Helmet and Gear Holder

Keep Your Gear Together & Ready To Ride From Gadget

See The Non 'Do It Yourself' Method From Theo Powers below

A rack very similar to this is available commercially here. The rack is $20 plus $8 or so for shipping and handling. I took a look and thought to myself... "self, you could make that thing in about an hour." Ok, it took just a little longer than that including rounding up the materials but not much and the cost? A whopping $8.50 assuming you use paint already on hand.

What You'll Need

• About 32" of mild steel, 1" wide by 1/8" thick or whatever you have lying around the garage. This hangar isn't likely to hold anything heavier than your helmet and jacket.
  
  You might choose to use aluminum or stainless steel both of which can be shined to a chrome like finish.
• 1- Closet pole socket or any kind of smooth disk that will prevent damage to the inside of your helmet
• 1- Package of connecting cap nuts (see picture). These are threaded for 1/4-20 bolts and will be used to hold a coat hanger.
• 2- 1/4-20 bolts to fasten connecting cap nuts to the rack
• 2- Lag bolts for connecting the rack to your wall

Tools

• Torch for heating the flatstock. Any old propane torch will work.
• Electric Drill and appropriate size bits
• Strongly suggested, a vice for holding the steel while you're heating/bending. Hot steel will melt tennis shoes and raise large blisters on hands so use the vice and gloves if you have them to protect yourself.

How To Do It

1. Take a look at the drawing at right (click for full size image). The dimensions are what I ended up with but you'll probably want to make adjustments for the depth of your helmet, where you want to locate the coat hangar and distance you need from the wall so the back of your helmet isn't hitting the rack and other factors. Maybe you've looked at the picture and thought that much of the rack doesn't have to show below the helmet. Make an adjustment to fit your style/needs. I suggest you use a strip of cardboard formed to fit the pattern or print the drawing as close to scale as you can (it needs two sheets of paper) and lay your helmet on the drawing. Adjust as necessary then transfer the measurements to your flatstock. It'll save a lot of heating and bending, trust me on that one <g>.
2. Now comes the fun part, heating and bending metal. Make sure you have a clear area to work in so your torch won't set something afire.
3. Clamp your steel in the vice, get your steel red hot and make your first bend. Move along the flatstock section by section making your bends, heating the steel over a small area for sharp bends and a large area for mild bends. Use different parts of the vice for different shape bends. Don't be afraid to play, you can always bend the stock back again.
4. You can cool the steel in water to speed up the process and make it safer to handle. When finished you can heat the entire assembly then let it cool slowly so it won't be brittle.
5. When you're finished shaping the metal (keep trial fitting with your helmet) drill holes for the helmet protector piece, as many coat hanger fittings as you want to use and two more for attaching the bracket to your wall. Deburr the edges so you won't scratch yourself later.
6. 
   Trial fit everything then take it all apart. Now you're ready for paint. Suspend the bracket from some utility wire and spray with your choice of color and paint.
7. When the paint's dry, re-assemble and you're good to go!

A Ready Made Option Thanks To Theo Powers

Theo says: I was roaming around Home Depot and ran across this "garden tool hanger" for ten bucks that I coopted for moto use based on your idea (above). Helmet doesn't sit straight up and down, but I could probably take a hunk of 4x4, round off the edges, set it on top, and be good to go. Comes with wood screws, butterflys for drywall, and a mount for their mounting strip. The product is made by Closetmaid, item 3554. The Closetmaid website says the hangar is sold through Home Depot, Lowes and their own website.