Introduction: Tunes to Go!

By Beronet

Put some thrift store speakers on your helmet and blast some tunes!

Using earphones is bad because you can't hear anything around you

With some ext. speakers, you can still hear that Hybrid sneaking up on you! (most of the time)

This isn't an excuse for knowing whats going on around you while biking, or not having a rear-view mirror.


Edit [May 2013] - This instructable was created while I was still in middle school. I'm absolutely shocked by how much use it has received while my account lay dormant. Thank you for looking this through, and I may yet update it in the future so let me know what you think.

Step 1: Get the Materials

I was wandering through my local thrift store on a Saturday (not that it matters) and came across some speakers.

The speakers I'm working with in this Instructible are simple, non-amplifying speakers. They plug directly into a headphone jack and nothing else.

My speakers aren't very loud, that's why I'm putting them on the helmet and not the bike.

Make sure that the cord for the speakers is long enough to reach from your head to wherever you want to put the music player. If it isn't either readjust or hit a local radio-shack and get a small extension.

If you decide to use speakers that need to plug into an outlet, have fun and let me know how that turns out. (No, really)

I also used a helmet, iPod, plenty of hot glue, rubber bands, Popsicle sticks (Jumbo kind)
and oh, yeah, a bike.

Step 2: Dismantling the Speakers

I you don't want to have a big box hanging onto the side of your helmet, I'd suggest getting the real speakers out of the shell.

BEFORE DOING ANYTHING: mark one of the cords for left or right to remember the orientation. It matters with certain music, but not much.

Unscrew the back of the case and retrieve the speakers.

If yours are like mine were and the wire goes through a small hole in the case, just unsolder the wire from the contacts, pull the wire through and re-solder it on the other side.

Step 3: Water Proof?

I decided to water proof mine, mostly because I like to bike in the rain.

If you don't feel like it, then you don't have to.

To make mine water proof, I took some balloons, cut off the stem part and stretched them over the speakers and glued the edges to the metal rim of the speakers.

As you can probably see, I also haphazardly tried to paint it black.

Step 4: Mount the Speakers

Pretty Easy:

Take some glue

Find a nice place on the helmet

glue the speakers onto the helmet.

you're done.

Step 5: Storage

I admit it : I don't always feel like listening to music while biking and iPods don't have the best battery life.

So I got this amazing idea for storing the cords so they don't get caught in anything and cause a wreck, or worse, annoy me.

I got some self adhesive Velcro strips, cut about two inches off and mounted one side on the back of my helmet, the other had the sticky stuff also, so I cut up a post-it note and put that on it.

Now, when I don't want the cords I simply coil it up and Velcro it.

Step 6: Holder

I used the Jumbo popsicle sticks and hot glue to make a holder for the iPod

You might not have an iPod, good for you, you get to be creative and make up your own!

Step 7: Go Have Fun!!!!

Have some fun with some biking and music!!!!