Bonneville America Forums Forums Rider Safety Forums Helmets and Gear stupid question about helmet color

Will a white or silver helmet be cooler than a black helmet that is otherwise the same?

It makes sense that a lighter color helmet would be cooler.

I used to wear a mostly black Arai F1 here in South Florida (yeah it was a long time ago)
and I learned never again.
That sucker was hot!

That's what I thought. I wanted to get black b/c my bike is black, but I think silver will not only be cooler, but will be more visible. I know I'm going to boil in any full face helmet, but I may as well try to limit it as much as possible.

Slight hijack. Funny thing about colors and safety. You would think that bright red would be the most visible. But according to accident surveys, a red car is the least visible. The safest color? White. Only reporting what I read. My helmet is painted like the Brit flag, which makes it kind of garish. But then, I'm hoping to get noticed. (Now if I could only figure out what color deer would see! )

Neon pink is the most visible and reflects the most heat.

I agree with BigBill but with a subtle twist....A nice pink Barbie flower power helmet is statistically the safest. It’s true I read it on the internet.

Yeah, I've worn out my pink helmet, it's so fabulous. Time for a new one.

I sure do love wearing out the pink

Wonder how much it has to do with the color white, or if it's due to the driving habits of the anal safety geek that would wear white?

Well, two comments. First is for Rich: deer are color blind so set the ole thought machine to rest. Second is for Scott: depending on the conditions, you may not boil too bad with a full face. Riding through the AZ desert I was actually pretty cool with my Shoei full face as it kept the hot, dry air from constantly blasting my face. Find a helmet with decent vents and I think you may be okay.

Humidity however sucks in a full face helmet, and vents are great for catching pig droppings as you ride by a livestock truck (don't ask how I know).

Full face helmets are also great for catching bees that have managed to get around your roadster windscreen and directing them behind your sunglasses if you're in the habit of riding around with your visor open, due to the humidity.

Red is less visible cause it's the color lowest on the visible light spectrum, one stop lower is infrared - nonvisible light.
Red may stand out against light colors in the daytime, but it's harder than black to see in low-light conditions.

I wonder if green and blue are easier to see being high on the visible spectrum? Or whatever is right in the middle?

All I can say is since I switched to a full face Nolan yellow helmet I seem I seem to get noticed more.

Define cool.

Temperature. I know black is but I don't want to be too hot.

Biggest difference I noticed was using a tinted visor was much cooler than a clear visor with sunglasses.
I recently put some of that 3M reflective tape on the back of my helmets for visibility at night.

I just couldn't go with a white helmet as suggested by the MSF folks and various publications. Silver was as close as I got (or I should say 'as close as I was willing to go'). With my new paint maybe I'll paint it lime green. LOL

In my experience, white helments tend to "fade" in color and show grease/oil smudges easily. I switched from black or white to silver many years ago. It seems to be a good compromise for visibility, heat/sun rejection, looking clean,and color fastness, and it matches most silver or aluminum on bikes.

I've been leaning toward silver myself since it matches part of my paint scheme and visibility is always a good thing when it comes to cagers.