Total Motorcycle Community Forums

I have been lurking for about a month, finally decided to post. I want to get a helmet that would make me more visable. Between solid red or white, I assume white would make me stand out more. Is this true? And, how well do scuff marks and such show up on solid color helmets? Thanks for any input.

Tim

I can see some scuff marks in my Silver helmet, nothing too noticable though. If you are really worried about standing out, I know a lot of people who put small reflectors on the back of their helmet/jacket. I haven't gotten around to it, but it sounds like a good idea to me.

Also, what type of bike do you ride? Your avatar picture looks very familiar to me...haha

Yeah, I noticed your avatar before. I have a friend that is selling me a 1984 750, 6k miles, looks brand new.

Tim

Nice! check out www.v4hondabbs.com very good info.

Thanks for the link, I just registerd.

About the visability thing..... Will the tape also help during the daytime? Or does helmet color and tape on the helmet not matter one way or the other while riding during the day?????

If someone isn't looking, no matter of color is going to help you. I find that the most useful things are the reflectors, or running lights(like a lightbar or something), at night.

During the day, as long as you dont blend in with the road or something, you should be alright. Just keep in mind, that lots of car drivers aren't looking for bikers, and tend not to notice them, so you always have to be on alert.

I've heard of people wearing full bright orange vests with reflective gear still getting hit and the car driver said "I didnt see him!". Where truthfully, the correct answer is "I wasnt paying attention".

I have a Shoei RF 1000, matte black...not real noticable.
I put some SUPER reflective stickers on it that I picked up from Streetglo.net.

http://www.streetglo.net/streetglo_file ... .decal.htm

On that link, page 1, is the Speedstripe kit. I customized one large sticker on either side of my helmet to flow with the lines coming from my visor down towards my collar.

On page 2 is the 4" ying/yang sticker that is now on the very back of my helmet, between my collar and the rear vents.

The yellow color of these stickers absolutly jump off the flat black of my helmet, and it's totally customized...nobody else has a helmet that looks like mine. I put just enough on there to be seen without cluttering the look and flow of the helmet.

Reflective material is a good idea, and actually the law in NJ. Quote from the NJ state motorcycle manual:

"The helmet must be equipped with a chin strap and have at least four square inches of red, amber or white reflectorized tape on each side."

A lot of helmets available for sale in NJ don't meet this standard, and we have to add the stuff.

As I understand things, from the MSF, North Carolina requires 2 square inches of retroreflective material (reflects from any direction back at ight source, like street signs). Not sure if this is completely true, but you don't miss those stickers.

White is probably a bit better than red all around, since they say red turns black-ish at night. Icon makes a bright yellow helmet.

I don't know that I notice helmets all that much, of course I am actually looking for bikes when I ride, where as cagers are not. A multi-colored, especially wildly so, helmet might be best, since you get the "well gooolly, look at that, ma!" factor. At night, if it isn't reflective, it doesn't show.

Of course, if you really want to be seen... Icon makes a reflective vest you can see for miles! I take a lot of ribbing for mine, but everyone knows I am there, day or night. <= me riding at night

--Dave

The icon vests are real popular with the military crowd, actually the vest is marketed towards them since they are required to ride on base.

my helmet is gloss black, would have preferred matte black, but could not find a matte black one that fit as good