You love your dreadlocks, as their stylishness makes planning your wardrobe effortless. The first hurdle you’ve run into since getting your dreads is riding a motorcycle. Does having dreadlocks affect the motorcycle helmet sizing and fit? How will you get the helmet onto your head? We looked into this to see how dreadlocks impact wearing a motorcycle helmet.
If you want to wear a motorcycle helmet when you have dreadlocks, it’s recommended you put on a skull cap or some other lightweight headgear to protect your hair and keep it from moving. Your options include a bandana, headband, or a scarf, which can also alleviate head pressure.
Ahead, we’ll talk more about whether you need to size up your helmet if you have dreadlocks and if wearing a helmet for long periods can affect your hair. You’re not going to want to miss it, so keep reading.
What Are the Different Motorcycle Helmet Sizes?
Motorcycle helmets come in all shapes and sizes – literally. According to Daytona Helmets, there are ten motorcycle helmet sizes. Here’s a list as well as corresponding hat sizes and head circumferences so you can get a feel for which helmet size is right for you.
- 3XS: Head circumference – 17 1/8 inches to 18 inches | Hat size – 5 4/9 inches to 5 ¾ inches
- 2XS: Head circumference – 18 1/8 inches to 19 inches | Hat size – 5 ¾ inches to 6 inches
- Extra small: Head circumference – 19 1/8 inches to 20 inches | Hat size – 6 inches to 6 3/8 inches
- Small: Head circumference – 20 1/8th inches to 21 inches | Hat size – 6 2/5 inches to 6 2/3 inches
- Medium: Head circumference – 21 1/8 inches to 22 inches | Hat size – 6 5/7 inches to 7 inches
- Large: Head circumference – 22 1/8 inches to 23 inches | Hat size – 7 inches to 7 1/3 inches
- Extra-large: Head circumference – 23 1/8 inches to 24 inches | Hat size – 7 1/3 inches to 7 2/3 inches
- 2XL: Head circumference – 24 1/8 inches to 25 inches | Hat size – 7 2/3 inches to 8 inches
- 3XL: Head circumference – 25 1/8 inches to 26 inches | Hat size – 8 inches to 8 2/7 inches
- 4XL: Head circumference – 26 1/8 inches to 27 inches | Hat size – 8 1/3 inches to 8 3/5 inches
Do Dreadlocks Affect the Size of Motorcycle Helmet You Need?
The last time you wore a motorcycle helmet, you didn’t have dreadlocks. Now that you do, you’re wondering if your hairstyle choice will affect your helmet size.
Indeed, it’s recommended you size up at least once. We would suggest going to your favorite motorcycle gear retailer and trying on a helmet one size up and then two sizes up. Bring your scarf or headgear that you’d put over your dreadlocks so you can recreate what wearing the helmet will feel like when you ride your motorcycle. Then see which helmet fits best and go with that one.
Curious if you can pull off a hat beneath a motorcycle helmet? Then check out this post: Can You Wear a Hat Under a Motorcycle Helmet?
Does Wearing a Helmet Affect Your Dreads?
You sized up your motorcycle helmet, and now it fits comfortably on your head, even with your dreadlocks. If you set off for a day of riding with your buddies, what is your hair situation going to look like when you finally take your helmet off?
You won’t ruin your dreads if you add that protective layer of cushioning via the scarf, bandana, or lightweight cap. That said, there’s no preventing that your dreadlocks will be a little squished and flat. You could also have your version of helmet hair where your dreads don’t quite sit right.
Fortunately, this is all easily fixable through a technique known as palm rolling. Through palm rolling, you can compress the hair, tighten up knots, and repair crinkled or flat dreads. It’s best if you use dreadlock cream or wax for this job, such as DreadHeadHQ Dread Wax.
How to Add Dreadlocks to a Motorcycle Helmet
To wrap up, we thought we’d share some fun motorcycle helmets with dreadlocks built-in.
Our first pick is the Hai Hong twist braids motorcycle helmet. This inexpensive hair attachment for women fits on most motorcycle helmets. You simply stick the dreads attachment to your helmet via a suction cup. The braided faux dreads come in all sorts of appealing colors, such as bright blue, blonde, red, teal, brown, gray, or black. The pretty rhinestones at the top of the attachment are a nice touch.
You can also show everyone you mean business in this Predator motorcycle helmet. Fans of the Predator film will love how lifelike this motorcycle helmet is. Even with its insanely cool look, this helmet still earns Department of Transportation approval for safety.
A mounted laser can be activated by a toggle switch, and the tinted protective visor retracts when you need a breather. This helmet’s shell, which is of fiberglass, was painted by hand, so each helmet is unique.
You can get the Predator helmet in five sizes: small, medium, large, extra-large, and XXL.
Read more: Motorcycle Helmets with Cat Ears [Here’s How to Get Yours]
Conclusion
Having dreadlocks means having to size up at least once when buying a motorcycle helmet. You also should wrap your head with a scarf, bandana, or light cap to reduce head pressure and maintain your dreads. A bit of flatness after a day of wearing your helmet is typical, but some palm-rolling should fix the issue. Have fun out there!