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Pinlock anti-fog visor attachment - Kevin Turner gets hot and steamy without losing sight of where he is going
With additional words by Bob Pickett
The Pinlock system is essentially a means of double glazing your visor to prevent it fogging up. Now, if you're anything like me you'll assume it doesn't work because if it did, you'd know about it, right?
Well, no. For some reason this simple solution to a nagging problem has taken an age to catch on, which is strange because it is, frankly, brilliant. For £15 you get a layer of what feels like thick plastic which you attach to your visor with the small clips enclosed. Put your lid on, breath as heavily as you can and be amazed when your vision remains crystal clear.
I was so impressed I decided to really give it a challenge and took it into the shower with me! Everything steamed up accept my visor, I mean, how good is that! (Note: if you plan on trying this experiment warn your partner before hand. It's not easy trying to explain to a new girlfriend why you're stood naked in the shower wearing only a crash helmet.)
Pinlock is so effective that all new Arai and Shoei lids offer it as part of the package (except the Arai Condor range for some reason - Editors Note: I bought an Arai Condor at the MCN show and they fitted a Pinlock for me, so perhaps this has changed). However, my Condor did at least have the Pinlock attachments pre-mounted on the visor so I simply had to clip it into place. For older visors, this can be a small problem, because you'll have to drill the holes in which to place the mounts yourself.
In reality, it's a simple process that takes seconds if you have the right tools,
but don't try and bodge it because it's quite easy to ruin a perfectly good visor.
Don't let this put you off though; if you don't trust yourself with a drill bit,
simply send your visor off to the professionals (Pinlock's U.K. distributor
The Visorshop, who offer this service for about a tenner).
Once the insert is attached, simply peel off the protective strip and away you go. (Do remember to peel this off by the way, otherwise you'll find yourself in the same embarrassing predicament as a mate of mine who complained for weeks that the new camera on his phone was rubbish until it was pointed out to him that it still had the transparent later of plastic over the display.)
Additional words from Bob:
I recently bought a new helmet, which came with the Pinlock as standard (thank you nice man at J&S who fitted it for me). I gave it a test in ideal test conditions, being very cold. I couldn't make it mist up. I tried. I kept the visor firmly down at all times. I closed off vents. I deliberately breathed into it when I stopped. I also developed a coughing fit at one point (accidental).
But I just could not make it mist.
As a result I've been able to ride with all vents closed and the visor firmly shut on the coldest of days, so ensuring my head stays toasty warm but I can still see where I am going.
If there is a drawback, it is that as the Pinlock effectively creates double-glazing (which is how it works after all), you do get a bit of a problem with reflected glare in the dark - you get some odd reflections of rear lights etc on the visor. That said, it isn't obtrusive and does disappear to an extent depending on how your head is tilted.
Verdict:
So there you go, if you don't have one already, get on the blower and order one now. It really will transform the way you ride and make those horrible wet weather journeys in particular much more palatable. More importantly, it'll make every journey safer, and £15 is a small price to pay for that.
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