The Scorpion EXO-T520 is a sport-touring full-face helmet with a clear outer visor (shield) and a drop-down SpeedView sun visor behind it. The outer visor sits on Scorpion’s Ellip-Tec II ratchet system and changes without tools. This guide covers Scorpion EXO-T520 visor removal and refitting, how to work around the internal sun visor while you do it, and what to check before you ride.
Aftermarket visors for Scorpion helmets
The short answer: set the helmet down with the eye port facing away from you, slide the sun visor fully up into the shell, and ratchet the outer visor all the way open. Hold the release tab on the side plate, ease that side of the visor off its pivot, then repeat on the other side. Fit the new visor in the same fully open position, one side at a time, and check it clicks evenly before you ride.
How the EXO-T520 visor system works
Scorpion lists the T520’s visor mechanism as the “EllipTec II quick-release”. On its own product page for the helmet, Scorpion explains that the ratchet “uses an elliptical motion that pulls the shield securely against the eye port, ensuring a proper seal”, and that it allows the shield to be changed without tools in a matter of seconds. That wording comes from the archived EXO-T520 product page on Scorpion’s US site.
In practice that means three things. The visor clips onto a ratchet plate on each side of the shell rather than being screwed on. The elliptical path is what draws the visor back onto the eye port gasket as it closes. And because the seal depends on that path, a visor that is not fully seated on one side will leak air and noise.
The T520 adds a second lens behind the outer visor: a retractable SpeedView sun visor, worked by a slider on the shell. Scorpion describes it as a “retractable interchangeable internal sun visor” with an “easy-sliding mechanism”. It is a separate part with its own mounting, and you do not need to remove it to change the outer visor.
If you own helmets from other makers too, our guide to removing a motorcycle helmet visor covers the other common mechanisms, from side pods to push buttons.
Check the model before you start
Scorpion has sold many EXO helmets with similar names and similar-looking side plates. Confirm that you really have a T520 before you order a visor or start pulling at the plates.
- The model label. Lift the comfort liner and read the label on the shell or the EPS liner. It should read EXO-T520.
- A sun visor slider on the shell. The T520 has the drop-down SpeedView sun visor, so a helmet with no slider is a different model.
- An inflation bulb for the AirFit cheek pads, which Scorpion lists among the T520’s features.
Do not assume that a visor from another EXO helmet fits the T520 because the side plates look alike. Order the visor listed for your exact model, and use the visor finder if you are unsure which model you own. Our overview of visors that fit Scorpion helmets lists the other models in the range.
What you need before you start
The swap needs no tools at all. A little preparation still protects the paint, the ratchet plates and both lenses.
- A soft surface for the helmet, such as a folded towel or the helmet bag
- A clean microfibre cloth for the plates and the visor
- The replacement visor, with its protective film left on for now
- Scorpion’s EXO-T520 owner’s manual, which carries the diagrams for your helmet
- Good light from the side, so you can see the release tab on each plate clearly
Place the helmet in front of you with the eye port facing away. That lets the visor rise fully and puts both side plates within easy reach of both hands.
Scorpion EXO-T520 visor removal, step by step
This is the general sequence for Scorpion’s tool-less ratchet plates. For the earlier Ellip-Tec system, the EXO-R320 manual states plainly that a shield can only be removed or fitted in the fully open position, and the same rule is the safe starting point on the T520. If your manual’s diagram differs from the steps below, follow the diagram.
- Retract the sun visor. Slide it fully up into the shell so it is out of the way and cannot be scratched while you work.
- Set the helmet down. Place it on the towel with the eye port facing away from you.
- Open the outer visor all the way. Ratchet it up through every click until it stops at the top of its travel.
- Find the release tab. Look at the side plate just behind the visor edge for the tab or latch that holds the visor in place.
- Hold the tab and ease the visor off. Keep the tab held while you gently draw that side of the visor away from the plate. Do not twist it.
- Repeat on the other side. Release the second side the same way and lift the visor clear.
Lay the old visor on its outer face so the inside stays clean. If a side refuses to come away, stop and check two things: that the visor really is fully open, and that the tab is still held. Never lever the visor off with a screwdriver or a coin, because the tip slips and marks the shell, the plate or the sun visor behind it.
Fitting the new visor
Wipe each ratchet plate with a dry microfibre cloth first. Grit around a plate is the usual reason a new visor feels rough or will not seat, and on the T520 it also scratches the sun visor as it slides past.
- Peel back only the edges of the protective film. Leave the centre covered until the visor is on, so fingerprints cannot mark it.
- Hold the visor in the fully open position. Offer it up at the same angle the old one came off.
- Line up the first side. Set the visor’s pivot opening square over the plate, not tilted.
- Press it home. Push squarely in the centre of the plate until that side seats and the tab engages.
- Repeat on the other side. Keep the first side seated while you fit the second.
- Work the visor down and up. Ratchet it closed and open several times, then lower the sun visor once to check it clears the new outer visor.
A correctly fitted visor clicks evenly on both sides and closes flat against the eye port gasket. If one side lags, or the visor sits proud at one corner, that side is not fully home. Take it off and seat it again.
Peel off the rest of the film and wipe the outer face with a damp microfibre cloth. The Highway Code puts it simply: “Before each journey check that your helmet visor is clean and in good condition.”
Working around the SpeedView sun visor
The internal sun visor is the part of the T520 most likely to be damaged during a visor swap, simply because it sits so close to the work. Keep it retracted from the moment you start until the new outer visor is seated on both sides.
With the outer visor off, you get the best chance you will have to clean the sun visor properly. Scorpion says its SpeedView sun visor carries the EverClear coating “applied to both sides for fog-free ride”, so treat it as gently as the main visor. Lower it, rinse it with lukewarm water and mild soap, and pat it dry with a clean microfibre cloth.
Scorpion sells the sun visor as its own replacement part, listed on the archived EXO-T520 sun visor page in clear, amber and dark smoke. Removing the sun visor itself is a separate job that this guide does not cover. Follow the diagram in your owner’s manual if it needs replacing.
A sun visor that fogs while the outer visor stays clear is a common complaint on helmets of this layout. Our guide to fogging behind a drop-down internal sun visor explains why it happens and what helps.
Adding an anti-fog insert to an EXO-T520 visor
Scorpion sold two types of outer visor for the T520. The standard shield carries its EverClear no-fog and anti-scratch coatings. The Pinlock-ready shield is a separate part, and Scorpion notes that the insert lens for it is “sold separately”.
A pin-style insert is a thin inner lens held between two small pins on the inside of the visor, with a sealed layer of air between the two. That layer keeps the inner lens closer to the temperature of your breath, so condensation has far less chance to form. Research on anti-fog coatings in Advanced Science describes how, on a hydrophilic coating, condensed water spreads into a thin film rather than the light-scattering droplets you see as fog.
Check the visor before you order an insert. If you can see two small pins on the inside face, near each side, the visor is ready for a pin-style insert. If there are no pins, an insert cannot be fitted to that visor, and its coating is doing the anti-fog work on its own.
Fit any insert with the visor off the helmet, on a soft surface. Our guide to fitting a pin-style anti-fog insert shows the method, and our range of Pinlock-compatible anti-fog inserts explains how inserts compare with coatings.
Choosing a replacement visor for the EXO-T520
The removal is identical whatever the tint, so the choice comes down to when and where you ride. The table below summarises the main options in our Scorpion EXO-T520 visor range.
| Visor type | Best suited to | Road use in Great Britain |
|---|---|---|
| Clear | All-round riding, dusk, night and rain | Depends on the marking on that individual visor |
| Light or dark tint (smoked) | Bright daylight | Depends on the marking; dark smoke tints are not permitted |
| Photochromic | Riders moving between sun and shade | Depends on the marking on that individual visor |
| Silver, iridium or other mirrored finishes | Track days and off-road use | Not permitted at any time of day |
Because the T520 already has a drop-down sun visor, a clear outer visor is the natural first choice for most riders: the sun visor handles bright light and the clear visor handles everything else. Our guide to clear replacement visors covers the options. The replacement visor listed for the EXO-T520 comes in clear and several tints.
Some riders prefer a photochromic visor, which darkens in sunlight and clears again in shade, and our comparison of a photochromic visor and an internal sun visor sets out how the two behave. For circuit riding, iridium visors cut glare on a bright track. Before you peel the film on any new visor, hold it against the old one and check that the pivot openings line up.
When to replace the visor
Scratches are the obvious reason, but they are not the only one. A visor that has hazed, crazed around the pivots or lost its coating scatters light from oncoming headlights, which is at its worst at night and in rain.
On the T520 the sun visor sits behind the outer visor, so a scratched outer visor and a scratched sun visor stack their flaws together when the sun visor is down. Check both in low sun before deciding which one needs replacing. Our guide on when to replace a motorcycle visor goes through the signs in more detail.
The law in Great Britain: the marking on the visor is the test
In Great Britain the legal test for a visor is the marking on that individual visor, not its colour or the name of its tint. The Motor Cycles (Eye Protectors) Regulations 1999 prescribe BS 4110 and require that a protector is marked with an approved certification mark of an approved body. A visor is only road legal in GB if it carries that marking.
Iridium, mirrored and dark smoke visors transmit too little light to be legal for road use in Great Britain, day or night. They are sold for track and off-road use.
Selling eye protection for road use when it is not of a prescribed type is itself an offence under section 18 of the Road Traffic Act 1988. That is why ClearLine never describes any visor as approved or certified: we do not check the marking on individual items. Read our guide to tinted visor law in Great Britain for the detail. Many EXO-T520 owners ride in the US, where the rules differ by state, so start with our guide to visor tint rules in the US.
Common problems after a visor swap
Most problems after fitting a new visor come from a side that is not fully seated, or from dirt on a ratchet plate. Work through these before deciding a part is faulty.
Why will my EXO-T520 visor not come off?
The visor is almost always not fully open, or the release tab has slipped back before the visor came away. Ratchet the visor to the very top, hold the tab and keep holding it while you draw that side off. Never force it with a tool.
Why does the visor whistle or let air in along the top?
Check that both sides are fully seated and that the visor closes evenly against the eye port gasket. The elliptical ratchet is designed to pull the visor back onto that gasket, so a side that is not home leaks air along the brow. Also check that the mouth vent is set the way you expect, because its open position moves air across the inside of the visor.
Why does the sun visor catch on the new outer visor?
One side of the outer visor is usually sitting proud. Take it off and seat that side again, then lower the sun visor slowly to check the gap. If it still rubs, clean both plates and look for grit or a burr on the new visor’s pivot opening.
Does an anti-fog insert change whether a visor is road legal?
No. The insert sits on the inside and works the same way whatever the outer tint. In Great Britain the legal status of the visor still depends on the marking it carries.
Looking after the visor, sun visor and ratchet plates
Both lenses on the T520 carry coatings that harsh cleaners strip. These habits help them last:
- Never wipe a dry, dusty visor. Soak it with lukewarm water first so grit floats off instead of being dragged across the surface.
- Use mild soap and a microfibre cloth only. Paper towels and gloves are abrasive enough to dull the surface.
- Keep solvents and petrol away from both lenses. They attack polycarbonate and its coatings.
- Clean the ratchet plates every few months. Grit builds up around the release tab, especially after wet rides.
- Store the helmet in its bag. That protects the visor, the plates and the paint from knocks between rides.
Our full guide to cleaning a motorcycle helmet visor covers technique in more depth. For a similar job on another Scorpion helmet, see our Scorpion EXO-R320 visor removal guide, and for every other model browse the Scorpion helmet visors. This guide was written by the ClearLine team.
Visors and inserts mentioned in this guide
- Scorpion EXO-T520 / R1 Air / ST1400 Replacement Visor — Iridium, Smoke, Clear Tints
- Photochromic visor for the Scorpion EXO-T520
- All Scorpion EXO-T520 visors
- Pinlock-compatible anti-fog inserts
Frequently asked questions
Do you need tools to remove the Scorpion EXO-T520 visor?
No. Scorpion describes the T520’s Ellip-Tec II ratchet as giving tool-less shield changes. With the visor fully open, you hold the release tab on the side plate and draw the visor away by hand.
Do I have to take the sun visor out to change the outer visor?
No. The SpeedView sun visor is a separate part with its own mounting. Retract it fully before you start so it stays out of the way and cannot be scratched.
Can I fit an anti-fog insert to my EXO-T520 visor?
Only if the visor has two small pins on its inside face. Scorpion sold a Pinlock-ready shield for the T520 as a separate part, while the standard shield relies on its EverClear coating.