Jump to content

Stranded (kind of)


Recommended Posts

  • Premium Member
Thursday night I finished at work about 9pm. Go to insert key and it fell. I heard one little clink and then nothing. The key was held up somewhere on the left side. Searched for an hour, no luck. I was certain it was stuck inside the body panel.
 
No allen wrenches at work to remove panel. Called my wife at 10pm. She was leaving work. She stopped by the house and grabbed some tools and the spare key. She arrives about 11pm.
I removed the outside panel. No luck. I start to remove the next panel and then just put it all back together. It's dark, I'm tired so we head home.
The next morning I remove both panels on the left side and there it was. Crazy. Had to fall perfectly into the gap between the panels.
 
Sad part is that this happened once before, but the key was where I could reach it. Didn't do anything about it. I've since attached something to the key to prevent this from happening again.  
 
 
 
 
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Supporting Member
I once managed to drop my ignition key (on a small ring along with the saddle bag key & a house key) into the abyss behind the upper triple clamp. I heard it clink around a couple of times as it bounced through the maze of stuff up under the front of the tank, but it never made it to the ground.
 
After a bit of searching and much head-scratching, I decided to try the brute force method of bouncing the bike up & down on the springs, and leaning it over as far right & left as gravity & my strength would allow. Just about the time I was ready to admit defeat - 200+ miles from home - the keys popped out of the left side of the bike and fell onto my boot.
 
Very lucky, and lesson learned to be more careful getting to & from the key.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
I once managed to drop my ignition key (on a small ring along with the saddle bag key & a house key) into the abyss behind the upper triple clamp. I heard it clink around a couple of times as it bounced through the maze of stuff up under the front of the tank, but it never made it to the ground.  
After a bit of searching and much head-scratching, I decided to try the brute force method of bouncing the bike up & down on the springs, and leaning it over as far right & left as gravity & my strength would allow. Just about the time I was ready to admit defeat - 200+ miles from home - the keys popped out of the left side of the bike and fell onto my boot.
 
Very lucky, and lesson learned to be more careful getting to & from the key.
I always take a 2nd key with me, and trade with my regular riding buddy. That way, if either of us loses a key, we have a spare at the ready......
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I once managed to drop my ignition key (on a small ring along with the saddle bag key & a house key) into the abyss behind the upper triple clamp. I heard it clink around a couple of times as it bounced through the maze of stuff up under the front of the tank, but it never made it to the ground.  
After a bit of searching and much head-scratching, I decided to try the brute force method of bouncing the bike up & down on the springs, and leaning it over as far right & left as gravity & my strength would allow. Just about the time I was ready to admit defeat - 200+ miles from home - the keys popped out of the left side of the bike and fell onto my boot.
 
Very lucky, and lesson learned to be more careful getting to & from the key.
I always take a 2nd key with me, and trade with my regular riding buddy. That way, if either of us loses a key, we have a spare at the ready......
 
I had a old piece of crap Kz750 that the key fell out of down the frame tube under the tank and into the top of the air box! I didn’t find it until next service so I had to carry around a screw driver to turn it off! ?
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member
Don't remember any of my other bikes having these issues. The FJ has some funky crevices. I also have my phone in one hand and key in the other because I need the light on the phone to see the ignition. I tried to avoid some sort of key chain because the location of the ignition is somewhat awkward. Shouldn't have any more problems.
Okay, probably beat this one to death. Just need to be more careful.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

The FJ has some funky crevices.
I've used a soft key pouch on several of my bikes after loosing a key at Americade one time. 
A key holder similar to THIS ONE worked well and stayed put for years on my ST.
 
It's not waterproof but just put key in a plastic bag and you're good to go.
 
Inside upper fairing right has a few flat spots that are out of sight.
 
chris
1968 Triumph Bonneville 650
1971 Norton Commando Roadster
2002 Harley 1200 Sportster
2003 Honda ST 1300
2016 FJ 09
Link to comment
Share on other sites

I lost a 12 volt phone charger 2 months ago. This weekend, I pulled all the front plastics to install some wiring, and behind the plastic was the end of the charging cord, with the rest of it stuffed between the airbox and tank. The chances of that happening and staying put for 2k miles is crazy. Glad you got your key back!
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • Premium Member
My car keys and car clicker are on the same ring as my FJ key. The other day, I turned off the bike and the clicker popped off and disappeared somewhere in the front area of the bike. Still haven't found it. I couldn't believe there was enough room for something to just vanish like that.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Supporting Member
My car keys and car clicker are on the same ring as my FJ key. The other day, I turned off the bike and the clicker popped off and disappeared somewhere in the front area of the bike. Still haven't found it. I couldn't believe there was enough room for something to just vanish like that. 
 Ignition switches don't like to carry a lot of weight, plus vibration wears them out. You are best of having as few keys and crap on your key ring. Also, the area around your ignition switch will get scratched up over time.

He who dies with the most toys wins.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

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


×