We are in the age of self-expression. People take every opportunity to refine their personal brands. All you need to do is scroll through Instagram to see the effort people go through to customize their bikes and their riding gear. Everyone is a unique snowflake. And man, do they love to post all about it.
Helmets have come a long way from the simplistic brain buckets of the ‘70s. You can find everything from a slick racer look to a vintage number to go with your classic bagger.
So, what if you want to make that helmet truly stand out? Let’s go through some options.
- Decals: You can go simple with some basic stickers or get fancy. Some folks make nifty decals that are reflective, so you can increase your visibility, which is always important on the road. You can find speed stripes, flames, wings and even thunder bolts. You can use these sets to add more reflective visibility directly on your bike as well.
- Lights: It’s impossible to be too bright on a motorcycle at night. Make sure those cars see you and look awesome while you do it. Think Tron. You can find lots of cheap stuff on Amazon or you can go for one of the higher-priced and quality options. Some helmet light kits work with a free app that allows you to choose from animations. In addition, you can customize your color scheme to match your bike or your riding gear. For those who are bumping tunes from their cruiser bikes, some even have a microphone that allows it to groove with the music. Is it necessary? No. Is it awesome? Yes.
- Attachments: We’ve all seen the classic mohawk of days past. Now, you have heaps of options with attachments that use magnets. This allows you to swap out the tops or spin them around for a different look. You can choose from kitty ears, small horns, large horns and even a banana through the head. They are designed to pop off in the event of a wipe out or if you change your mood and want to be a pink kitty after a morning as a raging devil. We all are allowed to have mood changes. For those speed demons among us, you can use some double sided tape to do a semi-permanent mount on the helmet.
Before you go adding the minimum 15 pieces of flair to your helmet, here are a few things to consider:
- Adhesives: Make sure that the adhesives will not damage the plastic on your helmet. Not all adhesives are made the same. 3M VHB style adhesives are good for helmet plastic. This would be the kind of adhesives used on GoPro mounts.
- Placement: When you are planning out your dream design, be sure to consider your visor or goggle placement. It’s a real bummer to get everything all set up and realize you can’t lift your visor up.
- Local laws: If you’re worried, check in with your local authorities. Most vehicle laws apply to the bike and not to the rider.
For dealers who sell lots of helmets, these helmet accessories are a great way to add value to your customers during a helmet purchase. It’s ideal to set up a demo helmet so your customers can see all the possibilities. Let them play with it and swap out some colors.
Gone are the days of boring helmets. Be a rebel. In a helmet.
Shaun Oshman is the Father of Flair at Helmet Flair. They make a wide range of decorative helmet accessories for motorsports, bicycles, skating and snow sports. He has clocked thousands of miles in the saddle and has a weakness for classic BMW cruiser bikes. His favorite ride was a loop around the south island of New Zealand on a 1988 BMW RT80. His favorite Flair is the banana.
