Custom Vehicle Discussions > CVO™ Softail® Convertible

Paint helmet to match bike color??

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porkypig:
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) 

Majorrocky:
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:

porkypig:
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??

Majorrocky:

--- Quote from: porkypig 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??

--- End quote ---

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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