Like many other FJR owners, I decided to get the Helmet Guardian and mount the locks separately on the left and right sides of the bike. I wanted the Helmet Guardian lock cylinders to match the FJR ignition key, so I decided to try re-keying the locks myself. I don’t know how much a locksmith charges, but I’m a cheap bastard and I also like to do stuff myself. I’ve never worked on locks before, but figured it couldn’t be too complicated. And I was right. The 1st lock took about 30 minutes and the 2nd was done in less than 5 minutes. Instructions and pictures below.
First make sure that your ignition key will fit into the Helmet Guardian lock. I’ve heard that some won’t work. I did notice that my Yamaha key was a little stiff going in, but it loosened up after a few insertions. This picture shows the back side of the lock and the 2 screws that must be removed first.
With the back cover removed you can see the little spring that pushes the lock loop open after you unlock the cylinder.
Unlock the lock and then pull the locking latch straight up and out of the body. It’s only slip fit in there. Careful with the spring as you pull the latch out of the body.
Now look carefully at the lock cylinder and notice the copper colored latch sticking out at the top (my scribe is pointing at it). You must carefully push that latch into the center of the lock cylinder so that the cylinder can slide out of the body.
This next picture shows the lock cylinder pulled out of the body. Be careful when pulling the cylinder out because the pins are spring loaded and could go flying out. I’d suggest making a quick sketch detailing which color pins are in which location in case you dump them out by accident. You can see the latch pin sticking straight up on the left and the other lock pins also sticking straight up. Each has a little spring in its bore to keep the pins up unless moved by a key.
This picture shows how the cylinder should look with the Helmet Guardian key inserted. You might need to gently push the pins in a little while inserting the key because normally they are in more while inside the lock body. Note how all the lock pins are pulled completely into the cylinder on both the top and the bottom. The only pin still sticking out is the latch pin which is what holds the lock cylinder in the body and has nothing to do with unlocking the lock.
In this photo you can see what happens when I insert my FJR ignition key. The lock pin right next to the latch pin is still sticking up and will prevent the lock cylinder from rotating in the body (therefore preventing unlocking).
A true locksmith would replace this pin that’s still sticking up with one that will retract when the key is inserted. I didn’t happen to have any spares laying around, so I opted for simply removing this pin. When the key is removed, the pin will simply pull out.
The sharp minded individual might note that by removing this one lock pin I’m making it more likely that another key can open this lock. And they would be right. But this isn’t a bank vault lock we’re talking about here and security will still be adequate for this application.
Depending on your key configuration, you might have to move pins from one slot to another to re-key your lock. Don’t move any pins that retract properly. Just pull all the pins that stick out when the key is inserted and try them in a different slot. Or simply leave some out if they won’t retract.
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly. The only possibly tricky part is inserting the lock cylinder into the body. You’ll need a small, slender screwdriver to push the lock pins in while sliding the cylinder into the body.
First make sure that your ignition key will fit into the Helmet Guardian lock. I’ve heard that some won’t work. I did notice that my Yamaha key was a little stiff going in, but it loosened up after a few insertions. This picture shows the back side of the lock and the 2 screws that must be removed first.
With the back cover removed you can see the little spring that pushes the lock loop open after you unlock the cylinder.
Unlock the lock and then pull the locking latch straight up and out of the body. It’s only slip fit in there. Careful with the spring as you pull the latch out of the body.
Now look carefully at the lock cylinder and notice the copper colored latch sticking out at the top (my scribe is pointing at it). You must carefully push that latch into the center of the lock cylinder so that the cylinder can slide out of the body.
This next picture shows the lock cylinder pulled out of the body. Be careful when pulling the cylinder out because the pins are spring loaded and could go flying out. I’d suggest making a quick sketch detailing which color pins are in which location in case you dump them out by accident. You can see the latch pin sticking straight up on the left and the other lock pins also sticking straight up. Each has a little spring in its bore to keep the pins up unless moved by a key.
This picture shows how the cylinder should look with the Helmet Guardian key inserted. You might need to gently push the pins in a little while inserting the key because normally they are in more while inside the lock body. Note how all the lock pins are pulled completely into the cylinder on both the top and the bottom. The only pin still sticking out is the latch pin which is what holds the lock cylinder in the body and has nothing to do with unlocking the lock.
In this photo you can see what happens when I insert my FJR ignition key. The lock pin right next to the latch pin is still sticking up and will prevent the lock cylinder from rotating in the body (therefore preventing unlocking).
A true locksmith would replace this pin that’s still sticking up with one that will retract when the key is inserted. I didn’t happen to have any spares laying around, so I opted for simply removing this pin. When the key is removed, the pin will simply pull out.
The sharp minded individual might note that by removing this one lock pin I’m making it more likely that another key can open this lock. And they would be right. But this isn’t a bank vault lock we’re talking about here and security will still be adequate for this application.
Depending on your key configuration, you might have to move pins from one slot to another to re-key your lock. Don’t move any pins that retract properly. Just pull all the pins that stick out when the key is inserted and try them in a different slot. Or simply leave some out if they won’t retract.
Assembly is the reverse of disassembly. The only possibly tricky part is inserting the lock cylinder into the body. You’ll need a small, slender screwdriver to push the lock pins in while sliding the cylinder into the body.
