Helmet Painting - How to spray paint a Black Helmet with White Paint
Tiger 955i
I purchased a Black Schuberth S1 Helmet to match my Tiger 955i. When I changed to a white Tiger 1050 I did not want to pay an extra £440 for a new matching S1 helmet. I searched the www and found Krylon Fusion paint specially formulated to spray directly on to any kind of plastic without a primer. Krylon claims to be perfectly safe for spraying crash helmets. I masked the helmet off and lightly sanded the black finish with fine 3200 wet and dry. I then applied 3 light dusting coats of white paint about 2 minutes apart. This effectively primed the helmet. I then applied 3 thicker top coats 15 minutes apart. The end result is almost perfect. Fusion paint is a delight to use, it does not run or splutter, the spray nozzle is designed to give a decent vertical fan and the resulting finish is very smooth. It covered my gloss back helmet, the matt back ventilation mouldings. I put the painted helmet away in the airing cupboard for a week to harden off. I then added some reflective stickers.
Fusion Paint is available in about 20 different Colours, I used White Gloss which nearly matches the Tiger. I will add a few reflective stickers to liven the helmet up.
When I ride to work in London I wear a fluorescent over jacket. This coupled with riding a White Tiger and White Helmet means most motorists give me plenty of respect (After you Officer!). They pull over to let me cruise past. I also have blue and yellow reflective strips on my Handguards and panniers. Anything to ensure safer biking on the daily trudge to work.