• Can't post after logging to the forum for the first time... Try Again - If you can't post in the forum, sign out of both the membership site and the forum and log in again. Make sure your COG membership is active and your browser allow cookies. If you still can't post, contact the COG IT guy at IT@Concours.org.
  • IF YOU GET 404 ERROR: This may be due to using a link in a post from prior to the web migration. Content was brought over from the old forum as is, but the links may be in error. If the link contains "cog-online.org" it is an old link and will not work.

Where do you put your helmets and gear when not using the boxes?

M

mrinnocent

Member
Member
Normally on my other bikes, when I have full top box and panniers or I just don't have them, I stick my helmet on a mirror (and maybe my wife's on the other) and thread a locking cable through my jacket and pants and helmet and my Barkbusters.

The Connie, of course, has no upright mirrors, nor Barkbusters. So I wonder, does anyone have a solution for locking gear to the bike when the boxes are not available?

Btw I'm not interested in the AST helmet locks, I've had a helmet stolen by a moron who cut my helmet off my old KLR's helmet lock.

Thanks in advance for your input!
 
Either helmets go with us or if we are hiking / otherwise unable to bring helmets with us we use a cable lock strung through the helmets and with either:
  1. Wrap around a wheel, store on ground
  2. Wrap around the pillion handhold, store on the seat
Wayne
 
I've had my AST locks for 5 years without a problem. I lock my helmet whenever I am going out of sight of my bike like going into a convenience store or eatery. I put a hook on them with a nylon tie so I don't have to lock it if I'm just stopped for a break or something. I'm never out after dark though which is probably the easiest for thieves.
 
So i hate to say it, but.....and i know its an added expense.... why nit use the ast or projekt d hangers.....(and wait for it)........and a cable lock thru the helmets and the rear passenger handgrips or better yet the rear tire.....?!?....

Their hung securely without fear of them falling to the ground and secured to the bike...
 
Where I live, it is the custom to leave your helmet on the bike unsecured when going into a store or cafe. Not saying it is a good idea but it is what we do. When I toured, I kept the helmet with me. :unsure: Security upgrade is probably what is wise and prudent.
 
Konehead34 said:
So i hate to say it, but.....and i know its an added expense.... why nit use the ast or projekt d hangers.....(and wait for it)........and a cable lock thru the helmets and the rear passenger handgrips or better yet the rear tire.....?!?....

Their hung securely without fear of them falling to the ground and secured to the bike...
Click to expand...
Hah that actually sounds like the solution I was hoping for. Thanks for the great advice!
 
joliver said:
Where I live, it is the custom to leave your helmet on the bike unsecured when going into a store or cafe. Not saying it is a good idea but it is what we do. When I toured, I kept the helmet with me. :unsure: Security upgrade is probably what is wise and prudent.
Click to expand...
Really the security posture comes down to the threats you’re likely to face, and sadly where I live a simple lock through the D-ring is insufficient.
 
The cable lock we use is to keep honest people honest - if someone really wants our helmets a bolt cutter and you’re gone….
 
mrinnocent said:
Thanks but that's a similar design to the AST helmet locks. Someone can just cut the helmet off.
Click to expand...
There isn't a "helmet lock" out there that I could not get through in less than 30 seconds with a pair of 12" bolt cutters. The vast majority would take mere seconds. Helmet locks stop someone with sticky fingers, nothing else.

I've had a number of things that were "locked" up, get up and walk away. I quickly learned that resistance to physical attack is often more important than the strength of the lock. Check out the Lockpicking Lawyer on Youtube for a great many low skill and physical attacks of locks that most people would think of as "secure".

This is what the OP was saying, but PLEASE lock your helmets through the chin bar. You don't want to come back out and find your d rings dangling on your helmet lock because someone used a pair of scissors.
 
I wasn't trying for this to turn into a broader security discussion, but it's trending that way, so here goes.

Obviously there are different theft threat levels to consider when protecting items on a motorcycle. Protection against these threats comes at the expense of weight, such that one must choose how much protection one wants. Here are the levels I consider, in increasing order.
  • No skill, no tool attack on unsecured item: anyone can walk away with your thing, but it's fine to do if you're right there
  • Knife: most criminals will have a blade, and this can get through bags, zipties, and other thin plastics. Especially dumb criminals will cut your helmet strap if that is securing it. I know because this has happened to me.
  • Screwdriver: some criminals will have this, and they can use it to pry things open and jiggle open or force low-grade wafer locks, like the ones on helmet locks and many hard cases. This happened to me recently as well.
  • Snips: good for getting through very some very thin cables often used for securing helmets, as well as Pacsafe mesh bags.
  • Cable cutters: LPL uses high quality ones that get through cables in seconds, but I expect most criminals out there don't have them, and when they do, they have low grade ones.
  • Bolt cutters, angle grinders, hydraulic cutters: no point in protecting against these, as they can take your moto apart, as well as any chains securing it. Luckily these are also heavy, large, and incriminating, so most criminals don't carry them. If you're worried about these, your moto will need to be watched.
  • Coercion and violence: at this point it becomes a whole other discussion, but I bring it up because it is a valid threat that no lock will protect you from.
I'm looking to protect up through snips, since I believe that provides for me the best balance of security, weight, and convenience in the environments I travel in. For others, the calculation will be different.

With all that in mind, I'm considering the Projekt D helmet locks in concert with a cable lock through the chin bar and pillion hand holds, though simple hooks in place of the locks may be sufficient.
 
It's a heavy picture frame hanger
dirtwiz said:
View attachment 29558
Click to expand...
It's a heavy picture frame hanger that I bent around the AST lock and tightened with a nylon tie. It's been sturdy and I've had it on there for 3 years. Very easy to put your helmet on when stopping briefly. I've seen many helmets fall off of seats, handlebars and mirrors. It isn't in the way of the lock when you actually lock it.
 
Last edited:
I just put mine in the trunk or a side bag. When I had the ZRX, I would use a plastic-coated coiled cable and a padlock. Run the cable thru the face opening. I also locked my jacket by running the cable thru the sleeve.
 
If the cable lock is long enough and you have canyon cages, that would the best option depending on how many helmets you're locking. When I only need to lock one, I use the rear cage and let the helmet hang. If I'm locking two helmets, I'll use the front cage. Just remember to remove your comms if they're removable like a Sena.
 
If I lock the stuff, I use a helmet lock relocated to the rear of the bike (its a C10).

I have a fabbed 6' cable like 'rexter' with loops at both ends to secure my riding coat and pants.

After looping through the gear, one end of the cable goes through the other (think lasso), and the remaining longer end loop gets locked in a helmet lock as well. Did it that way so I didn't need a separate lock/key or combination to fool with.

I try to leave the cable visible on top of the 'bundle'. If some jerk wanted to grab and run off with the gear thinking it was just laying across the seat, it could pull the bike over off the sidestand.

Secure one thing, create worry about another. Proves the point: 'There are no solutions, only trade offs' (Thomas Sowell)
 
If it's a fairly short stop, (lunch, etc.) I just secure it on the pillion looping a small cable lock up through it around the hand hold. Any place where that doesn't seem sufficiently secure would be too dicey for me to want to stop there in the first place.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Top