How To Customize Your Own Motorcycle Helmet

How to customize your motorcycle helmet?

There are several ways to customize your motorcycle helmet. Depending on your skills, your goals, and how much time you want to invest in this process, you can choose to customize the helmet yourself or pay someone else to do it.

No matter what you opt for, the result should be something unique, that represents you, or simply appeals to you because it’s different from most models you’re used to seeing around. Here are some ways to customize your helmet.

Paint it

When it comes to customizing your motorcycle helmet, the main operation you can perform is painting it. Whether you want to completely change the color of your helmet and opt for a bright and bold color or paint some unique patterns on it, it’s a matter of choice.

While many motorcyclists simply opt for striking colors such as green, violet or magenta, others get more creative and paint different symbols on their helmet or mark it with names or numbers that have a special meaning to them.

If you are skilled at painting and you’ve done this before on surfaces that are similar to your helmet, you can customize this item yourself. If you have a unique idea that you want to apply but lack painting skills or knowledge altogether, it’s better to pay a professional to do it.

By giving your helmet a paint job, you can radically change its aspect, making it look new, and more importantly, different from mainstream models. After you decide what color you want for your helmet, you have to choose the technique you want to use to apply it to its surface. You can opt for the traditional method, which is painting it with the paintbrush, or you can airbrush it.

The first is easier and more affordable, especially if this is a DIY project. You will need a good brush and paints that are suitable for your helmet’s surface. Your helmet is made of a specific type of material that is not compatible with any paint. You should find the material mentioned on the helmet’s manual or on the case you bought it in.

Alternatively, you can also find this information on the manufacturer’s website. Painting your helmet with paint that’s not suitable for its material will simply not bring the results you’re expecting as the colors will not last.

Before you start painting your helmet, you should clean it carefully with warm water. You can also use spirit to disinfect it and to clean any sticker marks, if applicable. Then, you should remove all the parts that can be detached – the screws, the helmet’s padding, visor, straps, etc.

After you’ve applied the first coat of paint, you should let the helmet dry before you apply the second one. After you are done painting, you should also apply a layer of urethane that will function as a shield for the paint and make it last longer. Moreover, it will make your helmet look glossy and new.

When the whole paint job is completed, let the helmet dry in a clean spot where there is no dust. If you want to opt for airbrushing, you should take your helmet to a professional who has the necessary equipment.

Apply decals

The easiest way to customize your helmet is to apply decals. These are quite inexpensive and you can find them in myriad shapes and colors. You can buy more decals at once to be able to change your helmet’s look every now and then. 

Before you apply the decals, there is one thing you must do – give it a proper clean. If the helmet is not clean and its surface is dusty or there are stains on it, the decals won’t stick properly and they will not look good once the adhesive dries.

After you choose the spots where you want to stick the decals, you carefully take them one by one and apply them to the surface. The middle of the decal is the first part that should touch the helmet’s surface. After the center is stuck to the helmet, you gently press the rest of the decal with your fingers starting from the center and slowly moving toward the ends.

It’s easy to understand if you’ve done a good job applying the decal – there should be no wrinkles on its surface. It applies just like any regular sticker and it should look and feel smooth when you touch it.

Use skins

Many motorcyclists prefer to customize their helmets with skins and not with stickers because these are larger and much more efficient in terms of coverage. Most skins are made of resistant materials such as polyester, they are one size fits all, and easy to wash in the washing machine.

You can give your helmet a whole new look with skins as they can cover its entire surface. If your helmet’s original color has started to fade or its surface has ugly scratches you want to conceal, the easiest way to give it a makeover is to get a skin.

You can easily purchase helmet skins online or in stores, and even come up with your own original idea and pay to have it printed on the skin.

The importance of wearing a helmet

Before we conclude, let’s take a few seconds to focus on the importance of wearing this item in the first place. Wearing a helmet while you are riding your motorcycle is not just optional in most states.

You are legally required to have the helmet on while you are riding for your own protection and for the safety of others. Terrible accidents often involve motorcyclists and the head is the most sensitive part of your body you should protect. Suffering a head injury can lead to severe, sometimes permanent, consequences.

Without a helmet, you are more exposed to debris that can make you lose your focus, by getting into your eyes for example, which can lead to an accident. If you don’t wear a helmet, you are more exposed to all sorts of traffic perils and you also represent a risk for other people who are driving or riding on the same roads.

The motorcycle helmet is the most important piece of your motorcyclist equipment and it is the one item where you shouldn’t make compromises. Even if a quality helmet might cost more, it is an investment that’s always worth making.

To achieve the necessary protection, you should be wearing a DOT-certified helmet, which is, in fact, compulsory in many states. These types of helmets are tested based on several criteria such as resistance to impact and they receive a certification from the U.S. Department of Transportation to ascertain they meet the necessary safety standards.

If you want to make sure your helmet has this certification, you should look for the abbreviation DOT. All helmets that meet this standard have this inscription, usually next to the manufacturer’s name.

When you purchase a helmet, you will also need to look for one that fits you well. A helmet that’s too large might make your riding experience less pleasurable. To make sure your helmet fits you, you can measure your head size, with soft tape. Take your measurement by placing the tape above your eyebrows. If you want to do this more efficiently, ask someone to help you out.

Once you know your measurements, take it into account when buying a helmet, especially if you do this online. Also, since different manufacturers might use different measures, it is worth checking their size table to see the correspondence between these and your measurement.

Personalizing your helmet means making a statement about who you are and what represents you. Think twice before you choose to apply any changes to your helmet as this customization process is not something you want to repeat any time soon.