Visorcat visor cleaning system
The winter months are a time when most peoples two wheeled pride and joy are safely tucked up in a nice warm garage. Some hardy souls ride all year round of course, but I confess I had my fill of British winters on a bike in my teens and twenties. However there is a new bit of kit to test that was best done in damp conditions so the bike needed to come out even though on return it would be covered in crap. Horrifying I know but this is my level of commitment to testing new things. The thing in question is the Visorcat visor cleaning system made by Visorcat in the UK.
The Visorcat system consists of a small rubber unit that fits over your left glove. It attaches around the wrist with an adjustable strap and around your index finger or thumb if preferable, with a rubber band attachment. An adjustable wrist strap means it can be loosened to quickly remove the unit, but I found it easier to just adjust the wrist strap so that I could take off my glove leaving the Visorcat still in place.
Hidden under a rubber flap is a cleaning sponge which is fed with cleaning fluid from a small built in reservoir, easily filled by removing a small rubber bung. Visorcat comes complete with a 50ml bottle of fluid to get you started. 250ml bottles and replacement sponges are available.
On the top of the flap are rubber cleaning blades just like a car windscreen wiper. The idea is that you wipe left to right which opens the flap allowing you to use the sponge and then wipe right to left clearing your visor with the rubber blades.
At first the Visorcat feels a bit clunky on your glove. However finger or thumb movement is not restricted and you soon forget it’s there.
Road conditions on the day were pretty much perfect for the test and horrible for riding. Previous days had seen sub-zero temperatures with the local council depositing a nice layer of salty grit which mixed with a light misty rain to produce perfect muck. HGV’s and cars completed ideal test conditions throwing up a grimy salty mist that dried on my visor almost immediately giving a grey opaque covering.
I probably had covered all of 500 meters before my visability was almost zero. Usually I would use the index finger of my left glove to try and clear my vision but as the crud was already dry that would have just making things worse.
Ok time to try the visorcat.
My first wipe was rubbish but that was because I am used to using my index finger and that is what I did! Once I remembered that the Visorcat was attached to the back of my palm and not the finger things got better. Wipe left to right and the fluid soaked sponge removed most of the dirt, cleaning the visor pretty well. The right to left stroke with the rubber blades finished the job leaving the visor pretty much spotless. Wow!
It takes a little getting used to but once you have the technique it’s brilliant. I have been riding bikes for quite a while and I really wish the Visorcat was around when riding in all weathers in my youth.
The reservoir on the unit is quite small but it will last for most rides and it’s easy to carry a small bottle of fluid in your pocket to top it up.
I don’t ride in bad weather so much now mainly because I hate getting my bike filthy and the cleaning job that results, but I am sure that the Visorcat will do a great job of clearing the bugs from my visor in the warmer months if we get any.
All in all Visorcat is a really great product that will be staying on my glove permanently.
Take a look at the video below to see how it works.
Click here to see the price in our shop
Right time to clean the bike for the third time this week!!
