Broken luggage key

I was rushing to get back to the house for my birthday dinner and went to open my OEM Honda pannier with the OEM key. Which snapped about half way down from the plastic grip.

The broken off bit is of course still inside the lock cylinder.

"Easy," I thought. "Just shove the remaining piece in and unlock the bag. I have a spare cylinder and can swap it out."

Nope. I can't get the stub of the key far enough in.

I am tempted to drill out the lock, but don't know what I'll find once I do that. Also: drilling steel surrounded by plastic scares me.

Anyone done this before?

Many thanks for your suggestions.

 

The answer: Hondaline oem bag locks - VFR Discussion

 

Just a word of advice on this.. since you're down a key that probably means that you're utilizing your only spare which also means it is no longer a spare. Make sure to take it to have a copy made so that you still have a spare when/if the next one breaks. I didn't have a spare when mine broke... and was unlucky (or lucky depending on how you look at it) to not have the piece break off in the cylinder. Was a royal PITA to find a locksmith that could track down the code and cut a key from a blank.

 

Thanks, Meatloaf. But my bags came with SIX keys and a spare cylinder. My broken key is tossed and the replacement is installed. I was on the ferry on the way to the locksmith (I could lift the bike over my head, but wasn't strong enough to shake it), when I started looking at the replacement lock cylinder and realized that the key had broken when almost all the way into the lock. I reasoned that if I could drive it the rest of the way down, I might be able to turn it with a screwdriver. And I could!

Following Blesk's instructions, I was able to remove the old cylinder (catch the ball bearing!) and insert my spare cylinder. Thank you Blesk!

David

 

Hi guys

I'm resurrecting this old thread as I have sold my bike with the side cases, but will be selling the top case seperate and need to either:

Copy the Bike key (seems tough) to sell it with the case
or
Remove the cylinder while I have the key and sell the case without the cylinder...

I want to remove the cylinder and have the key, all works as it should. How do I get it out (the link to the instructions above is dead)?

Thanks!

 

I'd remove the cylinder - its really easy & fairly obvious to do.
You can also buy new cylinders & keys easily