Black motorcycle helmets

A black motorcycle helmet never looks out of place: it goes with a naked bike, a scooter or an adventure bike, with a leather or textile jacket, and it does not date when you change bikes. Here you will find NZI and By City black helmets of every type, in gloss black, matt black or full black, plus black helmets with gold, red, yellow or turquoise details. Before you choose, think about the finish, how you will make yourself more visible and the heat on sunny days.

Full black, gloss or matt

A full black helmet is black from top to bottom, with no graphics or details in another colour, like NZI's Street Track 4 or Trendy 2 Solid in solid black. Some riders finish the look with a smoked or dark visor: it looks the part, but it is for daytime only, so keep the clear one with you. Gloss black gives a deeper colour with reflections, and very light marks can be hidden with a solvent-free polish; on the other hand, it shows swirls from the cloth and fingerprints. It is the finish of the By City The Rock, 90 Degrees and Roadster III in gloss black, The City open-face from By City and the NZI Magma, Ringway 2, Rolling 4 Sun, Freccia and Combi 3 in black. Matt is more understated, but it cannot be polished and needs a different cleaning routine, which we cover on the matte black helmets page.

Black with a touch of colour

If plain black feels too serious, many models use it as the base for a detail that matches your bike or your kit:

• Gold: the Revival in black and gold, the Trendy 2 Flag, the Go Rider Trident or the Boss Gold designs of the Street Track 4 and Rolling 4 Sun, which suit gold wheels or forks.
• Red: the Minimod Watson modular, the Revival in black and red or the Wake Stream Booster, for bikes with red details.
• Yellow, turquoise or orange: the Orbe and Daily versions of the Combi 3 modular, with anthracite.
• Carbon: the Mad Carbon and Racing Carbon View, full-face helmets with a carbon fibre shell.

What a black helmet loses in visibility

Black blends into tarmac, shadows and darkness, and it is the helmet colour that vanishes first in a car's mirror. That is no reason to rule it out, but it is a reason to make up for it with the rest of your kit: one of our reflective motorcycle jackets, a hi-vis vest or trousers with reflective strips. If you want the helmet itself to make you visible, white motorcycle helmets are the obvious alternative. And if you ride in France, remember that helmets there must carry four retro-reflective stickers: front, back and one on each side.

Black in the sun

Black soaks up much of the radiation that white reflects, which means that in summer, and above all when parked in the sun, a black helmet gets considerably hotter. Look for one with intakes on the forehead and chin bar and an exhaust vent at the back, and for town riding consider an open-face helmet, which lets far more air through. When you leave the bike, put it in the top box or under the seat: hanging from the mirror it not only overheats, but the mirror stem presses on the inner liner and can deform it.

Full-face, open-face, modular and for kids

For open roads there are black full-face models like the Street Track 4, Go Rider, Freccia or Eurus 4, with the rest of the models among our full-face helmets. For town, open-face helmets like the Ringway 2, Rolling 4 Sun or Magma, and for touring with the option of lifting the chin bar, modulars such as the Fastback, Combi 3 or Minimod. Younger riders get their black too: the Calaca and Lion designs of the Helix and Single II, which sit with the rest of our children's helmets. If the size is what holds you back, our team can advise you through the website chat before you order; and to compare other colours, browse all our motorcycle helmets.