Smith Roll-Offs Makes Normal Tear-Offs Obsolete
Smith Roll-offs Makes Normal Tear-Offs Obsolete
EVALUATION
Probably the most common problem off-road motorcycle racers, enduro competitors and motocrossers encounter is trying to see clearly. Most events are either dusty or muddy as hell. Of course the racer’s goggles quickly become coated with a thick layer of dust or mud or a combination of both. Wiping the lens with a gloved hand, sometimes also muddy, doesn’t help much and usually manages to scratch the lens, making it even more difficult to see. Most brands of goggles offer tear-offs to help the rider see better. Tear-offs are thinner lenses stacked over the regular lens and pulled off and discarded as they become dirty. The problems are obvious; stacking five or six tear-offs over the regular lens makes the view somewhat clouded, causes some distortion and dirt, dust and water sometimes get between them making things worse. Still, they help more times than they hamper.
Smith Goggles in Sun Valley, Idaho has a better solution: Roll-Offs. Rather than stack multiple lenses over the normal, Smith has a 3 mil thick, 1.25 in. wide Mylar film over the center of the lens. The film is 20 ft. long and stored in a plastic canister bolted through the right side of the normal lens. The film fits tightly across the goggle lens and is rolled onto a spool in another plastic canister on the left side of the lens. A plastic knob protrudes from the left canister. Pulling the knob advances the film. When the film is first advanced you have to pull the knob twice to get a full width replacement of film. As the catch spool fills and gets larger, one pull usually does it. The plastic knob is attached to a braided nylon string that turns the catch spool. A stainless steel spring in the bottom of the retrieve canister returns the knob to its resting position against the canister. All of the other gears and parts are made of plastic so moisture has no effect on them and weight is kept to a minimum. The bottom of the retrieve canister also has several small holes to let trapped moisture escape.
After 25 or more complete replacement procedures a new film cartridge is installed. The bottom of each canister snaps off for film replacement and inspection. Replacement is fairly simple after it’s done once.
Roll-Offs are available for Smith SMX and Scott Series R goggles. The Roll-Offs don’t come with a frame, instead the system is mounted to a clear Lexan lens for either the Smith or Scott goggles. This means you won’t have to buy a completely new set of goggles, just add the system to your present set. And of course, by removing the four attaching screws one could custom fit the system to any brand. Roll-Offs comes with two film cartridges (50 to 60 normal tearoffs) for $29.95. Extra film rolls are $9.95 for a package of two.
The Roll-Offs system is a big advancement. It makes normal tear-offs look like something out of a history book. Five normal tear-offs can be used up in two or three laps if the track is real muddy. The Roll-Offs will last through a muddy 45 min. moto or more. One of our test riders used the Roll-Offs during the last 500cc National at Carlsbad and although the track wasn’t as muddy as it sometimes is, the system still provided an advantage. Being splashed at mud holes didn’t matter, a clear view of the track was just a pull of the knob away. The area above and below the film band will get covered with mud and keep some light out when lots of mud is encountered, blocking some of the rider’s peripheral vision but it’s a small trade-off. And most of the problem can be eliminated by installing a regular tear-off over the Roll-Offs to catch the heavy mud splashes during the first lap. Water can sometimes get behind the film but a pull or two on the knob clears the view quickly.
Completely new approaches to old problems are rare. The Roll-Offs system is a new approach that does an exceptional job of eliminating an old problem.
Q
