You frequently travel to a place like college, mall or your favourite hideout. But once you park your motorcycle, you are not sure what to do with the motorcycle helmet.
The pondering question the plagues your mind is – what to do with motorcycle helmet when parked? You can either use a helmet lock or you can carry the helmet along with you. In case your bike provides storage space, you can keep the helmet there. The last option is to leave the helmet on motorcycle if the helmet is old and worn-out.
Before you decide on what to do with that helmet of yours after parking, here is the detailed description of each of these options.
#1 Carry the Helmet with You
The easiest way is to carry the helmet with you wherever you go.
Going to a cafeteria? No issues. Carry the helmet right into the middle of a rush and place the helmet on ethe table to claim a seat, will ya.
On a serious note, carrying helmet removes all sorts of confusion and anxiety of theft from your mind completely. Specially if your helmet is an expensive one, carrying it with you will ease out all your worries.
Another advantage is you can put your gloves, glasses and other small riding gear stuff in the helmet and carry it once you have parked the motorcycle. Makes things smoother for you since helmet acts as a carrier to transport these things.
See, carrying the helmet with you can be handy and it has its own off road utility function as well.
Now, someone might point out that carrying a helmet wherever you go after parking the motorcycle is a show-off and douche thing to do. I personally can’t comprehend how does this looks douche to someone. But few people just don’t like the look, I guess.
But you know what, to hell with them.
That helmet of yours cost a load of money. You sure as hell is not going to leave it out there in the parking for someone to steal it.
Plus, if the helmet is custom painted or it’s a recently cleaned helmet, it sure is going to be a theft target.
Doesn’t matter what anyone thinks, that expensive helmet is precious for you to get stolen away easily. So, ignore the haters, and carry your helmet wherever you want to.
#2 Use a Helmet Lock
Now, carrying your helmet everywhere you go can be a bit of pain. It can get annoying if you have other luggage to carry with you as well. This makes carrying the helmet not the most attractive option for everyone.
The next alternative is to simply use a helmet lock. Buy a suitable helmet lock for your motorcycle and lock the helmet to your motorcycle.
Using a helmet lock comes with its own specific advantages.
Firstly, helmet lock provides the best safety feature when compared to the other alternatives. Carrying a helmet runs its risk of you forgetting to take it back. And by the time you realize that you have forgotten to take your helmet from that dingy place, the helmet would have stolen away.
The safety lock will be tied to the motorcycle. The only chance of you losing your helmet is your motorcycle gets stolen as well.
Secondly, the convenience. Helmet locks provide you with a far more room and convenience to go wherever you want. You don’t have to babysit that helmet as soon as you have parked your motorcycle.
Helmet locks come in various types and forms. For a motorcycle helmet, a functional cable lock with keys should suffice. You can add the cable lock key with your motorcycle keys.
Also, do not buy a cheap helmet lock unless your helmet is cheap too. A good quality cable lock will not be a costly affair and will provide the required safety and convenience for you.
#3 Few Motorcycles provide Storage
Mostly scooters. Rarely some motorcycles, if any, will provide a storage space sufficient for a motorcycle helmet to fit in.
Many scooters, on the other hand, provide enough storage space for your motorcycle helmet to fit into the provided space. This will eliminate lots of inconvenience and safety issues you might face whenever you park your bike and has to decide on what to do with your helmet.
The storage space will be under the seat of your scooter. A key will be provided to unlock the storage space below the seat.
The only time this storage space wont work is when you have a large motorcycle helmet. A large helmet might not be able to fit into the storage provided in a scooter. The base of the helmet won’t have a problem usually. But it is the height of the helmet that more often than not creates an issue.
Other than this case, the storage space in a scooter will be handy for the rider to keep his/her helmet and go off anywhere freely.
However, the main issue here is, rarely any motorcycles provide such storage facility where the rider’s helmet can be fitted in. So, the motorcycle rider has to go with either of the above two options – either carry the helmet along or use a helmet cable lock.
Apart from these options, there is one straight forward, yet risky way of dealing with your motorcycle helmet.
#4 Keep the Helmet with Motorcycle
Now we come to the last resorting option.
If you don’t have a helmet lock, the motorcycle doesn’t provide any storage space, and you hate carrying your helmet around – you are left with the only option – to keep the helmet on your motorcycle and leave it there.
Mind you, this is not an ideal situation at all. You run the risk of your motorcycle helmet getting stolen.
However, if your helmet is about to expire, old and worn-out, and you live in a peaceful neighborhood, I am sure you can take this risk and place the helmet on your motorcycle handlebar.
Do understand that this alternative carries its own risk of getting your helmet stolen. So, if you have a pricey and high-quality motorcycle helmet, it makes no sense to keep it as an orphan out there with your motorcycle.
Here, the helmet value and the pain of carrying it around are at odds with each other. If you value the helmet higher due to its price or quality, you wouldn’t mind carrying it with you.
On the other hand, if you feel the pain and inconvenience of carrying it around is higher than the value of your helmet, you will leave it there with your motorcycle.
Personally, I would say, if it is an old and worn-out helmet and you have parked the motorcycle in a safe and peaceful neighborhood, you can leave the helmet on your motorcycle and go off.
Tips to Decide on What to Do with your helmet
It is easy to know the alternatives. The difficult thing is the decision making. You need to decide on what to do with that motorcycle helmet of yours.
If the motorcycle has storage space available, then there is no cause of worry since you can store the helmet there.
If there is no storage space in the motorcycle for your helmet, the next preferred option is to purchase and use a helmet lock. A basic functional cable lock should suffice for the helmet.
Next option, carry the helmet along with you. Doesn’t matter if people think you are show-off. That high quality is expensive and you aren’t leaving it out there for it to get stolen.
The last preference is for you to leave the helmet out there with the motorcycle. Understand the risk it entails when you are leaving the helmet like that. It can get stolen. Risk it only if your helmet is old and worn-out and the place is a peaceful neighborhood.
