Helmet Project

[cafeboy]

 

[JB848]

So like I said I felt something was missing from the helmet it was just too plain for my liking. In comes the Ebay twist. I don't actually remember what I was looking at on GS Twins but the link took me to Ebay.

Back story....Yawn I know but it needs an intro. I never found or bought a riding jacket to my liking. I have a black leather one for when it's not too hot and a Levi one for hotter days and yes when it gets too hot, against my better judgement, I don't wear a jacket at all....

So I end on this jacket and immediately fell in love with it and called the manufacturer and bought it.







I got it rather cheap considering and it got me thinking about the helmet and adding the color white to it some how. The jacket could not have matched the color scheme on my bike any better, now all I needed was a helmet to match....as you can see from above everything matches except my newly painted helmet! Now it's driving me nuts... I had to do something! I went to sleep that night thinking, "White.....White, Where?, How?...."

[PaviSays]

Wow, man.  That whole setup looks so sick.  And here I am with a blue jacket, a different blue bike, and a white helmet.  Ah, dammit.

[Rickyz80]

Whole bike looks real nice and clean! Like that color of the GS with the stripes and everything.  You don't seem to see that color too often.  Only thing I can see that's not Perfect is a small bit of rust on the exhaust, but what bike doesn't have that? A question , Is that chin spoiler stock or from somewhere else.

[Toogoofy317]

Looks cool. Me, $8.00 and five minutes gave me this:


I can't find the article now but it said something about petroleum based paint damaging the shell? Anyone know?

Mary

[JB848]

Thanks for the compliment Rickyz80, and before this helmet project I did refurbish the exhaust myself so no rust now. The lower scoop or belly pan as some call it is the 1991 version of the Targa. I bought the mini fairing and scoop when I bought the bike in 1991. I tossed the mini fairing eventually I just didn't like it. I should have kept it and sold it but this was way before Ebay and Craig's list.

[JB848]

Day 6: So now I know the jacket is on the way it will be here Friday...Snail Mail....it's now Thursday and the weather forecast for Friday evening and Saturday is...SUNNY!(it's rained everyday this week so far)

Status is I am happy but not satisfied with the helmet, I can't wait for the jacket to get here, and I want to ride the bike! On the way home from work I stopped at you guessed it..Home Depot and bought 2 cans of rattle can "white". I have about 4 hours to clean, mask, trace, cut out, and paint my white designs on the helmet. Not to mention I have no idea for sure what design I am going to use yet! As I am driving home I'm thinking more stripes and intersecting with the black to get away from the "simple" moniker that dorris1998 bestowed on my helmet. I was thinking it before I posted this project. 



So once again..all the hardware comes off, masking tape goes back on, the pencil, measuring tape and exacto knife go to work.



As I am masking it up I am praying to myself....please paint don't come off when I take this tape off! so I start drawing and the stripe goes on and the intersecting idea goes out the window, I take one last look at picture of the jacket that is coming......"Triangles!".....I need White triangles to match the white on the jacket.

[dorris1988]

You keep making me feel bad =P

[qwertydude]

Watch out I use spray paint a lot myself, you can only spray paint something once. Sure you can put multiple coats in one session but let it cure for more than an hour or so and a new layer of fresh spray paint will end up crinkling the layer underneath and you won't get a smooth finish. With spray paint you have to strip it completely to paint over it and doing that will ruin the plastic on your helmet.

[JB848]

Thanks for the advice qwertydude but it's a little late:). I must have magic paint because I did not run into any issues with adding colors or additional coats. I guess I am lucky or my meticulous pre paint preparation each time is correct for the type of paint I am using.

Also I don't know if I mentioned this before but the helmet in my project is fiberglass.

[JB848]

Day 6: (con't) So I got everything done that I needed to do all I need to do is paint. This is where I learned the tip don't cross the masking tape more then once. As you can see the masking job is ..well.. rather sloppy. In my defense I was in a massive hurry and I did a great job on the edges around the area being painted even with the tape being to thick in places.



And the whole time I am thinking, "Man this paint better stay on when I pull off this tape!"



And I carefully add another coat of paint fully aware I may have pushed my luck masking it again and adding a new color. The jacket is on the way and the white triangles and stripe are painted.

The anticipation level is at a maximum at this point, I finally am going to have a cool "riding jacket", I have spent, (less then $15.00 in all), all this time and effort on this helmet to originally match bike and now the jacket too.....time to check the weather (Sunny next 2 days) and get some sleep. Tomorrow I am either going to be happier then 2 pigs in mud with a new jacket, nicely painted helmet to match, and nice weather to go riding in the new digs, or....the paint is going to peel off with the tape and ruin my project and the jacket won't be here and it will start raining! 

[trumpetguy]

...and you'll set the helmet on the seat and it will fall off on the pavement...DOH! 

[JB848]

*TIP* This lesson was learned the day I bought the bike and helmet. The little chin protector fabric is not secured to the helmet very well. Never carry the helmet by that. You'll end up telling a story online in a forum about how to repaint your helmet, and doing lot's of sanding in the process.

***Thanks for reminding me of that fateful day trumpetguy***

[JB848]

Day 7: It's morning and I can't wait to see. I grab a cup of coffee and head out to the garage and carefully start pulling off the tape with the anticipation of Christmas morning.



As I am pulling off the tape I holding my breath but the paint did not peel off. Was it perfect? No, but it didn't look too bad. My exacto knife wandered a little especially in the back. Who's going to be able to tell at 65 MPH? But, I had "white" and "triangles" on the helmet. Should match nicely with the bike and jacket!



I ended up having more (a little) trouble with the rubber border then the paint. Some places it stuck "REAL" good when the first time this was not and issue.

So happy with the results I clean up and head out to work and hope the jacket gets here today (Mail comes around 3:00 and I get home around 5:30) the weather is beautiful today. I'll put on the hardware tonight when I get home to see how it looks all together and hopefully the jacket will be here.  Maybe even go for a long ride down to the shore! Fingers crossed!

[tripleb]

Looks good. You did a good job.

[tt_four]

Can't wait to get home and use a non-work computer so I can actually see the final pictures. I know you already know to be patient for the paint to dry when putting on hardware or taking tape off, but make sure you hold out until the paint is completely dry before you try using it in the rain. I've painted a couple helmets, and they hold up perfectly fine in the rain with spray paint, but the one I painted felt dry, I took it for a ride shortly after I painted it, got rained on, and had to redo a bit of it. Oh well. Have many other people painted any helmets here? I'd be cool to see what some other have done. The two helmets I have were both spray painted, but I'm not going to hijack your thread with pictures of mine, but I didn't know how many people here have painted a helmet to know if it would be worth it's own discussion to see what people have.

[JB848]

Well being that this post was meant to help others that haven't done it before and to give people ideas...I don't see anything wrong with posting your helmet project results here. AND! Most important list any *TIP* that comes to mind.

Before posting this I looked and looked for a project like this on a helmet and didn't really find anything useful, so I took it upon myself to do and spread the knowledge to others.

Try to post 640 x 480 pics it keeps the width of the thread normal...if you can't don't sweat it.

[joshr08]

ok i have a tip and most prolly wont like this one but here it goes.

A helmet is suppost to add in saving your life but once it is dropped it is by most manufacturiers specks junk, or atleast should be sent to a company to check it to make sure it is still safe for usage. 

[tt_four]

Cool, I'll take some pictures and post up what I can remember as far as tips go, I think I did a couple things I could mention that I didn't see you talk about here.

I definitely don't mess with helmets after they've hit the floor. I may be overcautious, and chances are a helmet might be ok with a light drop, but I'm just especially careful with mine. The worst is when you turn around and one of your friends has your helmet on and leaves out a stupid chuckle, just because they don't realize you consider that a serious offense. I'd rather they hop on my bike and make motorcycle noises than try my helmet on. I see people drop dirtbike helmets all the time, but dirt is softer than pavement, rocks on the other hand, aren't. I can't believe people buy used helmets too.

I live in the city, so I'm on bicycles pretty often too, and I ALWAYS see everyone I know with their helmets strapped to their bags, and tossed in the corner at the bar or wherever you are. I cringe every time I see it. You just can't win.

[JB848]

Cool project, but are you actually planning on riding in such an old helmet that you have dropped on the blacktop? I don't think I would trust that thing to perform properly in a crash.

This has been discussed in the past (still differing opinions).  Unless you dropped it off a three-story building and it cracked the shell, this is a non-issue. 

A helmet that has been in a crash is a totally different story.  The crucial part of the helmet is the deformable styrofoam inside; once compressed in a crash, it should never be re-used. 

It is extremely likely that dropping the helmet on the pavement didn't hurt a thing.  There was nothing inside the helmet to compress the styrofoam, and the fall is not enough to damage the shell.  I'm Mister Safety (ATGATT) and I see absolutely NO problem in resusing a helmet that has fallen on the blacktop (unless it fell with my head in it).

LOL, if you read the whole post I did ask not to ask about dropping the helmet but it seems to be a hot topic with some. So for what it worth I agree with "Trumpetguy" as for the Manufacturer's? Well I think that their answer that it is "Junk" is a legal liability response. These helmets are rigorously tested over and over before they meet Snell and DOT standards. Dropping a helmet from a foot or so in no shape or form comes close to the standards that they must pass. And as in my case it only chipped the paint to the primer so I feel safe using it, and besides the fact that I prescribe to the fact that "Responsible Riders" save many more lives then a helmet that hasn't been dropped.

Please keeps the *TIPS* coming though..all points of view are absolutely welcome!