I have long been a proponent of wearing bright colors while riding a motorcycle. A few years back I bought a used Fieldsheer Quattro Jacket in HiViz yellow color (thanks zzzzip!). I've been so impressed with that jacket, and especially the HiViz eye catching brightness, that I've been wanting to expand the HiViz theme up on the noggin where it sticks up and can be seen by traffic from all directions.
But alas, the choices are limited. It's hard to even find one in stock, which means having to mail order it, and all of the potential issues associated with that. If I had the budget for it I'd spring for one of them fancy high buck helmets. But I don't right now.
What I do have is a couple of extra used helmets. I got a great closeout deal on some helmets a couple years back
I actually have three of these KBC VR-1 helmets (wife has two) in the familiar yellow pattern that many folks around here have come to associate with yours truly. We already owned one of them (each), so knew that they would fit well, and we got the others on closeout from Motorcycle Superstore for $45 ea. I chose one that was the most scuffed up and converted it to a cheap-o HiViz...
First, after removing as much trim as possible, I scuffed the entire surface well with a fine (320 grit) sandpaper. After taping off the stuff I didn't want painted, and plugging all the ventilation holes in the helmet with little twists of paper towel, I shot it with a coat of rattle can white primer.
In retrospect, I should have used two coats of primer, as some of the graphic pattern can be seen through the finished paint job. But this was a quick and dirty job. No attempt was made at having this look like anything but an amateur effort (and I succeeded quite well
)
After the primer comes the HiViz yellow. Here it is after the first coat.
In this experiment I learned that, for maximum HiViz-iness you really want to have the white undercoat and then a thin, even coat of HiViz. I did it backwards and used one coat of white primer and two coats of HiViz, then covered the whole thing with two coats of matte clearcoat. This resulted in a bright yellow, but not as bright as it was after just one coat.
Here is the finished work after getting all the doo-dads reattached. Pretty eye catching don't you think?
Oh yeah, gotta get in my plug for the upcoming NERDS '11 in Stowe Vermont!!!
Total cost for the project was ~ $15 at Home Despot for 1 can white primer, 1 can DayGlow yellow, 1 can matte clear coat
Obligatory after project celebratory self-gratification (and medication)...
But alas, the choices are limited. It's hard to even find one in stock, which means having to mail order it, and all of the potential issues associated with that. If I had the budget for it I'd spring for one of them fancy high buck helmets. But I don't right now.
What I do have is a couple of extra used helmets. I got a great closeout deal on some helmets a couple years back
I actually have three of these KBC VR-1 helmets (wife has two) in the familiar yellow pattern that many folks around here have come to associate with yours truly. We already owned one of them (each), so knew that they would fit well, and we got the others on closeout from Motorcycle Superstore for $45 ea. I chose one that was the most scuffed up and converted it to a cheap-o HiViz...
First, after removing as much trim as possible, I scuffed the entire surface well with a fine (320 grit) sandpaper. After taping off the stuff I didn't want painted, and plugging all the ventilation holes in the helmet with little twists of paper towel, I shot it with a coat of rattle can white primer.
In retrospect, I should have used two coats of primer, as some of the graphic pattern can be seen through the finished paint job. But this was a quick and dirty job. No attempt was made at having this look like anything but an amateur effort (and I succeeded quite well
)After the primer comes the HiViz yellow. Here it is after the first coat.
In this experiment I learned that, for maximum HiViz-iness you really want to have the white undercoat and then a thin, even coat of HiViz. I did it backwards and used one coat of white primer and two coats of HiViz, then covered the whole thing with two coats of matte clearcoat. This resulted in a bright yellow, but not as bright as it was after just one coat.
Here is the finished work after getting all the doo-dads reattached. Pretty eye catching don't you think?
Oh yeah, gotta get in my plug for the upcoming NERDS '11 in Stowe Vermont!!!
Total cost for the project was ~ $15 at Home Despot for 1 can white primer, 1 can DayGlow yellow, 1 can matte clear coat
Obligatory after project celebratory self-gratification (and medication)...
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