As a motorcycle rider, it is inevitable that you love the feeling of freedom and creativity to customize your motorcycle and your riding outfits to express your personality.
But what about helmets? Is it legal to paint a motorcycle helmet? This question is influenced by several factors that you need to learn carefully to avoid unfortunate consequences.
Let’s find the answer in the article below, as we will give you all the useful information you need to know about this topic!
Is It Legal To Paint A Motorcycle Helmet?
There is some information you need to keep in mind about the safety rules of a motorcycle helmet.
Some places require helmets to have a safety standard sticker provided by the local government (Such as DOT stickers in the USA, ECE stickers in Europe, or others depending on local standards). You are not permitted to delete or paint over them under any circumstances.
Apart from questioning if it is legal to paint a motorcycle helmet or not, you should also question whether it is safe to paint a helmet.
In detail, you must also understand the safety and risky aspects that painting your helmet can bring to you.
If you customize your helmet to be unique and colorful, you can increase the attention of others when traveling on the road; others can easily see you and move around you safely.
But on the contrary, you will make it difficult for them to notice another vehicle on the road.
However, this is only a visual aspect. The prerequisite for helmet legality depends a lot on the paint you use because it greatly affects the helmet’s integrity.
The chemicals in the paint you use will cause changes in the texture of the helmet’s surface, which causes a lot of risks in the event of a collision.
Here, we will explore this issue from different perspectives to give you a clearer view.
Hobbyist Repainting Helmets
According to the hobbyist repainting helmets, it is legal to repaint your motorcycle helmet.
They said that most helmets have been factory painted first and tested for quality and safety by the law before reaching you.
So there’s nothing illegal about re-coating the paint that’s already there.
However, for the repainting helmet to be put into use, it must pass the ANDRA test, kart racing, and Formula 1 and 2 racing tests to comply with safety regulations.
Hobbyists repainting helmets notice that under the following circumstances, it would be illegal to paint the gear if:
- Helmets are damaged when rubbing the surface too hard affects the plastic and fiberglass, causing a weakening of the helmet’s surface.
- The solvent of the paint softens the surface material of the helmet.
- Remove other components of the helmet without permission.
They also recommend spray and acrylic paint as the two best paints for your motorbike helmet.
To be more specific, spray paint is perfect for giving your motorbike helmet a more modern or graffiti vibe. It is incredibly inexpensive, and you can get them in any color you want at most hardware stores.
Airbrushes are also excellent for quickly coating big parts of the helmet. However, they may not be perfect for making complex designs.
In contrast, you can easily paint pictures and text with a brush on your helmet when using acrylic. But this paint is much more expensive than the spray one.
Paint Helmets From The Manufacturer
When you check the labels and tags on your motorcycle helmet, you may see warnings regarding the included helmet paint.
Most manufacturers do not recommend painted helmets because the solvent in the paint will greatly affect the ABS of the helmet, especially the old helmets since this material determines the safety of your helmet.
Therefore, in any case, you must always pay attention to the paint you intend to use to customize your motorcycle helmet to ensure safety and legality.
It will also be illegal to repaint helmets because the protective coating will fail, leading to softening of the shell and solvent leakage.
Paint Your Own Helmet
If you have the necessary supplies, you can customize your helmet by yourself. As some paints, including solvents, will make the plastic on most helmets fracture throughout time, the sort of paint you select must depend on the material the helmet is made from.
So to paint your helmet legally, you should first understand the brand and number of your helmet printed. You can contact the manufacturer to make sure the paint you are about to use is suitable for the helmet material.
Also, check the ingredients to make sure they will not harm the material of your helmet.
Again, we want to remind you that the legality of helmet paint will depend on where you live. Therefore, before starting your work, please consult the necessary legal information carefully.
Helmet Law Expert
According to a helmet law expert, he thinks there is no specific violation for helmet paint.
Still, it’s best not to paint over stickers available on helmets to ensure legality because the traffic safety rules will rely on that.
And mentioned above, paint that adversely affects the quality and degrades the helmet’s safety will be considered illegal.
Last Thoughts
Is it legal to paint a motorcycle helmet? This question depends on the laws where you live. You are free to customize your motorcycle helmet as long as you follow all the safety laws.
And in addition, choosing the right material to make your helmet more impressive but still retain its inherent safety is a top priority before starting painting over it.
Check the website Motorcycleclick.com for more information about helmets. Thank you for reading.