Everybody remembers the cool Terminator style with dark sunglasses on, day or night. Definitely dark shades look great on motorcycles, but what about real life usage? Well, the kind of sunglasses matching the Terminator style are practical for casual wear and not for motor riding, no matter how cool they may look. Motorcycle sunglasses are meant to withstand high speeds on the road and be compatible with the use of a helmet. Durability, quality and rigorous protection represent the criteria for the design for quality motorcycle sunglasses. They have to be durable because of the high speed impact with road debris that often hits the biker in the face.

Even if we are talking about contact with very small pebbles, low quality motorcycle sunglasses will not resist the impact and will chip or shatter. Moreover, glass is never used for the lenses because of the possibility to break and harm the biker’s eye. The best lenses for motorcycle sunglasses are made of polycarbonate that is resistant and very lightweight matching extreme travel conditions. All the companies that design eyewear for motorcycle use have special testing procedures to check the resistance of motorcycle sunglasses to impact and temperature variations.

Polarization is another key feature of motorcycle sunglasses. The glare as well as the bounces off from the pavement have to be solved by the anti-glare coating. A special element that receives no attention for other kinds of sunglasses is the vibration of the light waves, which could be a health risk at high speed conditions; in fact, the shock it produces has to be absorbed by the polarized lens layer. The relevance of such features is very high given the fact that it is unacceptable to ride the bike when the road is too bright or you have to squint against the sun. From this point of view motorcycle sunglasses are important for road safety and health protection if we consider the impact of reflected light on vision.

Last but not least, motorcycle sunglasses need maximum ultraviolet protection for the entire light spectrum. This means that there should be a balanced combination of UV protection and polarization. You don’t really need anti-glare features on overcast days, but the presence of clouds does not exclude the action of the ultraviolets. Consequently, eye protection require the use of motorcycle sunglasses even on low brightness. Macular degenerations, cataract and lots of other eye disorders have a reduced incidence if the eyewear is adequate and of good quality.

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When the author isn’t motorcycle riding, he also enjoys psychic readings, the BMW Z3 windscreen windblocker wind deflector, and follows the Seattle HCG Diet.