Lockhart Supershades
LOCKHART SUPERSHADES
EVALUATION
STICK-ON EYE-SHADOW
ANY ASTRONOMER CAN TELL YOU that the sun is an ordinary, class-G, main-sequence star, about 150 million kilometers from earth. But any motorcyclist can tell you that when the sun is low on the horizon and dead in his path, it feels like it’s inside his helmet. To cope with the blinding glare, some riders will take a hand off the bars and shield their eyes, or crane their necks to such impossible angles that their field of vision is impaired. Either way, such methods of solar defense leave something to be desired.
Instead, consider slapping a Supershade from Lockhart Consumer Products (15717 Texaco St., Paramount, CA 90723; [213] 6304621) on your helmet’s faceshield. Opaque, adhesive-backed, 2-ply vinyl strips, 2-mil-thick and approximately %-inch wide, the Supershades might seem to be a rather primitive solution, but they’re effective nonetheless. Properly placed, a 'shade essentially lowers the top edge of a helmet’s view port; as a result, the rider needn’t dip or twist his head as severely to keep the sun out of his eyes. Certainly a small difference, but a significant one, and over a long ride it can save a bit of wear and tear on the neck muscles, too.
Actually, Lockhart makes no claims for the Supershades’ abilities as tiny sun-visors. Instead, they’re touted solely as a means to “personalize your visor,” a fashion item to spiff up your helmet. To that end, the ’shades’ graphics come in five colormatch combinations, with 10 choices of marque names, model names or race teams. They’re also available straight or curved, to match the upper edge of various shields.
Still, the Supershades are useful for more than just decoration. Mind you, they won’t improve your fuel mileage, lower your lap times or increase horsepower throughout the rev range; but with a suggested retail price of $1.95 each, they won’t rupture your wallet, either. What Lockhart’s Supershades can do is make your ride slightly more pleasant, and dress up your helmet in the bargain. At the price, you can hardly ask for more fhan that.
