How to clean bugs off visor and motorbike

If you’ve ever been showered with bugs on your ride, you will know how difficult they are to remove from your helmet visor and your motorcycle.

That’s because the wind quickly dries them out and they become very hard and stick like glue to any surface.

Cleaning bugs off your bike

While bugs on a motorcycle are mainly a cosmetic issue, they can interfere with the performance of your headlight or clog up oil coolers and radiators.

We suggest trying to remove most of them from headlights and coolers with water from a service station while out on the road.

You won’t get them all, but you should remove enough to be able to continue riding.

Leave the rest of the bug removal until you get home as it’s only cosmetic.

We suggest using a special bug remover that you can buy from most motorcycle shops, service stations or auto shops like Supercheap. There is little difference we can detect between specific motorcycle cleaners and car cleaners.

Visor cleaning

As for your visor, bugs can create substantial vision impairment which is a serious safety issue, so it’s important to remove them while out on the road.

Never try to wipe bugs off your helmet with your glove as you will only smear them and create a mess.

Wiping dried bugs can also create almost invisible scratches which may not appear to be a problem … until you are riding into the sun or at night and all you can see is a “spiders web” of scratches!

I carry a small Specsavers pump spray that I rinsed out and filled with Motul helmet & visor cleaner at $14.90.

The original Motul spray bottle is simply too bulky to carry in my jacket pocket.

Some people say Windex is ok, but it is suitable for glass only. It includes ammonia which is harmful to plastic visors.

You can also use other specific visor products or plain water.

I also carry a small soft rag that came with my Skram riding sunglasses.

If you don’t have a sunglasses or prescription glasses cloth, any soft microfibre cloth will do.

Spray a liberal amount of the solution on the visor and let it sit for about 30 seconds. Don’t rub straight away, but also don’t leave it long enough to dry.

This softens the bugs and loosens them from the surface.

Then gently wipe the bugs away with one side of the cloth. Don’t push too hard. You may have to repeat this process.

When they are mainly gone, give your visor one more spray, then wipe it dry with the other side of the cloth.

Crusty demons

If there is a thick crust of bugs on your visor, call into a service station, rest area or anywhere you can get water and toilet paper or a paper towel.

Soak the toilet paper or hand towel in water and then place it on your visor and let it sit there for about 30 seconds. You can also use a soft cloth such as your hanky or neck sock soaked in water.

Peel off the wet paper being careful not to rub the surface as some paper towels can be fairly abrasive.

Then apply your cleaning solution as per the instructions above.

Never use the windscreen squeegee provided at service stations as they may have been dropped on the ground.

They can have oil, diesel, fuel or small particles of gravel and dirt in them which can smear and scratch your visor.