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As a full-face helmet wearer, I’ve tried many remedies to reduce glare caused by the sun. From the old “tape on the top of the face shield” to the “left hand salute,” I have yet to find a perfect solution. The closest I’ve come is to use a smoke colored face shield and raise the shield till the edge is between my eyes and the sun. Although that technique works pretty well, it also has drawbacks:

• It doesn’t work when traveling directly into the sun.
• You lose some protection that a full-face helmet provides when you have the shield open.
• For safety, you need to change the shield to a clear one for riding after dark, not the easiest job on most helmets.
• It just plain doesn’t work in many conditions.

The arrows each show where the top edge of the Super-Visor will be located depending on where you place the lifters. The lifters provide about one inch additional height over the lowest setting shown by the arrow at right. The piece of plastic at right is just for reference.

The folks at R.S.W./D.I Inc. of Sedona, Arizona, may have found the solution with their “Super-Visor.” This is one of those inventions that will have you saying, “Why didn’t I think of that.” It’s well designed, looks good, and is easy to install. Oh, by the way, did I mention that it’s cheap! Just $16.95 for the Super-Visor and mounting hardware and it comes in black, white, or smoke colors.
I won’t go through the step-by-step installation instructions here, directions are furnished with each Super-Visor; however, I will touch on some of the trickier points.
The instructions tell you to sit on your bike in your normal riding position and have someone hold the visor with its top edge even with the top edge of your shield as a starting point. The proper (read “most comfortable”) mounting position is probably the most important part of the installation and you should take plenty of time with this step. You might even want to temporarily attach it in place with a couple of pieces of tape rolled sticky side out, then ride up and down the drive or street slowly to be sure of the mounting position. Don’t use a tape that will leave residue, or that will not come back off easily.
I determined that in my case, the Super-Visor should be attached directly to the top edge of the shield. You may not be able to do that, depending on your helmet style. You don’t want it so low that you find yourself constantly tilting your head back to see out from under the Super-Visor. Of course, you want it low enough so that it does the job it was designed for. As I said, this is the most important step, so take your time to get it right.
On my helmet, it’s actually a little low with the shield fully closed, but I can see well, though I find the need to tilt my head back once in a while. However, I seldom keep my shield completely closed; 99 percent of the time I have the shield cracked open one or two notches (1/4-1/2 inch) for ventilation. The position I mounted the Super-Visor in is perfect with the face shield in this position.
If you find that direct attachment to your shield is too low, the Super-Visor package includes “lifters” that allow you to mount the Super-Visor in a higher position. These lifters allow you to mount the Super-Visor up to about one inch higher. Use of the lifters also makes the Super-Visor removable from the face shield. In fact, you may want to mount the Super-Visor with the lifters, even in the lowest position, to take advantage of this removable option.
Okay, we’ve got the Super-Visor mounted in the perfect position; how effectively does it work?
Surprisingly well! Keeping in mind that I’ve had the Super-Visor mounted only a short time, it works as advertised. I can ride directly into the sun with much clearer vision. In fact, during this initial evaluation, I drove directly into the sun several times. I also drove at several different angles to the sun. Not once did I get uncomfortable or obscured vision. I never got any glare or reflection on the face shield that caused vision problems. Long term use will be required for a complete evaluation.
The Super-Visor also produced some unexpected, but welcome results. The first thing I noticed was that the helmet buffeting I normally experience was gone! My head stayed steady and wasn’t bouncing around like I’ve experienced in the past. I might mention that conditions during this initial evaluation were less than ideal with very strong winds, just like the conditions when I experience the most buffeting.
The next thing I noticed was that the wind noise seemed significantly less. The manufacturer claims that the Super-Visor is aerodynamic, and with the reduced buffeting and wind noise, I believe it. The Super-Visor has a vent in the center that allows air to flow up your face shield, through the vent, and over the top of your helmet. Perhaps this design is a reason for the increased stability of the helmet.
Although helmet design and style, windshield height and style, and riding conditions may give you different results, for the short term, this product has worked well for me; even with a long-term evaluation, I don’t anticipate finding any drawbacks. Whatever we find in the future, we’ll keep you posted. The Super-Visor can be purchased on-line at www.Super-Visor.com. GWRRA also expects to have some for purchase at Wing Ding. See you there!
R.S.W./D.I Inc., 10 Robbers Roost, Sedona, Arizona 86351. Phone (928) 284-2010.
E-mail supervisor@sedona.net. or visit http://www.super-visor.com/.

— Jim Walbolt, Associate Editor

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