Lockstraps Helmet Lock review |
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| Tuesday, 22 November 2011 11:25 | |||
 Have you noticed how many new bikes no longer have helmet locks? So unless you are at a motorcycle event which has a helmet/jacket area to leave them safely, the only option is to carry your helmet with you unless you have capacious panniers or a top box, which can be a real pain. However, help is now at hand thanks to a firm called Lockstraps which hails from the US and was born out of a crime. In 2009, the president of the company, Jeff Cranny, had the misfortune of having some items stolen. It prompted him to find something he could depend on to secure his valuables, primarily his motorcycles, bike gear and to stop thieves dead in their tracks when out and about. After a lot of R & D he came up with a heavy duty, meaty-looking, locking-strap which is constructed, using an eight wire stainless steel cable sandwiched between double nylon webbing. At the ends are industrial rivets forming the loops, and a heavy duty combination karabiner lock which is simplicity itself to use. The original idea was to use the 8.5 foot long straps to secure bikes to trailers, (or anything else for that matter), but they now have a 2 foot version for securing helmets and jackets to the bike thanks to increasing demand from customers impressed with the longer items. It is exactly the same as the proven trailer straps, but it is easily carried in a pocket or under the seat of most motorcycles and is ready for use in matter of seconds. The loop is just threaded through the helmet and or a jacket sleeve and then around a substantial part of the motorcycle frame, or similar. The karabiner is opened and passed through the cable loop and then locked by spinning the three combination dials out of sync – job done. When you want to go it is just a case of aligning the dials to whatever combination you have set and releasing your helmet, no key to lose or worry about and it is lot cleaner than linking your bike security chain through it! Like any security product eventually it could be beaten with the right equipment, but as the website video shows, it would have to be a pretty massive set of bolt croppers and sharp knife to do so and it would take a fair bit of time. Let’s face it that is not likely to happen with a bike in a public place, but it is definitely going to stop the casual, or opportunist thief, or as they say “it will help keep honest people honest”! Personally I have found it very useful not only for the above applications, but a few others as well and will probably invest in a longer one for use on the trailer when carrying a competition bike. Certainly it has many other applications away from the motorcycle world and having a couple of these around the house could be a wise move to add to your security arsenal. However, the Helmet strap tested and highly rated here as a useful addition to be carried on the bike at all times, is available from the UK arm of the company for £24.95, which is cheaper than either a new helmet or jacket. But, being charitable people they have a special offer on it of £20.00 for Xmas, which really is too good an offer to miss for such an excellent product! Available directly from the UK company along with all their other excellent accessories at www.lockstraps.co.uk Review by Ian Kerr
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