Like most everyone here I find my Valk to be close to a perfect bike, at least for me. There are a few things though that I can't believe Honda omitted from the bike, in particular a reasonable helmet lock, self-canceling turn signals and a center stand. I thought I'd show my solution to the helmet lock issue (for standard and tourer owners).
I looked at the available options on various bike sites as well as eBay/Amazon. The Kury bar end set up looks interesting but I don't have the grips and it was not really what I was looking for. Most of the generic locks look like junk and I really don't want my helmet hanging off the side of the case guard.
I do have a Master cable lock and while solid it's not that convenient, I want to get off the bike, lock my helmet and walk away. Not take off the seat or dig around for a cable, yea, I'm lazy.
I started looking on Pinwall at various factory helmet locks and found the VMax OEM unit looked interesting so I bough two, one from an 03 the other an 07. They are identical.
They didn't come with keys and the offset is opposite my Valk key (though I think I've read later Valks use a different key). At any rate my plan was to key the locks alike and hand cut a key.
First step is to disassemble the locks by removing the plate on the underside.
Use a screwdriver to push the pawl out of the way and release the helmet hook.
Remove the spring and pawl with a pair of needle nose plyers.
Use a screwdriver to push the retainer into the lock cylinder and the cylinder will slide out of the body.
I removed the tumblers and springs and reassembled the helmet lock.
I installed the locks on each side of my rack by replacing the upper rack/back rest bolt with longer stainless steel Philips head screws. I had to drill one hole per side for the helmet lock locator pin.
Ease of use and placement is exactly what I was looking for.
The locks function normally as far as latching and requiring a turn of the cylinder to open except that right now any key will work, or a screwdriver for that matter. Anyone walking by admiring my helmet doesn't know that though.
I still may go through my box of lock tumblers and see if I have a few pairs of matched tumblers to key both locks alike so I could have one key for both but then I'd have to carry another key.
Then again, I may just leave them as they are and use the cable the few times I really want my helmet secure, like I said, I'm lazy.
