DIY - Making Your Helmet More Visible

NathanF · May 18th, 2011, 12:11 AM

So, I knew getting a black helmet wasn't the safest color, but I didn't think it would make that big of a difference. Turns out that was not the case - in one study done, riders with a white helmet were a staggering 24 percent less likely to be in an accident than those with black helmets!

Now, some of that is likely accounted for the fact that safety-conscious riders would be more likely to get a brightly colored helmet, but never the less, that is a shocking number to me.

Here's my attempt to fix my black helmet. I used four rolls of 3M retroreflective tape, available in 2x36" rolls at Home Depot for around $4.50. Amazon link here.

Now, if you would be so kind, let's have a moment of silence for my once beautiful Shoei RF-1100 Metallic Black helmet.

bluesinorbit · May 18th, 2011, 12:44 AM

Looks clean like it was made that way.

I got me a white helmet to match my bike but I'll have to check out these tapes at hone depot.

CZroe · May 18th, 2011, 01:36 AM

I put some of their reflective silvery-gray tape on my silvery-gray G-MAX helmet a few years ago. Just a few strips on the back (nothing fancy) but it seems to make a huge difference even on a light-colored helmet. Never even thought to try and make a design out of it!

gfloyd2002 · May 18th, 2011, 04:33 AM

Nathan, that looks great. Amazing DIY, and awesome that you care enough about safety to make the effort. I rock a white helmet because of the study you referenced . . .

kaiserz · May 18th, 2011, 07:03 AM

dude that looks awesome, it looks really clean i like it.

Linuss · May 18th, 2011, 07:47 AM

I got a black Scorpion EXO-500 as my first helmet. I wanted any color BUT black, but the place I got it from didn't have any, and it was black or matte black, so I chose normal black. I put some red reflective tape on it to increase visibility and match my bike... I might have to stop by Home Depot today and pick up some of your white tape and see what design I can come up with.

Or just do a bunch of weird crooked lines....

rceezy · May 18th, 2011, 07:55 AM

I love this, great job!

aldenso · May 18th, 2011, 08:52 AM

That looks factory, Nathan!
I love that sticker, Steve.

So if white helmets are 24% less likely and I at 12%??

JoeLansing · May 28th, 2011, 07:11 PM

Quote:

=NathanF;294314]So, I knew getting a black helmet wasn't the safest color, but I didn't think it would make that big of a difference. Turns out that was not the case - in one study done, riders with a white helmet were a staggering 24 percent less likely to be in an accident than those with black helmets!

In a scientific study people that wore white helmets were potential hot babes or large gay Elvis impersonators. They were noticed 500% more than fat middle aged men in black helmets riding black bikes. It must be the helmet color...?
- Joe

Bols · May 28th, 2011, 08:21 PM

In Norway we learn to never ever put any kinds of stickers on the helmets, because the sticker adhesive can weaken the helmet. According to this video, it depends on what the helmet is made off, and what kind of adhesive the sticker has.

Link to original page on YouTube.

rockNroll · May 29th, 2011, 07:42 AM

Nathan, your tape job looks great!

Customized helmets would make for a nice picture thread.

ally99 · May 29th, 2011, 05:48 PM

VERY nice job! Wow, that looks totally pro, man!

I wear a silver helmet with a "ruby" dark pink face shield. It really stands out, much more than my hubby's flat black.

GeorgiaHooligan · May 29th, 2011, 05:58 PM

Nice job NathanF! I saw a website once where they sold decals cut from the high reflective tape, like skulls and other typical motorcycling designs.

NathanF · May 29th, 2011, 06:26 PM

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone! I feel better now, since at the time it felt like I was committing some great atrocity against coolness.

Concerning the post above about not putting stickers on a helmet, I don't think I would worry about it too much. I have a hard time believing a sticker's adhesive could do enough damage to actually cause a measurable decrease in safety. Considering just how hard helmets are made nowadays, (and in fact, many would argue far too hard for our own good), I wouldn't lose any sleep over it personally.

Regardless, that video suggested that fiberglass helmets were more or less sticker safe, and lucky for me it turns out mine is fiberglass based.

That all being said, it might be wise to do some research on your particular helmet before messing with it in any way. It is at least conceivable that a certain kind of adhesive could eat away at certain kinds of shells.

CZroe · May 29th, 2011, 07:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NathanF

Thanks for all the kind comments everyone! I feel better now, since at the time it felt like I was committing some great atrocity against coolness.

Concerning the post above about not putting stickers on a helmet, I don't think I would worry about it too much. I have a hard time believing a sticker's adhesive could do enough damage to actually cause a measurable decrease in safety. Considering just how hard helmets are made nowadays, (and in fact, many would argue far too hard for our own good), I wouldn't lose any sleep over it personally.

Regardless, that video suggested that fiberglass helmets were more or less sticker safe, and lucky for me it turns out mine is fiberglass based.

That all being said, it might be wise to do some research on your particular helmet before messing with it in any way. It is at least conceivable that a certain kind of adhesive could eat away at certain kinds of shells.

Even then, I would expect it to be more of a threat to the finish than the structural integrity. I doubt the sticker itself would change impact dynamics enough to make a measurable difference.

bluesinorbit · May 29th, 2011, 11:17 PM

Before pictures.

bluesinorbit · May 29th, 2011, 11:21 PM

Mustaches. Enough said.

Yasko · May 30th, 2011, 04:31 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by bluesinorbit

Mustaches. Enough said.

Great idea, and looks good...

I have a white Shoei that I might give a try...

sendler · May 30th, 2011, 06:48 AM

These decals look pretty cool and would save some time.
.
http://www.streetglo.net/streetglo_f...lame.decal.htm
.
Although the block straight tape does give much more area of white for the day and turned out quite beautifully purposeful.
.

sendler · June 4th, 2011, 09:11 PM

I got my streetglo white reflective graphics installed. I took quite a bit of time but I started to get good at it towards the end. I am very happy with the results. I hope it screams "don't hit me" to the cars. Read the how to on their site. The main tip is to spray the work area and decal with water with 4 drops of soap per cup so that the material can easily slide into position without sticking until you want it to by pressing out the water. Cut the backing as close to the material as possible and eye it into place with a few pieces of painter's tape to hold it temporarily. Pick out a couple points on the pattern and use the corner of additional small pieces of tape as markers for the reinstallation after peeling the backing. Lines of tape can also be used to draw a cener line on the helmet or form other straight guide lines as needed. Still haven't decided on a sticker for the back.

Boom King · June 11th, 2011, 01:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bols

In Norway we learn to never ever put any kinds of stickers on the helmets, because the sticker adhesive can weaken the helmet. According to this video, it depends on what the helmet is made off, and what kind of adhesive the sticker has.

Good point. Here's my understanding of why stickers could be bad for your bucket:

A solvent based adhesive can be bad for helmets with a polycarbonate shell since polycarbonate only has a fair to poor chemical resistance to most solvents. The thermoplastic polymers can come under "chemical attack" and can partially dissolve, plasticise, and even react chemically to absorb these chemicals. This can cause the chain of molecules that form the polymers to break down. The polymer can soften/plasticize and this can lead to stress cracks which may be invisible to the naked eye.

Helmets made from fibreglass and carbon/aramid/kevlar have much better chemical resistance to organic solvents.

Linuss · June 11th, 2011, 02:40 PM

Scorpion makes helmets. Scorpion sells reflective stickers made specifically for their helmets.

I'm bound to trust that Scorpion isn't worried about their helmets weakening due to the stickers they sell.

Liquidtoon · June 11th, 2011, 03:06 PM

This is an untested idea but, my wife does a lot of scrapbooking ect. I bet with a couple piece of the reflective tape you could stick it in a cricut machine and make some reflective designs. Just a thought.
They look great and +1 for the safety effect.

TXJ · June 11th, 2011, 03:33 PM

On a side note; during the only spill I took to date I was wearing a shoei helmet. I sent it to shoei to evaluate if it's still good or not (road rash on the right side from impact). I got it back about 2 weeks later with a letter stating that it was good to go. It had reflective tape on for 2 years prior to the crash and xray/evaluation. Just sayin'.

May 18th, 2011, 12:11 AM	#1
NathanF ninjette.org member Name: Nathan Location: Portland, Oregon Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2009 V-Strom 650 ABS Posts: 166	DIY - Making Your Helmet More Visible So, I knew getting a black helmet wasn't the safest color, but I didn't think it would make that big of a difference. Turns out that was not the case - in one study done, riders with a white helmet were a staggering 24 percent less likely to be in an accident than those with black helmets! Now, some of that is likely accounted for the fact that safety-conscious riders would be more likely to get a brightly colored helmet, but never the less, that is a shocking number to me. Here's my attempt to fix my black helmet. I used four rolls of 3M retroreflective tape, available in 2x36" rolls at Home Depot for around $4.50. Amazon link here. Now, if you would be so kind, let's have a moment of silence for my once beautiful Shoei RF-1100 Metallic Black helmet.

May 18th, 2011, 04:33 AM	#4
gfloyd2002 User Title Free Since '12 Name: Floyd Location: Barbados Join Date: Dec 2010 Motorcycle(s): '10 Ninja 250R Special Edition Green Posts: A lot. Blog Entries: 13 MOTM - Feb '12	Nathan, that looks great. Amazing DIY, and awesome that you care enough about safety to make the effort. I rock a white helmet because of the study you referenced . . . __________________________________________________ "Improvement makes straight roads, but the crooked roads without improvement, are roads of genius." — William Blake

May 29th, 2011, 07:42 AM	#11
rockNroll . Name: rock Location: greenville, south carolina Join Date: Jun 2009 Motorcycle(s): black Posts: A lot.	Nathan, your tape job looks great! Customized helmets would make for a nice picture thread. __________________________________________________ Always get a second opinion because most of these people are makin' this stuff up

May 30th, 2011, 06:48 AM	#19
sendler ninjette.org member Name: Scott Location: Syracuse Join Date: May 2011 Motorcycle(s): 09 Ninja 250, 2011 Honda CBR250R, 07 Ninja 650 Posts: 212	Reflective decals These decals look pretty cool and would save some time. . http://www.streetglo.net/streetglo_f...lame.decal.htm . Although the block straight tape does give much more area of white for the day and turned out quite beautifully purposeful. .

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May 18th, 2011, 12:44 AM	#2
bluesinorbit ninjette.org member Name: Joon Location: Orange County, CA Join Date: Feb 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2011 Ninja 250R Posts: 164	Looks clean like it was made that way. I got me a white helmet to match my bike but I'll have to check out these tapes at hone depot.

May 18th, 2011, 01:36 AM	#3
CZroe CPT Falcon Name: J.Emmett Turner Location: Newnan, GA Join Date: Apr 2009 Motorcycle(s): '08 CP Blue EX250J, '97 unpainted EX250F, 2nd '97 unpainted EX250F (no engine), '07 black EX250F Posts: A lot.	I put some of their reflective silvery-gray tape on my silvery-gray G-MAX helmet a few years ago. Just a few strips on the back (nothing fancy) but it seems to make a huge difference even on a light-colored helmet. Never even thought to try and make a design out of it!

May 18th, 2011, 07:03 AM	#5
kaiserz There's a limit to s2pdty Name: A.D. Location: NoVa the burg Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 250r ninja (sold) Posts: A lot.	dude that looks awesome, it looks really clean i like it.

May 18th, 2011, 07:47 AM	#6
Linuss ninjette.org guru Name: Steve Location: DFW Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Ninja 250R Posts: 294	I got a black Scorpion EXO-500 as my first helmet. I wanted any color BUT black, but the place I got it from didn't have any, and it was black or matte black, so I chose normal black. I put some red reflective tape on it to increase visibility and match my bike... I might have to stop by Home Depot today and pick up some of your white tape and see what design I can come up with. Or just do a bunch of weird crooked lines....

May 18th, 2011, 07:55 AM	#7
rceezy Lean Me Name: RC Location: America Join Date: Mar 2009 Motorcycle(s): 2008 Ninja 250 Posts: 678 Blog Entries: 4	I love this, great job!

May 28th, 2011, 08:21 PM	#10
Bols Norwegian dude Name: Ole Location: Norway Join Date: Aug 2010 Motorcycle(s): Ducati 748 Posts: 120	In Norway we learn to never ever put any kinds of stickers on the helmets, because the sticker adhesive can weaken the helmet. According to this video, it depends on what the helmet is made off, and what kind of adhesive the sticker has. Link to original page on YouTube.

May 29th, 2011, 05:58 PM	#13
GeorgiaHooligan ninjette.org guru Name: Aaron Location: Gone riding. Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 389	Nice job NathanF! I saw a website once where they sold decals cut from the high reflective tape, like skulls and other typical motorcycling designs.

May 29th, 2011, 06:26 PM	#14
NathanF ninjette.org member Name: Nathan Location: Portland, Oregon Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2009 V-Strom 650 ABS Posts: 166	Thanks for all the kind comments everyone! I feel better now, since at the time it felt like I was committing some great atrocity against coolness. Concerning the post above about not putting stickers on a helmet, I don't think I would worry about it too much. I have a hard time believing a sticker's adhesive could do enough damage to actually cause a measurable decrease in safety. Considering just how hard helmets are made nowadays, (and in fact, many would argue far too hard for our own good), I wouldn't lose any sleep over it personally. Regardless, that video suggested that fiberglass helmets were more or less sticker safe, and lucky for me it turns out mine is fiberglass based. That all being said, it might be wise to do some research on your particular helmet before messing with it in any way. It is at least conceivable that a certain kind of adhesive could eat away at certain kinds of shells.

June 11th, 2011, 02:40 PM	#22
Linuss ninjette.org guru Name: Steve Location: DFW Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 2010 Ninja 250R Posts: 294	Scorpion makes helmets. Scorpion sells reflective stickers made specifically for their helmets. I'm bound to trust that Scorpion isn't worried about their helmets weakening due to the stickers they sell.

June 11th, 2011, 03:06 PM	#23
Liquidtoon ninjette.org member Name: Josh Location: Sacramento, Ca Join Date: Jul 2010 Motorcycle(s): 09 Ninja 250r Posts: 215	This is an untested idea but, my wife does a lot of scrapbooking ect. I bet with a couple piece of the reflective tape you could stick it in a cricut machine and make some reflective designs. Just a thought. They look great and +1 for the safety effect.

June 11th, 2011, 03:33 PM	#24
TXJ Cranky Old Fart Name: TXJ Location: TX Join Date: Apr 2011 Motorcycle(s): 08 DRZ400SM Posts: 189	On a side note; during the only spill I took to date I was wearing a shoei helmet. I sent it to shoei to evaluate if it's still good or not (road rash on the right side from impact). I got it back about 2 weeks later with a letter stating that it was good to go. It had reflective tape on for 2 years prior to the crash and xray/evaluation. Just sayin'.