Link to all my Gen II mods
When I arrive at work every day, I usually have room to fit my helmet in a side case. But on the way home, I sometimes need to pick up a few supplies and the cases fill up. So that leaves no room to lock the helmet. And on the long trips, forget about storing a helmet in the cases. Unfortunately, the FJR in stock form doesn’t supply any external locks.
Most of you are probably familiar with the popular product Helmet Guardian. This is a great idea, but I’ve never been fond of those particular locks they use. They are a bit cumbersome to use and when you release them, they let your helmet drop slightly as the lock hoop swings down. If you don’t hold the helmet at the same time you unlock it, you risk chipping or scratching the helmet paint job as it slides down the back fender.
ZTechnic , IMHO, makes a better mousetrap, solely because of the locks they use. Long before I bought my FJR, my wife installed one of these (model 5505) on her BMW and I really liked it. Not long after that, I found a set of 4 locks identical these on ebay real cheap ($10 IIRC) so I snapped them up. I figured I would use them sometime in the future on one of the bikes.
IMHO, for any helmet lock to be convenient the key must not be blocked by the helmet or strap and when I unlock it I don’t want to have to hold the helmet from falling to the ground (I might be holding something in the other hand at the time). When I bought the FJR, I wanted to install some locks and I decided they needed to be positioned above the license plate so the helmet didn’t hang below the fender extension. I naturally looked at the ZTechnic version, but unfortunately, the locks are oriented wrong to let them be installed on the FJR to my liking.
I was just about to buy the ZTechnic anyway and simply rotate the locks 180 degrees on their mount faces, when I remembered I had those locks stashed away somewhere. I ended up making my own mount plate and using the existing locks to save a few bucks. Making my own bracket allowed me the angle the locks forward somewhat so the bottom of the lock becomes a hook for the helmet D-ring to hang on.
If you’re willing to drill a few new holes in the mount bracket, I recommend using the ZTechnic version and rotate the locks 180 degrees. Then bend the bracket tabs holding the locks forward a bit so the helmet D-ring doesn’t slip off the “hook” when unlocked. The last thing I recommend is that you re-key them to match the ignition/case keys [it was easy to do with the instructions on this site (thanks FJRForum)], thus eliminating the need to carry an extra key. If you make these simple mods, I think you will be much happier with this accessory.
When I arrive at work every day, I usually have room to fit my helmet in a side case. But on the way home, I sometimes need to pick up a few supplies and the cases fill up. So that leaves no room to lock the helmet. And on the long trips, forget about storing a helmet in the cases. Unfortunately, the FJR in stock form doesn’t supply any external locks.
Most of you are probably familiar with the popular product Helmet Guardian. This is a great idea, but I’ve never been fond of those particular locks they use. They are a bit cumbersome to use and when you release them, they let your helmet drop slightly as the lock hoop swings down. If you don’t hold the helmet at the same time you unlock it, you risk chipping or scratching the helmet paint job as it slides down the back fender.
ZTechnic , IMHO, makes a better mousetrap, solely because of the locks they use. Long before I bought my FJR, my wife installed one of these (model 5505) on her BMW and I really liked it. Not long after that, I found a set of 4 locks identical these on ebay real cheap ($10 IIRC) so I snapped them up. I figured I would use them sometime in the future on one of the bikes.
IMHO, for any helmet lock to be convenient the key must not be blocked by the helmet or strap and when I unlock it I don’t want to have to hold the helmet from falling to the ground (I might be holding something in the other hand at the time). When I bought the FJR, I wanted to install some locks and I decided they needed to be positioned above the license plate so the helmet didn’t hang below the fender extension. I naturally looked at the ZTechnic version, but unfortunately, the locks are oriented wrong to let them be installed on the FJR to my liking.
I was just about to buy the ZTechnic anyway and simply rotate the locks 180 degrees on their mount faces, when I remembered I had those locks stashed away somewhere. I ended up making my own mount plate and using the existing locks to save a few bucks. Making my own bracket allowed me the angle the locks forward somewhat so the bottom of the lock becomes a hook for the helmet D-ring to hang on.
If you’re willing to drill a few new holes in the mount bracket, I recommend using the ZTechnic version and rotate the locks 180 degrees. Then bend the bracket tabs holding the locks forward a bit so the helmet D-ring doesn’t slip off the “hook” when unlocked. The last thing I recommend is that you re-key them to match the ignition/case keys [it was easy to do with the instructions on this site (thanks FJRForum)], thus eliminating the need to carry an extra key. If you make these simple mods, I think you will be much happier with this accessory.
