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Author Topic: Paint helmet to match bike color??  (Read 6516 times)

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porkypig

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Paint helmet to match bike color??
« on: January 09, 2010, 06:18:27 PM »

Okay, folks. These softail convertible threads are realllllllly slow moving.  Need to come up with something to start things popping, know what I mean??  The other Screamin' Eagles have us pinned down 85 to 1.  Let's start shootin' back!
As I had my last bike, an 05 Heritage, for 5 years, I pretty much attained the life expectancy of the common helmet as per the opinion of a few people.  So, now I am looking at the option of purchasing a new helmet (and of course one for the gf).  Right now I have a HJC CL-14 that has done me well over the years and was inexpensive ($135).  But the question has been raised that 'what price do you put on the value of your brains??'  So, is it time to go for an ARAI helmet?  All us folks can afford to purchase a Screamin' Eagle Convertible but we can't afford to purchase one of the best helmets on the market to protect our gourd??  So, I am trying to decide on a model of ARAI helmet that is comparable in style and fits right (doesn't seem to be any retailors around S.E. Washington state where you can walk in and put a display model on your head and arrive at a size).  Anyway, if I purchase a great, protective ARAI helmet, does anybody know where I can have it painted to exactly match the paint on my Crimson red sunglo/Autumn haze?  Many helmets seem like they are the right shade of silver/ red, etc, until you get them close and discover the shade is just not even close.  Anybody gots any ideas?  Plus would probably want to get it clearcoated at the same time.    Ok, let's get this one 'unpacked' and laid out on the garage floor..........
« Last Edit: January 09, 2010, 10:04:47 PM by porkypig »
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newdep

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Re: Paint helmet to match bike color??
« Reply #1 on: January 09, 2010, 10:50:40 PM »

I agree this thread is slow, not sure what you can do about as there just isn't that many people out there with this bike. I wish it was far more active.

As far as you helmet I'm not sure I would spend the kind of money it would take to have them painted. I don't know about you but mine get banged around way to much for that.

I have a SHOEI that ran about well over $400 and it is so worth the money, if it is half as safe as it is comfortable I will be happy (hope I never find out though).
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porkypig

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Re: Paint helmet to match bike color??
« Reply #2 on: January 10, 2010, 08:19:12 AM »

Well, dang.....maybe we should relish in the fact that there are only 5 or 6 of our bike out on the road, rather than the thousand and thousands that we have been led to believe.  That may make them worth so much more down the road in 20 or 30 years if we keep them in good shape and don't put any miles on them.......   ha!  I bought mine to ride and ride I will just as soon as the weather stops putting water droplets on my street and chilly air. 
Maybe I will find a good helmet first and consider painting it afffffter I get it.  I'm with you, I don't really want to find out that my helmet lives up to its name or reputation or not.  It's sort of opening up an egg to confirm that there is really an egg inside that shell.  Many of us find out that the cars and bikes we drive are really faster sitting right there in the garage than they are out on the street......  :coolblue:  so, anybody got any ideas who sells ARAI helmets in the Washington/Oregon/Idaho area??
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Buy early

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Re: Paint helmet to match bike color??
« Reply #3 on: January 10, 2010, 10:23:16 AM »

I went through a similar route with getting a helmet to match my bike. Thread is here:

http://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?topic=36404.msg576490#msg576490

Was fortunate to find a painted helmet that was the same red as the bike so didn't have to have the whole helmet painted, just the gaphics. CVO colors can be hard to match.
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MikeV

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Re: Paint helmet to match bike color??
« Reply #4 on: January 10, 2010, 11:00:33 PM »

I considered getting / making a matching helmet for my FLSTSE but I thought it might be a bit much to have a bright metallic orange helmet., I ride with a full face and currently have one of the HD modular helmets. It has subtle silver flames so the black and Silver match the the other colors on the convertible.

I always ride with a full face so the modular helmet provides a nice break from time to time. Back in my early days I took a spill at speed and essentially landed and slid on my face. If it weren't for the full face helmet I would not have one. One of the sections was ground down to the core material. So winter or summer the full is always on. I might have to add some matching accents though I have not decided yet how much color to add.

As to this forum being slow - just wait. Here in NY the frigid temperatures keep the new ride in the garage which I must say is killing me. Once these season starts I am sure this section will pick up. I myself can't wait for the MC show coming up in few weeks in NYC so I can see how much more hard earned cash I can spend on my already perfect bike :).

Mike V.
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porkypig

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Re: Paint helmet to match bike color??
« Reply #5 on: January 11, 2010, 01:18:19 AM »

Well, Mr. Mike V, welcome to this forum.  Have seen your comments before.  You and I are not so unlike each other. I must admit I am itchccchhhing to go for a distance ride but here, too, the temps have been less than accommodating.  Today my gf and I took what ended up being about 12 miles (broke up into 3 rides of about 4 miles apiece.  ha!  Was cold as the dickens.  About 38, which on anybody's scale isn't very high.  She asked me to evaluate her on a 1-10 "weenie" scale........  I gave her a 4 which meant that she isn't tooooo much of a weenie for being willing to ride in the first place.  She really has very little experience and it has all been on the back of mine.  About a handful of warm weather rides on the 05 heritage this past year and today was the very first time she had been out of the garage on this new one.  It now has 112 miles and it came inside my garage to live when it had 6 miles on November 13.  So, guess that tells a story in itself.  I have been taking advantage of the cold weather by doing stuff to the bike to get it ready to tear up the highway (my way) when the numbers improve and become in my favor. If you have been following a few of my improvements, you know that I now have rear footboards versus those toothpicks she would otherwise be balancing on back there (moved them up to the front and they are now my highway pegs).  And today she got the chance to ride with the tourpak/trunk as her back rest.  She is only 5' tall and a bit short in the legs and so had to balance on the balls of her feet when sitting on the Heritage, set up much the same way.  On this bike she can sit flat-footed on the footboards and has back firmly supported by the solid tourpak which she really enjoys. So, she can relax more and enjoy the ride more.   Now we have bought her leather jacket, vest, gloves, chaps, boots, neck-gator (soooooo important when riding in the wintertime, which she wears in a configuration that looks like they used to depict people wrapped up when they had a tooth-ache.....sort of comical, but suits her so far).  She has, unfortunately, only a 1/2 helmet, Bell, that (I first bought for myself when riding a smaller bike 6 years ago).  So, in the interest of making sure her safety is also considered here, I will be investing in a full-face helmet for her as well, that will be much warmer to wear and has a visor to keep out the cold, etc.  At this point, I currently wear an HJC CL-14 that has 57,000 miles on it.  5 years old and has fallen off the seat, etc. 4 or 5 times.  So, I'm ready to get a new helmet.  Considering an HJC IS-16 as it is similar in appearance but has the additional smoke lens on the inside that comes down just below the nose that is a real blessing during bright days.  Some only come down to above your eyes.  It is available in silver and not sure how the shade will match the bike.  But long story short, it is the safety and visibility afforded by the helmet that is more important than painting it to match and then dropping it and crying etc.  After reading a little bit about fit, head shapes, availability, etc. and stores that stock helmets, it seems that it may be more appropriate to purchase a couple $200 helmets that fill the bill right now and get her into the realm of facial protection (that she certainly doesn't have right now if the worst should happen....she is an operating nurse, so has probably seen the results that could happen) and then in our travels if we happen to come upon a couple helmets that are higher grade that we can try on, etc. make another decision at that time.  I also wear a full face helmet since my little slider back in '75 at only 35 mph in town.  A spot on the side of my open face helmet was ground down to the gray base color the size of an egg.  Could have and would have been my head as I went over the handlebars that night.  Next week or so I invested in a full-face and never looked back.  Now 3 or 4 years ago, and a few times since then, I have been known to ride without a helmet knowing full-well that it isn't smart but sure feels great as long as everything works well.  But let all the planets line up and pow!  All that seemed like fun and games would suddenly be wiped away and could be lying in a hospital bed sucking fluids through a straw and wondering what type of a new face they may fit me with, if my insurance would allow for it.  Agreed???   Wear our full-face helmets and count our blessings!!  Enough of this now......... yes, the warmer weather is coming and I agree with you, more people will buy this bike and this forum will explode as people start getting into the swing of things.  From S.E. washington state, keep the shiny side up, my friend.........  Murrel (like Merle Haggard) 
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Majorrocky

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Re: Paint helmet to match bike color??
« Reply #6 on: January 11, 2010, 08:09:57 AM »

If you're looking for someone to paint a helmet I'd suggest Paint By Gene -- see this thread -- http://www.cvoharley.com/smf/index.php?topic=37613.0

My pix aren't very good but the helmet looks great in person.  Matches the bike perfectly...   :2vrolijk_21:
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porkypig

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Re: Paint helmet to match bike color??
« Reply #7 on: January 11, 2010, 09:02:28 AM »

First of all, Major, congrats on becoming a full CVO member.  I still have a ways to go.  2nd, you are right, the pic doesn't do the job justice.  On my computer it just looks like another black helmet which isn't surprising if you know my 2000 windows 98.  However, cost has been a little concern and your answer to the cost of the project may not have satisfied the asker in your article.  It sounds like it may be cost prohibitive.  May be a great job, I'm sure it is.  But I would want to know if I was to expect a ballpark figure of $500 or if my job could be achieved for $250, etc.   Thanks for the reply.  Do you have any pics more recent than last June??
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Majorrocky

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Re: Paint helmet to match bike color??
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2010, 06:13:13 PM »

First of all, Major, congrats on becoming a full CVO member.  I still have a ways to go.  2nd, you are right, the pic doesn't do the job justice.  On my computer it just looks like another black helmet which isn't surprising if you know my 2000 windows 98.  However, cost has been a little concern and your answer to the cost of the project may not have satisfied the asker in your article.  It sounds like it may be cost prohibitive.  May be a great job, I'm sure it is.  But I would want to know if I was to expect a ballpark figure of $500 or if my job could be achieved for $250, etc.   Thanks for the reply.  Do you have any pics more recent than last June??

Porkypig,

You're right, my relply probably did not satisfy the asker in the other thread but out of personal courtesy to Pam & Gene I stand by it.  If this was something off of the shelf that was being sold at a discount, etc. or if they advertised a price I'd have no issue telling you what I paid.  With this being a custom job that will be affected by the design, colors and choice of helmet you would send them I simply do not feel comfortable "pigeon-holing" them into an expectation.  You might end up paying less than I paid or maybe more -- I just don't know.

Unfortunately, and believe it or not, those are the only pictures that I have taken of the helmet since they did the work.  So... I'd recommend 2 things:

1 - Just shoot Pam & Gene an email telling them what you want (or think you want) and they'll be glad to give you a cost estimate.  The email address is info@paintbygene.com.

2 - Do a search on this forum for Paint By Gene or Gene Nielsen to see their work.  Several members on here have used them for CVO paint match and I haven't seen one complaint so far.  As a matter of fact, they have a set of hard bags, side covers and a tour pak of mine right now painting them to match my '08 SERK.  They also have a website where you can see their work -- http://www.bigfatys.com/  -- look specifically at the Screamin Eagles section.

To each their own and I'm not getting anything out of this - I'm just a fan / customer.  :)  It looks like the other painter referenced in this thread did a great job as well.   :2vrolijk_21:

One final note -- they are in the Seattle Washington area -- I believe I saw a reference to that area somewhere in this thread but can't seem to find it at the moment.

Good luck.

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