Helmet security

[MaggieMan]

Ok, I really don't want a top box and I don't want the large panniers ... gotta keep Vara Miles' tail cute and slender after all. But what I do want is someway, cheap simple and easy to secure my helmet to my bike. In the olden days gone by, a couple bikes I owned had a "helmet lock" that you put the chin-strap through and could lock the helmet in place w/ the bike key.

I just get tired of carrying my helmet w/ me whenever I go in somewhere. Anything on the market? Maybe some design genius here with a simple DIY idea? I realize almost anything is not going to be "theft proof" ... I'd be happy w/ theft resistant.

Thanks,
Scott

 

[windsinthehills]

I sometimes just use a bicycle cable lock hooked through the triple tree and the chin bar of my full-face helmet.

 

[MAC]

You could go to a Gun store and buy a cable lock, small and strong, I think the ones I have are made by Master.

 

[RedLdr1]

I use a Master Lock cable gun lock as well. I run it around the chin bar of my helmet and then either the handlebar triple clamp or the passenger grab bar. Less than $10 bucks at a sporting goods store if you need to buy one.

 

[androu]

My NT came with a little vinyl covered cable in the bag with the manual, etc., presumably for securing a helmet? I have the top box, so I just put it in there.

 

[Warren]

My NT came with a little vinyl covered cable in the bag with the manual, etc., presumably for securing a helmet? I have the top box, so I just put it in there.

To use the cable that came with the NT you have to remove the seat which in an emergency might be ok but for daily use its a pain. I would use my top box but it usually has too much in it already so I use a small cable like others have mentioned or I just carry it with me.

 

[elizilla]

Another vote for a small cable lock. I loop the cable around the chinbar of the helmet, then route it up the sleeve of my jacket, loop the other end around the bike and lock it all in place.

At least I do that sometimes... often I don't lock my stuff down, I just set it on the bike and leave it unlocked. I have never had a problem. I doubt my stuff is that alluring to anyone else; too nerdy. I actually worry more about vandals than thieves, but vandals can mess up your gear even when it's locked.

 

[vzshadow]

I'm a big fan of the Kryptonite Kryptogrip. It's a cable lock on a spool that locks. Slip it through the D-ring on your helmet or through the face gap on a full face helmet and then secure it to the handlebars where they attach to the bike. Works great.

http://www.classiccruiser.com/Kryptonite/Kryptogrip-Cable-Lock/329532/

 

[Chucksklrst]

Nobody will steal an NT nor a ST for that matter. Not enough return for the effort.

 

[elizilla]

That is one advantage of geeky bike choices, and the complete unwillingness of the OEMs to provide the bikes I like in the flashier colors I like. A boring silver bike that is neither fish nor fowl*, is simply less attractive to thieves.

* Cruisers and sportbikes - which is fish, which is fowl?

 

[MaggieMan]

D'OH! I feel like such an idiot! No wonder I couldn't see the answer ... it was, literally, right in front of my face. Of course, the chin-guard or the D-rings ...

Thanks everyone,
Your Village Idiot,
Scott

 

[Chucksklrst]

Here is a pic of my geeky NT. I just installed the new MRA Vario Shield and Just now put the new E-460 Silver top box on it. What is nice about my two top boxes is I can mix and match on any of the four bikes that I have. All my bikes are some shade of silver and black. Except the KLR. Not planned that way, just happened.

 

[Chucksklrst]

Now I only have a Rick Mayer seat and a J&M CB unit to buy and install, then I think I am finished Farkling the NT. Might wait until spring and do a ride out to Cali for the seat.

 

[Warren]

Thieves will steal anything that's not tied down. I once had a crappy lawn chair stolen off my front porch. It must have been worth about a buck. Makes me wonder what kind of market there is for a used helmet.

 

[Phil Tarman]

I rarely lock anything. Rick and I wear Hi-Viz Aerostitches and since after some use they have collected more dirt than anything we've worn since diapers and since they inspire the fashion comment, "Eewwww!" and since one of the advantages of a Hi-Viz 'Stitch is that, as far as I can tell, no one has ever had one stolen, so we don't need to lock them down. I have had one helmet stolen...it was a four-year old Nolan that was about ready for replacement anyway. I suppose I really ought to lock my $700 Schuberth C-3, but here in this town, I don't think I need to do it.

 

[RedLdr1]

Of course, the chin-guard or the D-rings ...

Around here the local lowlifes will cut the D-Rings off and take your your helmet. That is why I use a gun cable lock around the chin bar of my RF-1100...

 

[ARKNT]

Another option to the cable is a choker chain dog collar. They are cheap, don't take up much room, and are available in different lengths. Just run it through D ring or around chin bar and secure with a small lock. About the same as a cable but I sometimes like to be different.

Brad

 

[Bear]

I have used gun locks for years. They are real cheap, work well. and take up very little space. I usually carry one in my bicycle jersey and lock the bike with it if I go into a store. It won't stop a thief, but it will sure slow him down.

 

[MAC]

LOCKS are only to keep the HONEST people honest.

 

[bicyclist]

Another option to the cable is a choker chain dog collar. They are cheap, don't take up much room, and are available in different lengths. Just run it through D ring or around chin bar and secure with a small lock. About the same as a cable but I sometimes like to be different.

Brad

Yep, that's how I do it, too. I put the ring on the end of the chain in a vice and squeezed it enough so that it fits through the one on the other end. I put the chain through the chin bar, pass one end of the chain through the other and have enough length to leave the helmet upright on the seat. That keeps out rain or anything nasty some passerby might drop into it.