Someone tried to steal my bike

[mikesaa309]

Mum and gran are staying at the east cost for the week, me, dad and my brother went up Saturday and stayed over night and came back today. We have 3 bikes in our garden one being my GSX 1400. We don't have any shed or garage to keep them in, 2 are under covers and my bike lives up the entry that leads to the street. We found the entry door was open and for a start we thought we had left it open. I went to get bike out to find my igition barrel had be destroyed, the black bit around it (mobilizer unit) is completely broken, flat head screw driver snapped off in the key hole. Then noticed the gate into next doors garden was open, their fence panel is down (has been for a while) then the garden next to that, their gate is open (no one currently lives there). So the scumbag(s) have come through the 2 gardens next door to us tried to get my bike, then must have squeezed past it and out the entry door which I don't get why they didn't just go back through the gardens again.

Needless to say I'm p*ssed off luckily steering lock is okay so they didn't manage to break that. We got screwdriver bit out but barrel is too badly messed up to get key in. Annoyingly I'm only on third party fire and theft so no cover for vandalism or attempt theft. One of mum's friends came round this morning to feed the cat, reckons next doors gate wasn't open and nor was entry door so they must have some round between 9am and 3 ish which was when we got home. Dad's bike was also uncovered partly when we got back but apparently wasn't uncovered when mum's friend came round either.

I've brought second hand immobilize unit of eBay but still need to get barrel. Just wondering what I need to do to get it to work do I just call out any old auto electrician to program the key or do I need to contact Suzuki? Certainly don't wanna buy new one as it's like 270 odd quid for the unit alone and 67 quid for the key.

[Mick_J]

That's a real pisser Mike, I cant tell you what I would like to do to these thieving scum bags but I hope you get your bike sorted out quickly.

[froudy]

Sadly Mike, this sort of thing is all too common at the moment. I'm currently dealing with multiple bike thefts every week in the Bristol/Somerset/Gloucester areas.
Please call it in to the Police and log the crime. They won't be unduly interested, but at least it will be logged as an attempted theft.

Regarding the immobiliser unit, I'm not entirely certain how it all works..I believe that it is linked to the chip in the key. @seth or @gsxbarmy will be able to fill you in with the info though.

If it hadn't been for the Suzuki immobiliser, the bike would have been gone for sure.

Out of interest, what area do you live?

[mikesaa309]

Yep certainly is a pisser and agreed lol. I've reported it to the police, they just gave me crime reference number but isn't much use seeing as insurance wouldn't really do anything with me not being fully comp.

I don't really get what their goal was as it's clearly immobilized or alarmed as it has a flashing red light on it. They didn't break the steering lock (thank f*ck) so even without immobilizer they couldn't move it and to add to all that the entry way is up a hill so I'd have loved to have watch them struggle to push a 228+ kg bike up that f*cker out of a doorway without the aid of the engine. The chavvy t*@ts can't even handling a pit bike let alone a 1400.

I'm in Kettering, Northamtonshire. Kinda hoping they'll come back for round 2, I'll be waiting

[gsxbarmy]

What a bummer, unfortunately getting to be more and more common. Regards the ignition unit, the ECU is linked to the chip in the key - if they don'y do a "handshake" then the bike won't start - so you can't just replace the ignition. This may well turn out to be more complex and it may well be worth a call to Suzuki Customer Service to get a definitive answer, however, I believe that what you will need to get it one of the following:

- a complete new ignition which has the same key number as yours
- a second hand ignition, but then a barrel with the same key number as yours
- a complete new ignition and ECU

Cheapest option will probably be the second option - but then I'm not sure from your description as to whether what you describe as the "black bit" is in fact the aerial unit that is the link between the ignition and ECU.

I think your best option in the first instance is to call Suzuki Customer Service to check what options you DO have. Clearly they won't recommend a second hand ignition, and I'm not 100% sure if you can just buy a barrel to match your key.

[mikesaa309]

ffs this is gonna cost a lot of money. My other problem is the bike is on steering lock and can't get key in to unlock it. Can I take barrel off without having to unlock it?

[seth]

If you take the clocks off(2 bolts) you can get to the lock assy and remove you need a special Allen key (It's got a hole in the centre) it not to bad a job the bolts on the lock are glued in with locktight .

[seth]

you have a pm
Give me a shout as we might be able to workout the best and cheapest way to get you back on the road again .

[mikesaa309]

cheers Seth shall give you a ring in the morning 

[VladTepes]

Well that sucks    Best of luck with it.

They used to hang people for stealing horses. Bikes are the new horse., so....

[gsxbarmy]

If you take the clocks off(2 bolts) you can get to the lock assy and remove you need a special Allen key (It's got a hole in the centre) it not to bad a job the bolts on the lock are glued in with locktight .

Sorry to correct @seth but it will be a security torx key that is needed. Available from Halfords and eBay, just make sure you get the torx keys with the hole in the centre.

[froudy]

One bit of advice that I'm giving everyone at the moment regarding bike theft is apart from the usual security devices like very heavy duty chains, ground anchors and trackers is to purchase a baby monitor...
One part of it in the garage/shed and the receiver by the bed. You'll hear any attempt of a break in and be able to act accordingly. Mine even wakes me if there is heavy rain on the shed roof.

I use this fairly basic BT model and there are usually loads for sale on Ebay. I picked mine up for £15.

[KiwiCol]

That's a clever idea Froudy. Very good.

[mikesaa309]

Got ignition barrel off today so bike is no longer on steering lock and have been able to move it. Just gotta get new barrel now. I've brought alarmed disc lock for it while it doesn't have any steering lock, it also has GPS tracker on it already fitted. CCTV camera system is arriving tomorrow too, better late than never lol. Love the idea of the baby monitor though don't have a garage to store bike in sadly.

[mikesaa309]

Just an update:

Got new barrel and new clock cover today as they also damaged that when they were destroying the ignition. Big thanks to Seth for helping me figure out the quickest and cheapest way to get the bike back on the road.

While this has been a pain in the backside, I have managed to be able to figure out what the aerial does that I don't believe many GSX 14 owners have had the chance to do. The bike from k5 on-wards as you probably know, will not start without the key in the ignition as it has to read the chip in the key. However the key is only read by the ECU when the ignition is first turned on. Also worth noting that the ECU will not attempt to read the key if the bike is in gear and stand is down or if kill switch is on. Basically if "check" is on the display then it will not attempt to read key until side stand is put up etc. Once the key has been read by the ECU it can be moved away even without the bike started as long as the ignition remains on you can pull clutch and press starter button without the key near it as long it was read when the ignition was first turned on.

This was handy as now I figured I could ride the bike to a suzuki dealer to reprogram the new key, however after putting new barrel on and then trying to start bike, even with my old key right on the aerial, it did not read my old key. For those wondering if the key isn't read the fuel pump stops priming prematurely and an FI warning shows on display as well as FI warning light. What I've done is unbolted the aerial as to have it loose then it's able to be kept far enough away from the new key. However it's still right next to the new key when it tries to read it so it's pretty specific on how close it's got to be. But think I'm gonna get a key cut tomorrow from the new key so I can re-bolt the aerial to the bike and should in theory be able to start it as it won't be trying to read a standard key. Is a bit of a waist of money as the key is useless otherwise as all the other locks are for the old key but nearest dealer to me is around 15 miles away and don't wanna ride that far with aerial as it is in case it rains or is vibrations etc cause any damage to it.

Did manage to go for short ride today, however the pricks also bent my bars most likely trying to break steering lock, at least I know that the steering lock on the GSX is hard to break. Also read on a fb page someones BSA C15 was stolen from my town in the early hours of the same day someone tried to steal my bike. Most likely the same f*ckers, guy had it from new as well bet he's devastated, I'm p*ssed off as it is and I still have my bike for now. I'll be waiting for the f*ckers with a sledge hammer if they try to steal it again.