Flying with a full face helmet

In July of 2022 and June of 2023 I will be doing Edelweiss tours in Iceland and Norway. I was wondering what advice members might have about flying with my gear, especially my Aria XD4 Helmet. I am thinking I might want to put it in a ridged carry-on. What is your experience?

rwadamsidaho said:

In July of 2022 and June of 2023 I will be doing Edelweiss tours in Iceland and Norway. I was wondering what advice members might have about flying with my gear, especially my Aria XD4 Helmet. I am thinking I might want to put it in a ridged carry-on. What is your experience?

Click to expand...

I flew to South America and back with my Schuberth E1 and have previously flown to Europe and back with a helmet. My preference is a padded helmet bag and taking the helmet carry-on as my “personal item” in addition to my carry-on bag, tho on one flight I stashed the helmet inside the backpack I was using as a carry-on. Anything hard-sided big enough for a FF helmet might end up being gate-checked due to carry-on size restrictions.

I stuff the helmet with headphones and other small items I’ll want on the plane and stow the bagged helmet under seat or in overhead bin.

Best,
DeVern

I just flew to Maine on Monday with my helmet as carry on. I will never pack my helmet in luggage, I always take it carry on in a decent helmet bag. If I were doing a fly and ride I might consider a lighter bag for packability.

Same thing if you're going skiing. Always take your boots carry on-if they lose your luggage it's easy to get anything else but boots can be the killer.

rwadamsidaho said:

In July of 2022 and June of 2023 I will be doing Edelweiss tours in Iceland and Norway. I was wondering what advice members might have about flying with my gear, especially my Aria XD4 Helmet. I am thinking I might want to put it in a ridged carry-on. What is your experience?

Click to expand...

I am going to do a seminar on stuff like this at the rally this June, as I have traveled/ridden internationally and have often dealt with logistics like this.

It's pretty amazing how bulky riding gear can be, it's not going to fit in a roll-aboard, so you're definitely going to need to check your bag. You can wear your gear, which I have tried, but trust me, that does not work. If you're worried about the airlines losing your bag, travel to arrive a day or two before your tour, it helps a lot to adjust to local time. Flying east is tough on you in that respect.

A roller gear bag is the way to go. You can fit your helmet, boots, jacket, pants, multiple pairs of gloves, and all of your clothing into the bag like what is shown below, which I received as part of a Beach's Tour to the UK. Important: the packed weight of this bag can not exceed 50lbs, or you will pay extra (this has been the case on every airline I have flown). The bag pictured below is impressively compact. Ogio makes some very good bags... there are a lot of other options. Be sure to check the dimensions of the bag you like before buying, many airlines have restrictions on size, too.

Edelweiss will haul your bag for you in a support van as you ride from point to point. A good bag design will have a place for dirty laundry, to keep it (and its smells) separate from your clean clothes.

If you pack this bag properly, surrounding your helmet with clothing/padding, nothing is going to get damaged. I would not choose a bag that has a lot of sewn-on external pockets, those just increase the chances of snagging in the baggage-handling equipment.

Be sure to take several photos of your bag prior to departure and have them on your phone *in case* your bag gets lost. Pictures are invaluable when an airline is searching for a lost bag. Also, be sure to put your name, e-mail address, phone and the address of your destination on your luggage tags. I use two tags, one on the security belt and another tucked into a pocket on the side of the bag made for that purpose.

Enjoy your ride, I am planning to ride my bike in Germany to Norway next year... was planning to go 2 years ago, but.... covid!

Last, if you use a tank bag, consider carrying-on a tank bag that provides backpack straps (your personal item) and a flexible mounting system to ease installation on your rental bike. I use a Mosko Moto Nomad.

Last, last... bring your heated jacket... there is a high chance of cold/wet in Iceland and Norway. Be sure to bring your own connection to the bike's battery....

Thanks all for the excellent advice

This trip was originally scheduled for 2020, but we know how that worked out.

Amazon had a case that holds all my gear and should be easy to move around airports

Thanks all who provided suggestions!

Dang. It almost looks like that case was made especially for that.

Good ideas!

Thanks for the good ideas. I will use the roller bag. Riding gear is bulky, and a nuisance on a plane, but borrowing or renting gear that doesn't fit never works well. Heading to Brasil in June for 3 months where I have ridden several thousand kms in previous years.

Update: Completed my 3 month trip in Brasil (well, next Monday I will start back to States). Worked fine to put riding gear in big suitcase. I had planned to leave the big suitcase, but it came in handy so I am lugging it back. Left my riding gear with my friends down here for next time. My Schubert C3 Pro that I am leaving here is not the helmet I use for riding in the States so no remorse in leaving it. I had access to three motos, R1200GS, BMW1000, Triumph 2500cc Triple (which was a fun bike) Visited "Corvo Branco" and "Serra do Rio do Rastro", both noted riding locations. Photo is of my riding buddy and wife over the town of Urubici, plus his kid with my helmet.

How is that helmet going to hold up with 200 lbs of luggage packed on top of it?

Some points to ponder when selecting luggage and packing for an organized tour:

If one is going on a tour where a SAG wagon accompanies the tour, hard-sided luggage works fine so long as the tour/operator allows randomly sized client-owned luggage in the SAG wagon.

Some tours/operators have tours where only uniform specific luggage is allowed in the SAG wagon. Some of those operators actually furnish the luggage.

Some tours start and end in the same place, some tours start and end in separate locations—so luggage can’t be stashed at HQ or a hotel during the ride.

And some tours/operators don’t run SAG wagons at all, so all gear—including luggage—has to be packed on the bike.

Best,
DeVern

Equipment made the trip with-out issues

We are back from the Iceland trip and it was a blast. The airline didn't loose it and it fit nicely in the support van that followed us all over the island for lodging to lodging. Here is a link to the tour: https://forums.bmwmoa.org/showthread.php?102779-Ice-amp-Fire-Father-Son-join-motorcycle-tour-in-Iceland-July-2022. I am considering New Zealand in November 2023 and will take the same approach if I do.

Nuisance to carry, but nice to have

Down in Brasil for 3 months now. I put my spare helmet, which I don't really like that much, a Schuberth C3 Pro, in my checked baggage, along with some riding gear. Really nice to have stuff that fits, that you are familiar with. I am going to leave the helmet here for next time. Heading for Serra Gaucha next week on a borrowed R1200GS (exactly the bike I have in the States.)

https://eronportal.com.br/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/15207825_8QFoN.jpeg

rwadamsidaho said:

What is your experience?

Click to expand...

I never check my helmet and riding gear. If the airlines lose those and you are eff'd.

My helmet goes into a Dow Canvas padded helmet bag and my riding gear goes into a soft backpack.

Helmet too wide to carry on

We are headed to Italy on October and I just came across this thread. Given that United Specifically states several times that the max width of a Carry on or Personal item is 9" I cannot see anyway to confidently try to carry on our helmets that measure 10.25? High and 10.5" wide (Both Mediums). I would hate to get turned away at the gate or be forced to check a helmet bag after our main luggage had already been checked in. Anyone been turned away?

jsd said:

Anyone been turned away?

Click to expand...

NEVER in 26 years of touring the Alps. As I already mentioned, my helmet/carrying bag and all my motorcycle gear in a soft backpack are carry-ons. You cannot afford to lose that.

They tried based on the number of my carry-ons, but that wasn't an issue either. BTW, a helmet is a safety device and cannot be checked like your everyday luggage.

The biggest issue are those a-hole passengers that bring on oversized hard luggage that barely fit into the overheads especially on smaller aircraft, just so that they do not have to wait at the luggage carousel.

rwadamsidaho said:

In July of 2022 and June of 2023 I will be doing Edelweiss tours in Iceland and Norway. I was wondering what advice members might have about flying with my gear, especially my Aria XD4 Helmet. I am thinking I might want to put it in a ridged carry-on. What is your experience?

Click to expand...

I used a big gear bag that holds all my stuff: boots, riding suit and helmet. I put the helmet in a padded helmet bag and put it in the gear bag and it emerged without damage, both directions.

I bought the BMW Giant Bag or whatever it was called, and the helmet bag they sold.

It's pretty close to this one: https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/klim-kodiak-gear-bag?sku_id=1125934

Helmet bag was kinda like this one: https://www.bobsbmw.com/store/product/bmw-m-motorsport-helmet-bag

kbasa said:

I used a big gear bag that holds all my stuff: boots, riding suit and helmet. I put the helmet in a padded helmet bag and put it in the gear bag and it emerged without damage, both directions.

I bought the BMW Giant Bag or whatever it was called, and the helmet bag they sold.

It's pretty close to this one: https://www.revzilla.com/motorcycle/klim-kodiak-gear-bag?sku_id=1125934

Helmet bag was kinda like this one: https://www.bobsbmw.com/store/product/bmw-m-motorsport-helmet-bag

Click to expand...

I looked at that one but its 10" over what united says its Max 62" policy is. We ended up being able to fit them into our Scuba Diving roller bags. I am going to put them in a couple Milk Crate like file crate's just to help keep the pressure off them when they pile items up. Flying is such a PIA and the Airlines just make it as frustrating as possible.

Thanks for the reference

GlobalRider said:

NEVER in 26 years of touring the Alps. As I already mentioned, my helmet/carrying bag and all my motorcycle gear in a soft backpack are carry-ons. You cannot afford to lose that.

They tried based on the number of my carry-ons, but that wasn't an issue either. BTW, a helmet is a safety device and cannot be checked like your everyday luggage.

The biggest issue are those a-hole passengers that bring on oversized hard luggage that barely fit into the overheads especially on smaller aircraft, just so that they do not have to wait at the luggage carousel.

Click to expand...

United says if its too fragile or valuable to go in checked luggage you have to buy a seat ticket for it and strap it in

jsd said:

United says if its too fragile or valuable to go in checked luggage you have to buy a seat ticket for it and strap it in

Click to expand...

Shove your riding gear in your gear bag and your helmet is your carry on. I've done that, too.

As long as your personal item fits under the seat in front of you the flight attendants won’t care, and the gate agents are usually too preoccupied with checking boarding passes to look closely at a personal item. Have your poop in a group when you approach the gate and they won’t look twice at you.

I had a gate agent in Europe declare my carry-on bag was too large and had to be gate-checked. After she tagged it and turned to the next passenger I quietly picked up the bag and carried it onboard, where the friendly attendant showed me how to position the bag so the bin would close, and away we went.

Forgiveness is easier to get than permission.

Best,
DeVern