Motorbike commuting is a world of its own. You might also ride for fun when you get the chance, but if you commute to work or school every day, several things are probably true. It’s likely, for example, that you have your route down to a science. Maybe you even know that if you leave just a single minute later than usual, you’ll get stuck on a road with no passing zone behind your extremely slow neighbor.
Most of all, though, you know you have somewhere to be every single day—and it doesn’t matter what the weather is doing. So, what do you do when it’s raining? You sigh, dress as appropriately as you can, and head out into the rainy streets to get where you need to go, of course.
Rain on your helmet visor can pose both an annoyance and a danger, though. Some glove makers offer moto gloves with built-in visor wipers, but your success in using those may vary. Enter this motorcycle helmet rain wiper, which purports to solve at least some of your rainy-day riding problems.
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I mean, it’s not completely unreasonable. After all, many of us already mount action cameras and/or Bluetooth communications units to our helmets, so why not add one more thing into the mix? This particular unit requires you to drill two small holes in the top of your visor (remember: measure twice, cut once). It then screws neatly into place, so you don’t have to worry about any potentially dodgy adhesives giving up and making the unit fall off when you least expect it.
Rather than relying on you installing any kind of standard battery, it’s yet another device you’ll need to recharge when needed by plugging in a USB cable. (By the way, it’s not entirely clear whether said battery is removable, or if you’ll have to park your entire helmet next to your nearest wall outlet while you recharge your motorized visor wiper.)
For a system like this to function well requires an awful lot of things to go right. First of all, it has to be completely weatherproof, so it doesn’t suddenly stop working because water got somewhere it shouldn’t and shorted the entire thing out. Secondly, the squeegee part has to be effective, and not just a hard piece of plastic that doesn’t do anything useful. Thirdly, it can’t be too heavy, or else no one’s going to want to mount it on their helmet. Finally, the recharging process should be quick and simple, like charging your phone, your Bluetooth comms unit, or your action camera.
To be clear, we have no idea whether this unit meets or defies any of those expectations. Do you think it’s potentially a good idea, or no?
