Installing LED lights on the back of a motorcycle helmet is not something new. But has become trendy nowadays. Do they have utility though?
Is installing LED lights on helmet worth it? Helmet lights are worth it since they improve rider visibility. The lights make motorcycle riding safer at night and on foggy roads. Vehicles behind the rider see the helmet lights and are aware of the rider’s presence.
The only time when helmet lights are not effective is when you ride your motorcycle only during the daytime. In these good daylight conditions, helmet lights don’t do much.
Apart from that, helmet lights are a valuable addition to your riding gear.
LED lights in the helmet
LED lights on the helmet, as the name suggests, is installing lights on the back of the helmet to improve the rider’s visibility to other vehicles. Especially at night.
While there are some helmets that come with inbuilt LED lights on them, most LED lights you see on the helmets are often installed later. By the rider of course.
Now, why LED light? Why not, say halogen light?
That’s easy.
LED lights are the best-performing lights out there. They are brighter. They have a higher lifespan. And they are energy efficient.
That’s the reason LED lights are replacing halogen and HID lights as motorcycle headlights as well.
The longer lifespan and bright light is the major reason why LED lights are preferred on helmets.
Uses of helmet lights
Let’s first discuss why motorcycle riders use helmet lights in the first place. What are their uses?
First and foremost, helmet lights improve the rider’s visibility. This is especially for other vehicles like cars on the road that drive without acknowledging motorcycles.
With the flickering LED lights on the helmet, the car drivers take note that there is a motorcycle moving in front of them.
The motorcycle rider is suddenly more visible to them. Without the need for horns and loud pipes.
Second, helmet lights are valuable during night rides and on foggy roads. Again, the rider is visible to other vehicles due to the helmet light flickering.
Sure, the motorcycle tail light helps. The red tail light brightening up for every brake makes the bike more visible.
Still, the helmet light helps in these foggy roads and/or night conditions – where motorcycles are not easily visible. The chances of accidents become way less with the addition of helmet lights.
Third, helmet lights improve rider safety. The red flickering LED lights are visible from a long distance.
The chances of another vehicle – be it a car, motorcycle, or truck from behind is very low, now that the helmet lights caution them about your presence.
This is especially true for night riding. So, in case you are a frequent night traveler on your motorcycle, installing LED lights on your helmet is a good thing to do.
Are helmet lights worth it?
Helmet lights are worth it since they improve rider visibility and make motorcycle riding safer at night.
So if you are someone who goes night riding a lot on your motorcycle, I would say installing helmet lights is a must.
The same goes for foggy weather. If you live in a region where winters are harsh or fogs are common, then again the helmet lights are a valuable addition.
The only time when helmet lights are not effective is when you ride your motorcycle only during the daytime. And where there are no foggy roads or weather conditions not too harsh to see ahead. In these good daylight conditions, helmet lights don’t do much.
So other than that, helmet lights are definitely worth it.
How to install lights on the helmet
Installing an LED light on the back of the helmet is easy. Super easy to be honest.
First, get the LED light. The light will be small, compact, and rectangle sized.
On the back of the light, there will be velcro. Similarly, there will be one more velcro patch provided to stick to the helmet.
Now take that velcro patch and stick it at the back of the helmet.
Make sure the positioning is right. Too much above in the helmet is not good. Try to place it lower at the helmet’s back.
Next. Use the velcro on the back of the LED light box and stick it to the velcro patch on the helmet.
That’s it. The LED light is now installed on the helmet.
It is easily removable as well. You can try taking it out and putting the light back again.
Helmet light is rechargeable
One key thing to note about helmet lights. The helmet LED light needs to be recharged regularly.
Again, recharging the light is not rocket science.
You remove the LED light from the helmet. There is a USB port. Attach one end of the USB cable to the port and the other end to the charger. Voila, the light will start charging.
Why I brought up the recharging part is – you are going to forget it.
After some time, the LED light will remain on the helmet. And you stop charging the light. In no time, your helmet is as good as with no light.
So make sure you recharge the helmet light periodically.
Cost of LED light for a helmet
Installing LED light on a helmet is cheap.
Usually, you can get a LED light for a helmet for around $15 to $25.
Sure you can spend more money and buy a costly light as well. You can go as high as $40 or $50. But I don’t think they are worth the buck. Cheap helmet lights are fine.
In case you really want to spend some good money, buy an inbuilt light on the helmet as well.
There are quite a few helmets with lights inbuilt into them.
But a simple separate LED light to install on the helmet later works quite fine.
Does adding LED light make the helmet heavy?
LED lights are not heavy.
They hardly weigh 25 to 30 grams (1 lb).
So adding them onto the helmet doesn’t make the helmet heavy.
Helmet lights hardly make a difference to the helmet weight. So no need to worry about your helmet weight increasing with a LED light.
Before you go…
Here are a few more of our posts on motorcycle helmets that might interest you further: