System 5 misting again! Poll

[JohnC]

OK I've heard of a few people having problems with this helmet. I've reserved judgement as I haven’t been using it much in adverse weather conditions, but... I'm now travelling every day to work and back, about 60 miles over a rather dodgy B road and I now feel this helmet/visor is seriously flawed, design over function I feel.

The problem seems to be severe misting, in my case the central middle (and imo the most important part) of the view ahead. Having thought about why this occurs it seems to be that misting takes place soon after starting off. You've just struggled into your gear, perhaps a bit steamy yourself, you move off from home at a slow pace joining traffic and the misting begins. This is much more apparent in the rain. If for whatever reason your vision becomes obscured and you need to raise the visor, rain gets in and exacerbates the problem making any subsequent misting almost impossible to remove.

Now what are the causes? I think the closed design of the chin piece causes problems, plus the front vent is as much use as a chocolate kettle, and the shape of the visor itself perhaps. So if anyone has a similar problem, do they feel it is in any way related to design? See Poll.

Class action anyone

 

[snoopy]

The reason for this is as you say is the bottom chin strap, designed to reduce noise. You can get rid of the misting a little more by opening the rear vent at the same time as the front so that the air coming in has somewhere to exit by.

 

[Tim Cullis]

The chin piece is held by velcro and can be removed for hot weather. I found this out *after* getting back from a hot trip. I put it somewhere safe but now can't find it.

Nevertheless I suffer from misting, especially when wearing glasses. The one change I would like to see is an interim open position for the visor half way between fully closed and the current first click.

Tim

 

[gypsy]

fitted a hyperoptics inner visor and its mist free

 

[Activmoto]

To stop misting you need airflow. If your fairing / screen stops or reduces the airflow, the misting problem will be made worse.

Steve

 

[JohnC]

fitted a hyperoptics inner visor and its mist free

Do you have any more info on this gypsy? What sort of problem did you have before and why do you think this has helped? What is the hyperoptics like at night and in the rain?

 

[Tim Cullis]

Very true. I have a higher-than-standard screen from Nippy Normans; if it's in the high position I find I have to lean out into the air flow to clear the visor.

 

[JohnC]

To stop misting you need airflow. If your fairing / screen stops or reduces the airflow, the misting problem will be made worse.

Steve

Reduced airflow, on a GS

 

[JohnC]

The reason for this is as you say is the bottom chin strap, designed to reduce noise. You can get rid of the misting a little more by opening the rear vent at the same time as the front so that the air coming in has somewhere to exit by.

I'll give this a try tommorow snoopy, never thought of that in this weather

 

[JohnC]

Very true. I have a higher-than-standard screen from Nippy Normans; if it's in the high position I find I have to lean out into the air flow to clear the visor.

My problem is misting inside the visor Tim. I've no problem with rain clearing from the outside. It seems to me that droplets of mist build up inside and for whatever reason and soon become a form of condensation, tiny water droplets, that refuse to clear just as rain would when running inside the visor. I've already had one visor replaced under warranty because of this but to no avail. It's terrible at night, and deadly with car headlights hitting you.

 

[gypsy]

Do you have any more info on this gypsy? What sort of problem did you have before and why do you think this has helped? What is the hyperoptics like at night and in the rain?

I had the problem of misting on the inside of the visor so i fitted a inner visor ,it has a blue tint that gets darker in sunlight and creates a double glazed effect so no more mistingat all no matter how i try .No problems at all at night or in low light condition in fact on some dull days i'm sure the vision is clearer

 

[JohnC]

I had the problem of misting on the inside of the visor so i fitted a inner visor ,it has a blue tint that gets darker in sunlight and creates a double glazed effect so no more mistingat all no matter how i try .No problems at all at night or in low light condition in fact on some dull days i'm sure the vision is clearer

You dont have a link to where I could buy this do you

Also, NORTHFACE, stewmarsh, as you both suffer no problems do either of you use the System 5 in the rain much? How long have you had the helmet? I never had much of a problem till I started riding every day. I'm also wondering if there was a bad batch of visors on the go.

 

[gypsy]

I got mine from Pidcocks bmw but there are a few others that do them like here
http://www.sportsbikeshop.co.uk/motorcycle_parts/content_cat/82

 

[JohnC]

Cheers m8

 

[Firegus]

Hyper Optiks Fog City

I fitted one of these to my Arai Condor, great in all weathers, and stops misting altogether.
Only problem is that they fade to near useless [sunshine wise] depending on how often you wear the helmet.
According to Val @ NorthHarbour Motorcycles, it`s because they can only change colour a finite amount of times.
If you are using it every day, it can lose it`s reactolite properties in under a year!
It will stay fog free tho`

Just something for you to consider.

 

[JohnC]

And that's exactly what I did m8, but with the standard clear one. Works a treat. You can see the normal visor fogging up but the fog city is fine.

 

[Allroad]

i put a fog city one in aswell now its fogging up they must only last a few months

 

[Flying banana]

As far as the Hyperoptics are concerned, they are brilliant. I dunno about the bit about them losing their ability to change colour. i had one for over two years and used it every day on my daily commute, and it never faded, so to speak.

 

[Little legs]

I recently took off the anti mist visor to put my dark one on, and noticed that the fit of the anti mist bit was rather loose allowing air to circulated between the double glazing.
I popped out the two pin locks and turned them round so that the distance between the two is at its smallest.
This has cured the misting but i am not sure if they will just work themselves loose again.
The insert was a complete twat to get back in as the new position really puts the insert under a lot of tension.
Just take your time and make sure you dont get any fluff or fingerpints on the inside.

 

[JohnC]

So you say the helmet is fine in the poll with no misting, yet you use a pinlock visor designed to stop misting