The Starting Line : Do you recommend changing visors for daytime and night racing?

July 20, 2014

Motorcycle Drag racing Sportsman

The Starting Line is a biweekly column for our Sportsman drag racers brought to you by Schnitz Racing. Every other week we will feature a frequently asked question and have it answered by a panel of experienced sportsman racers, led by Ben Knight. Having questions answered by multiple racers will give our new racers several perspectives on the information they want. If you have a sportsman related question, submit it to editor@dragbike.com.

Do you recommend changing visors for daytime and night racing?

This is once again a personal preference and will vary from racer to racer. If you race the same during the day as you do at night and currently have no issues then I wouldn’t change. If you are having an issue with your reaction time, locating your opponent, etc. then you might want to try changing your visor (for instance if you were running a tinted shield). I have personally experienced more red lights during night time racing versus when I race during the day so I have experimented a lot with different helmet visors.

I do not, I have tried it and it doesn’t work for me. As the light shines on the tree throughout the day it will look differently to you. Pay attention to the tree several pairs before its your turn, that will help you acclimate you to how it looks in the day light when its your turn. I personally can’t thrown in another factor with a shaded visor. I have not tried the yellow visor or the yellow glasses that are supposed to make it all appear the same no matter the light, that might work.

For safety reasons I do recommend changing visors from daytime to night time. Some use a clear visor all the time, I do not. I use a tinted during the day and switch to an amber visor at night. At the starting line it is usually lit up enough to use a tinted visor at night, but at the long end when you’re trying to watch your competitor, the stripe and the return lane. Use your best judgment and be safe.

I think this is totally personal preference. I have changed visors in the past and liked having a tinted shield during the day. But, I’ve got caught in the lanes as it was getting dark and not able to chance visors. I also had a visor pop off on one side after changing just as I was getting ready to stage. So now I have transitions lens for my glasses and I don’t change visors. I understand that there are now transition visors available for some helmets. I’ll be checking on that.

I personally dont use different shields for day time and night time racing, mostly because I dont like changing things. I know several racers that change shields from day light to dark, I think it’s a personal preference but maybe I should give it a test and see what happens…

Be safe!

We’ll see you in two weeks for another addition of the Starting Line, in the meantime check out our column sponsor Schnitz Racing.

PREVIOUS ISSUES

Volume 1 – Issue 1 : What is the best advice for someone going down the track for the very first time?

Volume 1 – Issue 2 : How do I decide what class to enter? Most tracks have a street class and pro bike class but I sometimes see streetbikes racing in the pro bike class with the bar bikes.

Volume 1 – Issue 3 : What is the difference between a bracket class and an index class?

Volume 1 – Issue 4 : What is the difference between a pro tree and sportsman tree? And what is the best technique for cutting a light?

Volume 1 – Issue 5 : What is rollout and how does it affect my ET??

Volume 1 – Issue 6 : Does a practice tree really help with your reaction time and do you have any tips to how to use it?

Volume 1 – Issue 7 : What is courtesy staging?

Volume 1 – Issue 8 : What does “the race was won on the starting line” mean?

Volume 1 – Issue 9 : How are bye runs determined? If I get the bye, should I make the pass?