Jump to content

Dropped ignition key into black hole...


Recommended Posts

So yeah, the ignition key slipped out of my hand and tumbled into that ginormous black hole that the front fork protrudes from and I can't find it to save my life.  I rode the bike around the block to see if I could jostle it out to no avail.  Is there a secret method to finding shiz you drop in there short of tearing the front end of the bike apart?  A spot or two that are usual suspects for this sort of thing that you can't immediately see by peering down in there, perhaps?
 
Guess I'll get one of those obnoxious orange lanyards after all....
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hold your bike upside down and shake vigorously. Okay, I jest. But as you say, it is a dark hole, so use a bright LED flashlight to inspect inside the hole. Try leaning the bike over to one side and slapping (pounding) the sides of the fairing with the palm of your hand to vibrate and jostle the key toward the down side. If you don't find it on one side, repeat the process on the other side. During the process, listen carefully for the sound of the object (key in this case) to maybe get a fix on it's location. It probably wont fall to the ground, so continue your search with the flashlight.
 
In the U.S., FJ-09 ignition keys have a little iron, but are mostly made of non-magnetic brass, so a magnet isn't much help. In countries requiring an ignition disabler (transponder) inside the key, a magnet might cause trouble.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

i did this once at a gas station. I knew where the key was but it was lodged under the forks and I had them locked. Had to get my wife to bring me the spare key. You can imagine how much she enjoyed that. I was able to get it out after I unlocked the forks.
 
All that said and if the sound advice above doesn't work, it's not hard to take off the fairings. I'm among the least mechanically inclined people you can meet and I've had them off many times. I fear the key has probably already fallen out if you've taken it around the block though.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

A good way to never loose your key in any dark hole is to carry the spare key hidden somewhere on the bike or tank bag or jacket. I started doing that after I parked on the Santa Barbara ca pier with 1/2 inch gaps between the wood decking with ocean below. Jim
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I dropped a farkle bolt down the ominous back hole a few weeks back when installing Rental bars, try the above suggestion of tilting the bike from side to side and trying to hear it shift. The compartment area seemed to trap the bolt toward the back (closest to rider) side, and then funnel it down so that when I found it it was resting in a crevice in front left side of the engine head. Frustrating I know, get up under the bike from angles you never knew existed with a flashlight. Hope this helps.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

FWIW, last summer I was changing the shock when I dropped the nut from the upper/front mounting bolt. I heard the usual sounds of it hitting things as it fell, but never heard it hit the floor. Hmmmm...
It was gone. Simply gone.
I looked all-over-the-garage-floor, crawling on hands and knees learning new swear words as I went. Nothing.
I did every bit of chassis shaking my limited muscles would allow, leaned it over on each side until the handlebar ends were near the floor, still nothing.
I went over every bit of the engine area behind the tank with a bright flashlight, (torch for you Brits) still nothing.
More swear words.
After an hour or so, I'm sitting on my roller stool staring at the bike trying to calm down, thinking literally *where* could it have gone, then it hit me.
Removing the plastic cover over the countershaft sprocket, I found it lodged perfectly between the case-protector and the case itself -not inhibiting the chain movement at all.
I'm certain I could TRY to drop that nut into the same spot 1000 times and never once would it go in the same place again.
-
If you rode it around the block, what makes you think it didn't fall out on the road somewhere?
Have you pulled the fuel tank off? Check the airbox opening...
Keep Asheville weird!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. You'll all be happy to know that I tried every single one of them! The bad news is, none of them worked.  The good news is, I found the key!
 
After tilting and almost dropping the bike, turning it upside down and shaking it, and traveling 100 miles on the freeway at 90mph, I decided it wasn't going to come out on its own and I'd have to go get it.  So I started tearing down the front end, and was pleasantly surprised to find that it didn't take long at all for that happy sound of sliding key against plastic to come to life. 
 
For posterity it was pinned against the gas tank by the left side bib (or whatever that plastic panel is called) around the tipple clamp. To remove this panel, I had to take off the blinker faring panel and the black plastic bib right above the gas tank.  I really have no clue how it got in there and was truly impressed that it hung on for 100+ miles on the freeway.  That'd be a great place to hide a spare if only the key wasn't required to get to the tool kit under the seat...
 
Anywho, thanks again everyone for the help!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.


×