Secure Your Gear When You Travel by Motorcycle

I just got a new helmet, an Arai Signet-Q. It is beautiful, with the Laurel pattern graphics. It’s also plenty expensive, with a list price of $749.95. There are cheaper helmets, but this is the best one for me ‒ the fit is perfect, and it looks great. I want to take good care of my new helmet ‒ and I don’t want it to get stolen. In fact, I don’t want any of my gear to get stolen when I travel. So, I’ve adopted a few strategies and accumulated some security measures that help keep my gear safe.

The first line of defense is to take your gear with you when you leave the bike. They can’t steal what isn’t there. But that isn’t always practical, or even possible. And, in the case of my fancy new helmet, it’s more likely to get dinged up and scratched if I carry it in to that coffee shop than if I leave it with my bike.

Hard luggage can’t be beat for gear security. If you are riding an Electra Glide or Road Glide with a Tour Pak, your helmet will be safe and sound locked up in there. But if your Tour Pak is full, or if you don’t have hard bags, securing your helmet to your bike is a great option.

I’ve started using a simple device called the Helmetlok. Basically, it’s a big carabiner with a combination lock. The great thing about the Helmetlok is that it is inexpensive (just $25), fits in a jacket pocket easily, and it works on any bike. Add a cable ($8), and you can use the Helmetlok to secure your jacket to the bike, too. Run the cable through a jacket sleeve, secure it to the Helmetlok, and you can go wander that bike show with a clear mind.

For a little beefier protection, I sometimes carry a bicycle cable lock, like the KryptoFlex 1218 Combo Cable from Kryptonite. I can run this cable through my full-face helmet’s face hole, through a jacket sleeve and around a frame rail on the bike, and I’ve got a solid, inexpensive ($26.99) security for my important gear. I tend to choose combination locks, rather than keyed locks, just to make sure that I am not adding complication and bulk to my security solution.

If you’ve got to travel with softbags, like saddlebags, a tailbag, tank bag or backpack, you know that feeling of vulnerability when you leave your bike alone. I recommend a product by Pacsafe called “Pacsafe Bag Protector.” It’s an adjustable mesh made out of high-tensile steel that Pacsafe has named the “smart eXomesh cage system.” It’s like putting your bag under the care of Spiderman, only not as sticky. The Pacsafe Bag Protector comes in a number of different sizes, and runs from $70 to $100.

I sometimes use a combination of all of these systems, depending on where I’m traveling and what kind of gear I’m transporting. There are plenty of additional creative ways to secure your gear ‒ these are just a few. I just hope that when you are traveling, you take the time to keep your helmet and luggage safe every time you park. Nothing puts a damper on a great motorcycle trip like a stolen helmet ‒ and you can avoid being a victim with a little bit of advance planning.