You guys at Suzuki have lost me. $53 for for a key blank is a chicken sh#* way to treat customers. Won't be buying another bike from you.

Hi Arty,

I read your other thread on this topic as well.

Yes, it is a lot for a key [and you may well be able to find cheaper non genuine].

However........ if you think Suzuki is bad, DON'T buy a BMW

I spent about $6,000 in 12 months on basic maintenance and repairs on a 2k model R1150GS, then took it in for a check and service prior to a three state- 4600km road trip, they said I would need to spend between $5,000 to $6,000 in the coming 6-12 months with the projected problems it had.

I traded it in on a brand new 09 Wee and did the road trip on it, have not looked back, the Wee has been far the cheapest bike to own and maintain that I have had in decades [it is bike #16 and sits alongside an old '87 KLR650 which became bike #17 a year ago].

The Wee will have 60,000km [35,000 miles approx.] on it by the middle of this week.
So far it has had routine servicing, tyres, rear and front brake pads [one set of each- @ 48k and 53k respectively], counter shaft sprocket and chain @ 52k, rear sprocket looks like it will last until the chain and counter shaft sprocket need doing again.

And on a side note, I hid all my spare keys prior to going overseas back at Christmas time...... f#*ked if I can find where I put them since then though.

You will love the Strom, huge range of after market "farkles" and spare parts, great to ride and as cheap as chips to run.

In the scheme of bike ownership, the key cost is a minor issue and probably still as cheap or cheaper than most other bike brands in the same category as the Strom's are in for a replacement key.

__________________
Ock. in Oz
Australia, NSW, Windsor

Member of The McGrath's Hill Mob.

Shiro Nakama Ju San

White '09 V-Strom DL650ABS, Blue '87 Kawasaki KLR650 [Sold]
Green '94 Kawasaki KLE500

"Normal" is only a cycle on the washing machine.....

Take a back road.

Yeah $53 dollars is such a good reason to say piss on Suzuki.

__________________
BRIAN

2008 WR250R 2006 DL1000

Had the same thoughts when I got my new Wee. Wanted an extra key to zip tie out of site. Commented on the +50 buck price and got it for "cost"-$35. Three attempts to get the key cut right with the magic nippers the dealer has instead of the typical grinder using the original as a template. Finally got it to work. Two or three days later it quit working (?). Went to Ace Hardware and they found a blank to match and 5 bucks later I had a new key. The Ace key was too wide to allow it to go all the way down into the ignition, 2 min. on my grinder and it's perfect.

$35 whe i got one, my wife doesnt drive and we own a 2k1 BMW X5, $250 for a new key, wont get a complaint out of me, but i think i have heard that a Nissan Truck key? will work and can be cut for about $5 from home hardware. Honda uses chips in there keys now to so i think you can expect a big price tag on those.

BMW stands for, bring more wallet.

There's a thread explaing how to sidestep the keyy issue for 2012, you have to shave the head down some, key blanks are too wide to be fully pushed into the ignition, click the Forum links below

http://www.stromtrooper.com/823517-post7.html

http://www.stromtrooper.com/823526-post10.html

This picture explains really Nice
http://www.stromtrooper.com/823661-post24.html

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FB MEMBER #133 - 2008 Wee

StromCache 2012 Thread
StromCache 2012 Map

Do the ebay keys work good?