I rode my motorcycle to work today. It was a chance to try the HJC breath box I bought and installed in my HJC CL-14 helmet.
Fogging is my chief complaint about my CL-14. With temps in the 40's or lower I cannot keep my visor closed when I'm commuting. At a stop light, and even at city-street speeds the visor will fog. I spent my cool-weather commutes with the visor cracked open -- fine for visiblity but very cold on the face. Sometimes the wind chill takes my breath away.
In all other ways, and at all other temperatures, the CL-14 suits me fine -- certainly a price performer.
The breath box snaps into the two circular air vents in the chinbar of the full-faced helmet, and velcros to the lining. It stays in the helmet. But when the helmet is on, it looks like I've donned a painter's mask, mounted over my nose and mouth. All breath is deflected downwards.
With the mask in place I had zero problem with fogging.
The mask smelled rather strongly of polystyrene. I'm sure that smell will dissipate over time.
My chief problem with the mask was that my sunglasses wouldn't fit properly with the mask in place; the mask came so far up on the bridge of my nose. With the mask in place, the glasses couldn't fit as tightly, and ended up compromising my field of vision. It was distracting and dangerous. For the return trip I side-stepped the whole issue and left the sunglasses off.
I might be able to find a different pair of sunglasses that fit properly over the bridge of the mask. Or, I might try a tinted visor instead.
But the mask itself was worth the $9 I paid for it. It will allow me to keep the visor closed on those cold days, and still be fog-free.
Fogging is my chief complaint about my CL-14. With temps in the 40's or lower I cannot keep my visor closed when I'm commuting. At a stop light, and even at city-street speeds the visor will fog. I spent my cool-weather commutes with the visor cracked open -- fine for visiblity but very cold on the face. Sometimes the wind chill takes my breath away.
In all other ways, and at all other temperatures, the CL-14 suits me fine -- certainly a price performer.
The breath box snaps into the two circular air vents in the chinbar of the full-faced helmet, and velcros to the lining. It stays in the helmet. But when the helmet is on, it looks like I've donned a painter's mask, mounted over my nose and mouth. All breath is deflected downwards.
With the mask in place I had zero problem with fogging.
The mask smelled rather strongly of polystyrene. I'm sure that smell will dissipate over time.
My chief problem with the mask was that my sunglasses wouldn't fit properly with the mask in place; the mask came so far up on the bridge of my nose. With the mask in place, the glasses couldn't fit as tightly, and ended up compromising my field of vision. It was distracting and dangerous. For the return trip I side-stepped the whole issue and left the sunglasses off.
I might be able to find a different pair of sunglasses that fit properly over the bridge of the mask. Or, I might try a tinted visor instead.
But the mask itself was worth the $9 I paid for it. It will allow me to keep the visor closed on those cold days, and still be fog-free.
Dude, try Fog City, and you'll never have problems with your sunglasses...or with fogged shields.
ReplyDeleteI finally got my breath box at the end of July. Ordered in May. I was searching for how to mount it and ran accross your post. The CS-R1 box mounts with velcro at the bottom and the same velcro wings. Also has a metal nose piece to mold to your nose. I solved the sunglasses problem and the driving in the dark with the amber shield. A little weird in the dark but I tried the clear shield the other morning and found I couldn't see as well as I could with the amber shield. Amber makes oncoming lights a yellow instead of bright white. http://i179.photobucket.com/albums/w282/dlunt/helmet/PICT0034.jpg?t=1218849574
ReplyDeleteWe need to set up a September ride! Maybe the world won't flood this time.