexible yet sturdy, and thin enough to cut with scissors.

So I came back to RRI and printed off the scan A.D. made and had my Picasso picture software (free from Google) print to fit a 8 x 10 picture. Once printed, I put the printed picture over the black plastic sheet and with a pen applied hard pressure over the visor outline on the picture. When I removed the picture, I had a viewable indentation on the plastic I used as a cut line. I took my scissors and trimmed accordingly.

Once cut I tried it on my helmet to see if it would work at all and it fit like a glove. So next I looked at where I wanted to put my Velcro dots I had. I first put the fuzzy Velcro dots on my helmet and rub them in to get a good bond. Then I took the hooked Velcro dots and attached them on the fuzzy dots so the glue side faced out. Then I carefully applied the visor to the helmet the way I wanted it to look and pushed it on the glue side of the hooked Velcro dots. This way I know all the Velcro will line up accurately. Finally I removed the visor, made sure all the Velcro dots where stuck on the visor then put them on my desk and put a couple of books on them to allow them to attach to the plastic visor.

I am letting the dots "rest" on the visor for the night. Tomorrow I will put it all together to see how well it works. I think it is going to work great. All is dependent on how well the Velcro sticks to the helmet and the visor. If I find the dots coming loose, then I will apply a permanent glue and re-glue. These are supposed to be "industrial" Velcro with kick*** glue already on them. We will see.

What I did want to let everyone know is that this was a very easy process once you have the template. I wouldn't want to figure out the template through trial and error though. With ADs template it is a cinch and cost about $3 to make. And I am cheap so this works for me!

If all goes well, I will take pictures of my homemade visor with the Velcro attached to it and a picture of my helmet with the other Velcro dots attached. Then I will take one with the visor on the helmet. If it all works well, I will take it for a test ride tomorrow and see if it stays put! We have lots of wind these days, so it should be a good trail. And if it doesn't work, I've blown $3.

Stay tuned.....