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You can’t ride any kind of
open vehicle very fast before you realize that proper eye protection is an essential
part of your gear. While participants in many active sports use sunglasses,
motorcyclists have some special requirements for selecting an effective pair of
sunglasses.
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Many fashion glasses and some sporty sunglass are shaped for appearance or style
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Fashion Sunglasses - Flat lenses, complicated frame
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In contrast, motorcycle
sunglasses need to fit snugly against your face and provide a good seal against
flying debris and wind. This means the frame needs to be highly curved (“wraparound”) to offer a better fit.
The lenses are usually smaller than those found in fashion glasses
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Motorcycle sunglasses - full wrap-around frame for protection
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Simple, molded bridges seem to work better and
provide a better seal than the more complicated frames that use small feet on
each side of the nose. Molded bridges are less likely to get bent out of shape
by rough use, storage in a jacket pocket or saddlebag, or being sat on in the
coffee shop.
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Simple molded nose bridge may be best
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The frame needs to have a lower profile along the top, to clear the forehead area of a motorcycle helmet.
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The top part of the frame can interfere with the forehead part of a helmet
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The earpieces should be
relatively straight and stiff to allow easy insertion after putting on your
helmet. Airman-style glasses with hook-like earpieces are
very difficult to put on, and should be avoided
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Avoid airman style with complicated nosepiece, bridge and hook earpieces
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The lenses should be
shatterproof to protect against flying bugs and the errant rock or debris
blowing out of the truck in front of you. For this reason all quality motorcycle
sunglasses are made of shatter-resistant polycarbonate plastic. Glass lenses in
any form should be avoided.
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A benefit of plastic lenses is that they filter out ultraviolet radiation without the use of
coatings or tints. The plastic material itself is an effective barrier against
UV radiation.
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We've tried many different types of sunglasses, but
the ones we like the best, and that have all the features mentioned above, are
the Maxx line of motorcycle sunglasses. You can see them here.
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