Motorcycle Sunglasses Buyers Guide
Motorcycle sunglasses affect both comfort and safety, but many riders wear glasses that match their riding attire better than their riding environment. This should be expected since it is almost impossible to find objective information about selecting motorcycle glasses. This guide is our attempt to remedy that problem. As an avid motorcyclist and the owner of ADS Sports Eyewear I get to road test every major brand of motorcycle glasses on the market. As an optician I know what’s needed to improve contrast and protect eyesight. The following guide presents two fundamental steps to follow when selecting motorcycle eyewear. At the end of this guide I also give my opinions about the Best & Worst products from the top four manufacturers, and let you know how they compare to each other.
Step 1: Choose glasses that fit the type of riding you will be doing.
Longer rides or rides at higher speeds require motorcycle glasses that prevent wind from swirling around behind the lens and drying out your eyes. If you’re usually riding between stop lights you will want eyewear that allows more air circulation to minimize fogging and  perspiration around the eyes.
Panoptx and Wiley-X each offer several glasses with a foam eyecup that protects the eye from swirling winds. Both manufacturers also feature a venting system that manages the amount of air that comes through air vents on top and escapes out the bottom or on the sides. While too much circulating air will dry out your eyes, too little circulation will suffocate them. Either condition will reduce the amount of time you can ride comfortably. Many of the knock-off versions of these glasses are not designed to effectively balance these airflow requirements.
Gatorz Eyewear and Harley Davidson Eyewear both have several models that protect your eyes from wind and debris, but allow a little more air circulation than the Panoptx or Wiley-X models. These glasses will keep you cooler and more comfortable at slower speeds or on  shorter rides.
Be extremely cautious about wearing eyewear on a motorcycle that is not designed specifically for speed. Choose a frame that adequately wraps around the side of your eye. Smaller frames will direct the burble of air created by the lens right into your eye. While this might keep the bigger bugs from directly impacting your eye, it will provide little protection from wind and dust. The frame should also be built to withstand impact. An unbreakable lens has little value if it is mounted in a frame that could disintegrate right in front of your eyes.
Step 2: Choose a lens that fits your needs.
There are an infinite number of good lens choices available to motorcyclists, and an equal number of bad choices. The importance of making the right choice cannot be overstated. The correct lens choice should reduce eyestrain, improve contrast, and quicken reaction time.
Factors to consider when selecting a lens include: lens material; polarized or not; photochromic or not; and lens color. Regardless of what you choose, there will be lots of pros and cons. Here we try to present the pluses and minuses associated with each alternative.
Lens material choices should be limited to polycarbonate, Trivex, or SR-91. Any other material could shatter if struck by a rock or a bug at highway speeds. If you wear regular street eyewear on a motorcycle it’s just a matter of time before Darwinism takes you out of the gene pool.
If you’re purchasing prescription motorcycle glasses and someone offers to sell you a UV lens treatment, you can assume this person is either inexperienced or unethical. The three lens materials listed above block UV rays naturally. No additional coating is required. Any lens that requires a UV lens treatment is breakable and should not be used in motorcycle eyewear.
We use polycarbonate lenses in about 80% of our prescription motorcycle glasses. Trivex lens blanks are still not available in sizes large enough to fit most 8-base wrap-style motorcycle glasses. The new SR-91 polarized prescription lenses are now available for most of our motorcycle frames. SR-91 is about 75% more expensive than polycarbonate, but the optics are phenomenal. The SR-91 Copper-12 lens is very compatible with motorcycling. Very few labs in the country have the equipment required to edge this new lens material, so it may take a few days longer to get SR-91 than polycarbonate. All SR-91 lenses are polarized, none are photochromic.
Polarized lenses are the most effective way to cut glare and get a clean, crisp view of the road. Polarization is not a lens coating. It is a series of crystals sandwiched inside the lens that blocks scattered light from reaching your eye. Sources of glare could be windshields, wet roads, buildings, or directly from the sun. Reasons not to get polarized lenses include: some LED instrumentation is not visible through a polarized lens; vision could be distorted if polarized lenses are worn under some full-faced helmets; and polarized lenses are more expensive than traditional lenses. If you do not have LED instrumentation or a full-faced helmet, we highly recommend polarized lenses for motorcycling.
Photochromic lenses are becoming very popular with people who want one pair of motorcycle glasses for both day and night riding. This is especially true of prescription lens wearers. The biggest downside of photochromic (or Transitions®) lenses is that polycarbonate lens material does not get quite as dark as the more breakable photochromic lenses (like glass or CR-39 plastic). For people who are more sensitive to bright light, or people who prefer a dark sunglass lens, these may not get dark enough to be comfortable.
Panoptx (will soon be called 7-Eye) created a "Dusk-to-Dawn" lens for people who want their photochromic motorcycle glasses to get darker. They put a slight copper tint on a regular photochromic lens to make it just a bit darker in sunlight. The tint also cuts the glare from oncoming headlights during dusk or dawn hours. This lens works fine for night riding under streetlights. But if your only source of light is your motorcycle headlight you need a lens that gets completely clear. Both the Panoptx Day & Night lens and the Wiley-X Light Adjusting lens will get almost completely clear. (These are two names for basically the same lens.) If you order either of these lenses in prescription glasses we will use the newest Transitions® VI lens material.
Lens color is almost as important as polarization when trying to maximize clarity and contrast. For most people, shades of copper provide the best contrast, and copper will always sharpen colors like reds and greens. Grey or brown lenses are best for maintaining true color. In low light conditions like dusk, dawn, or rainy days a yellow or light rust lens color can cut glare and improve contrast. But as you just read, if your only source of light is your motorcycle headlight a slight tint will not improve contrast. It will just reduce the little bit of light you have to work with.
What do most people do?
Our customers are typically serious cyclists, or prescription lens wearers. So our statistics may not be identical to the industry as a whole. But this what we sell to motorcyclists:
Over 90% of motorcyclists order eyewear with black frames. About 55% order photochromic lenses. About 25% of lenses are polarized, and over 90% of lenses are some form of grey. (This includes photochromic grey, polarized grey, and regular grey lenses.)
The most popular frames that we sell motorcyclists are the Panoptx Diablo, Wiley-X AirRage, Wiley-X Blink, and the Panoptx Churada. (Churada is best for smaller faces.)
The Best and Worst of each manufacturer:
What are the best and worst qualities of each manufacturer? How do the world’s best motorcycle eyewear manufacturers compare to each other? Here’s what we think.
Best:
The best of Panoptx includes the glasses in their CV Series, also called SR100 Velocity Series. These glasses all have a padded eyecup with the deepest, most comfortable foam eye seal on the market. This eye seal is removable in all the CV Series glasses, so you can wear the goggles as sunglasses when you get to your destination or when traveling at  slower speeds. Their frames are very well constructed and are an excellent choice for riders who want prescription lenses. Some of the frames in the CV Series have an adjustable temple length. Panoptx also features a great Polarized Copper lens. The Panoptx Diablo has the most universal fit, and is their best seller. The Churada is Panoptx best seller with women riders, but the new Panoptx Solano is rapidly becoming just as popular.
Worst:
Panoptx limitations are fairly predictable. The thick foam eyecup is comfortable, but sometimes interferes with peripheral vision. When you are not riding the foam can make your eye sockets feel hot and sweaty. Pulling the glasses slightly away from your face and letting a little air circulate behind the lens can usually fix this. The well-constructed frame lacks flexibility and can be less comfortable under a helmet. Panoptx tells us that glasses in the SR-75 Speed Series will block about 75% as much wind and dust as glasses in the CV Series. The SR-75 glasses cost about 30% less, but you get more for your money with the higher quality CV Series glasses.
Best:
The best of Wiley-X is their newest line of motorcycle eyewear. The Wiley-X Blink, AirRage, and Brick are all hugely popular for glasses that have just hit the market. All of these feature lightweight nylon frames and removable eye seals. The frames are lighter, thinner, and more flexible than other quality frames. They are also made in the USA, and they cost less than comparable motorcycle eyewear. The foam eye seals are a slightly lower profile than the Panoptx glasses, so peripheral vision is sometimes better. The Wiley-X SG-1 is a large frame that continues to be popular, and one of the only frames that allow interchangeable prescription lenses.
Worst:
It's difficult to find things that we don't like about Wiley-X glasses. The worst of Wiley-X is probably the flimsy cases that come stock with all of their eyewear. But since we give away a leather hard case with most of the top selling Wiley-X glasses, this is a non-issue.
Best:
Gatorz offers loads of color combinations, and a uniquely flexible billet aluminum frame on  most models. With just a little bending and shaping, one of Gatorz top three frames will fit most people well enough to provide an impressive wind barrier. The Gatorz Radiator is their biggest seller, and fits most faces very well. The Demora fits women’s faces, or men with higher cheekbones. The Wraptor is slightly larger than the Radiator and fits faces with lower cheekbones.
Gatorz new cabernet lens looks great in their gunmetal frame, but few people have discovered this lens yet. Another undiscovered Gatorz fact is that you can remove the nosepiece to get a tighter fit and seal out more air. Skydivers have been doing this for years. But if you have long eyelashes this may irritate you more than the little bit of wind that gets behind the lens.
Worst:
Gatorz does not offer the lens selection that you find with other sports eyewear companies. They have no polarized lenses, no photochromic lenses, and you cannot put prescription lenses in Gatorz Eyewear. The Gatorz Converter and Transformer were created just for motorcyclists, but they never really caught on. Most cyclists still prefer the Radiator. And while the Gatorz fit often provides an impressive wind barrier, it is not as tight a seal as you would get with the Wiley-X or Panoptx padded eye seal.
Best:
Harley Davidson glasses are larger than most, so they fit best on extra big heads. If budget is a concern, or if you want to give someone a gift with an exclusive name on it, Harley Davidson Eyewear is a great choice. The Harley Davidson HD-320 is a great value whether you're riding your Harley or just lounging in the sun. We sell this frame to a surprising number of baseball players because of the comfort and phenomenal all-around sun protection. It is not as huge as many of the Harley frames, and it comes with lenses for every occasion.
Worst:
There are two companies that have the license to manufacture glasses with the Harley Davidson logo. Neither of them adheres to the standards that Harley Davidson was built on. The foam wind barriers are rubbery and don’t breath well, so they tend to get clammy. The frame ergonomics not as well thought out as they should be, and the lens selection is minimal. We have many of our Harley glasses marked down to about an 80% of what they originally listed for, so you will definitely get more for your money with these Harley Davidson glasses. But you may have noticed that we prefer the more expensive Panoptx or Wiley-X models.
Conclusion:
Finding the right motorcycle eyewear will make riding safer and more enjoyable. It requires a little information, and a little time. We can give you the information. You have to get off your bike for a few minutes and make the time. If you have any questions, call us. We’re happy to help or offer suggestions.
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