[Ms Flinthills]

I have searched through the Forum so as not to ask a question that has been asked many times before. I discovered that it has, but unfortunately all of the solutions seem to be based on the assumption that the problem is fixing a glare problem when that is not the issue.

Yesterday as I was coming back from a short 50 mile trip on my 2012 Burgman 400; I encountered times when either headed directly into the sun--between 5-6 pm--or at an angle slightly to my right. What happened is that I could no longer see the speedometer. Instead all I could see was darkness and a hint of the needle, but no numbers. I was wearing sunglasses that are great for cutting the glare and I even experimented with having the addition of my helmet's sun visor and that didn't help. Perhaps the best post was this one from "Gramps" in 2007 and I looked to see if he was still active and he is not as he left in 2009. Here is a link to his post: http://burgmanusa.com/forums/15-burgman-650/22619-instrument-panel-visibility.html


Luckily I was riding with a friend and he was in front, so that I didn't have to worry what the speedometer was reading. All other times when I don't have the sun in this position, my sunglasses cut the glare just fine. I am curious about the suggestion of having a filter across the instrument panel as that would seem to suggest a glare problem.


Thanks for any help.

 

[AROTH]

Sunglasses? Sounds familiar, also.

I sometimes forget to remove my prescription sunglasses and go into a store to purchase something. Couldn't figure out why I could frequently never read the LCD screens on the card readers as they always looked black. Found out I could, if I rotated my head sideways 90 degrees..........I'm sure the cashiers thought I was crazy or something......

Something about polarized lenses and a 90 degree angle at certain light angles.....scientific to me.

If I hold up my hand temporarily to the side the sun is coming at, and cover the lens area from being directly hit by the sun, it makes a big difference.

 

[Ms Flinthills]

Thanks AROTH, but I don't have polarized sunglasses. I have an anti-reflective coating on both my regular and sunglasses. Tonight I tried it with just my regular glasses with both the helmet's sun visor down and back up. Both times riding into the sun late in the afternoon--4:30 pm I had total darkness in the speedometer and tachometer.

 

[Ms Flinthills]

I want to add that it isn't the brightness of the sun as I can ride mid-day and sunglasses will cut the glare on the dials and I have no problem. It is only when I am riding within 2 hours or so of sunset and riding directly headed west into the sun.

 

[v8eyedoc]

As an eye doctor - I can explain very easily what you are experiencing.!!!! I is called "DARK ADAPTATION"......and "LIGHT ADAPTATION".. When you are riding west into a setting sun OR east into a rising sun.....the amount of light coming into your eyes regardless of the type of glasses you may be wearing.......is increased by about (and this is a guess!) about a 100 times and when you look at the relatively dark dash - you have experienced extreme light adaptation. The very same thing as when a camera flash goes off into your eyes........You are temporarily blinded.

If you have gone to a movie on a bright sunny Summer day - after 2-3 hours in the dark - you go outside and you cannot see very comfortably - in fact, many people

will even say that their eyes "hurt" them for 2-3 minutes........

Google both light & dark adaptation.

 

[Quantum Mechanic]

Brilliant explanation doc. I too know something about this as I had a big problem with my eyesight a few years back and my eyes ability to adapt was compromised by a temporary blindness attack. It took about a year for my eyes to return to normal function in that respect. However, what Flinthills is complaining about is just normal stuff from the sound of it. Everyone I know has mentioned this irrespective of whether they ride a Burgman or some other scoot/bike. It's always with the sun in your face at early morning or towards sunset. Some people are probably affected a bit more than others but it's normal stuff I think.

 

[v8eyedoc]

Brilliant explanation doc. I too know something about this as I had a big problem with my eyesight a few years back and my eyes ability to adapt was compromised by a temporary blindness attack. It took about a year for my eyes to return to normal function in that respect. However, what Flinthills is complaining about is just normal stuff from the sound of it. Everyone I know has mentioned this irrespective of whether they ride a Burgman or some other scoot/bike. It's always with the sun in your face at early morning or towards sunset. Some people are probably affected a bit more than others but it's normal stuff I think.

Absolutely.....!!!!!! the retina of the eye is composed ot 2 types of light sensor cells. Rods & cones..... Cones are for bright light and rods are for very dim or night vision. The neurological connection for cones to the brain is 1/1 while the rod connection is about 50/1 so they become more sensitive and better at night. It takes some period of time to go from one kind of adaptation to the other.

 

[Ms Flinthills]

Thanks v8eyedoc! I was beginning to think the problem was with me and now I know the reason. I love the instrument panel on the 400, but it was nice riding motorcycles where the speedometer was out in open and no problem seeing under any lighting condition. Is there no way around the problem as a sun visor on a helmet wouldn't work?

 

[v8eyedoc]

Thanks v8eyedoc! I was beginning to think the problem was with me and now I know the reason. I love the instrument panel on the 400, but it was nice riding motorcycles where the speedometer was out in open and no problem seeing under any lighting condition. Is there no way around the problem as a sun visor on a helmet wouldn't work?

A sun visor on the helmet will help you a bit.......BUT there is no way of getting around that SOLAR GLARE.......... It affects everyone

 

[Ms Flinthills]

It would appear that a different helmet solved the problem. I'm still not sure if perhaps the conditions were a little different this time. I changed to a different helmet and no sun glasses, but did use the sun visor in the helmet. I rode about the same time and the little I was facing into the sun I could tuck my chin and the helmet (solid part above clear visor) seemed to act like a visor. Before it didn't matter how I tilted my head as I could not change things. This other helmet fits a little different and when I use the sun visor I don't have the problem of having to adjust my helmet back some to keep the sun visor from hitting my nose.