Glare from Clear Plastic on BMW Tank Bag

[twilmotte]

I'm tired of squinting from the glare of the sun off the clear plastic on the top of my BMW (R1200RT) tank bag. Other than trimming the plastic off with an X-acto knife, is there some easy "rube goldberg" way to cover it up with something on sunny days? I'd like to be able to use it sometime when I travel with maps or directions. Just wondering if someone has a nice idea I haven't thought of. TIA :-)

[na1g]

I know what you mean. Irritating. I have an old Eclipse bag that has a slightly frosted plastic map pocket that kills the glare but still allows easy reading. Seems like BMW could have thought of that. Maybe the solution is to lightly frost the BMW pocket with some fine steel wool or 600-grit sandpaper? You go first! Ummm... any other thoughts?

 

pete

[Quinn]

Maybe tack spray or rubber cement and cover with a tinted report cover or transparancy that could be peeled off easily if needed.

 

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[marcopolo]

I've been using that tank bag since 2006 and never experienced that problem. That said, I generally have a piece of paper under that window. Have you tried that?

[jcolman]

Go to any fabric store and buy a piece of black felt and some pre cut velcro fasteners. Cut the felt to fit the plastic window, put some velcro on the corners of the felt and tank bag. Simply cover the plastic with the felt. When you need to see your map or whatever you have under the plastic, simply lift the felt on one side.

 

Or maybe just put the felt under the plastic and see if that fixes the glare.

[elkroeger]

Do you have a rain cover for it? Put that on. If you don't have one, they're easily made with nearly zero sewing skills. Any seamstress could do one in a jiffy.

 

Edit - Ahhh, I see you're from Texas. So, no, you clearly don't have a rain cover....

[twilmotte]

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I will try to cover the plastic portion of the tank bag will some black fabric that matches the black texture of the bag and then fasten it with Velcro so I can remove it when needed. I've tried putting maps and other materials under the plastic, but still get the glare. Depending on the angle of the sun, sometimes it's like a mirror reflecting sunlight right up into my face. I had a Big Mak tank bag on my '04 RT that had a clear plastic map pocket, but the whole map pocket was removable with Velcro and straps. That was a very nice design.

[lkchris]

Plastic will turn yellow eventually.