When I meet good people that provide good service I always try to pass it on. In this post I recommend Kaminsky's Lock and Key Service in Hillsboro Oregon 503-616-0227
The Nighthawk 750 is in Mexico with friends and I have been riding a 2004 Honda 919, a great bike. I am huge fan of the "touring sport bikes" but last Sunday I bought an '04 Honda VtX 1300, my first cruiser. I think this will be the bike that takes me to Guadalajara on January 1st.
Yesterday I went to get on the VTX and could not find the key, it didn't come with a spare. I searched high and low,I moved the couch, dug through the garbage, even looked in the refrigerator, no luck. After several hours of searching the house I finally gave into the fact that the key was gone for good.
Have you ever tried to find a locksmith that will make a new key for a motorcycle? I quickly learned that not many locksmiths do this and even fewer make keys for the VTX. Even the local Honda shop's parts and service dept seemed confused as to what my options were.
I will cut to the chase and just give you the facts, maybe this will help you in some way.
1) The VTX as do many motorcycles have the key code engraved on the side of the ignition switch. This code will allow a key maker to reproduce the key without ever seeing the key.
2) You may have to remove the ignition switch to locate this number. At the very least you will need to remove the ignition switch cover. Removing the ignition switch cover only requires removing one phillips head screw and pulling the cover off. The code will be engraved either on the right or left hand side.
3) If for some strange reason it has been worn off or unreadable you must remove the ignition switch. There are two screws that hold this on, only problem is they may have an odd hexagon head on them. Of course you could buy a drive for this cheap, but if you are stuck somewhere good luck. As a test I grabbed a pair of needle nose vice grips and was able to loosen them this way, though not recommended it works in a pinch. Once unscrewed simply follow the chord and unplug it at the connector. (This will require you to remove the seat, consisting of two allen wrench screws)
4) A good locksmith can make you a new key from the ignition switch.
I am in Portland Oregon and was having trouble finding a locksmith that could make me a new key for my VTX. I went to Kaminsky's Lock and Key Service in Hillsboro Oregon. This is the only place in all of the greater Portland area that could help me out. I highly recommend these guys. It took about 15min and I was on my way.
If you are not in Portland but find yourself in a bind you can send them your ignition switch and they will send it back to you with a new working key. From my understanding they have helped people from all over the world that could not find the key to a bike.
Ask for Jeremy and tell him that Joshua from Filmed by Motorcycle gave you the recommendation.
Kaminsky's Lock and Key Service in Hillsboro Oregon 503-616-0227
Good luck and ride safe.
