how hard is it to do this?

[mach1]

when i put on the katana front end  i want to relocate the ignition and put by me left leg. has anyone done thi sbefore and how hard is it? any pics?

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Seems simple enough. Except A. Where are you gonna run the wires, and B. how/where are you actually gonna mount it?

I've been thinking about removing my ignition and making it magnetic. I.e., I carry a magnetic key fob. Put the magnet in place, it pulls a switch closed, and the bike can start/run. Pull the key fob off, switch falls open, no more current, bike doesn't run. Dunno how practical it is, but I think it'd be neat, and it's MY bike... Just gotta figure out what kind of switch to use..

[mach1]

im thinking of running the wires along the inside of the frame and making a small black bracket to hold the switch and putting a small box on the back to cover the switch and the wires the wires will be held in place by a small square plastic piece that has waterproof tape on the back. we use in on all our units at work and it work good. as far as mounting the bracket to the frame i will drill two holes in the frame and install some 10/32 inserts in the frame and go from their.

[ohgood]

I fscking hate keys. Keys for cars/boats/sheds/bikes/houses/friends'houses/etc suck. I love the idea of some kind of keyfob that turns on the ignition. I really DONT like the idea of hitting a bump and the bike dying though.

I have some super-duper-strong magnets that I keep on the bar just close to the ignition myself. They have a 20lb pull or so. It will HURT if you snap two of them together and get any skin in between. I guess that would be enough to keep them in place. (I keep the mag's there to hold driving directions)

If you find something that is mass produced or monkey/backyard produced hit me. I'm interested in whatever you come across to illiminate the need for another damned key.

Seems simple enough. Except A. Where are you gonna run the wires, and B. how/where are you actually gonna mount it?

I've been thinking about removing my ignition and making it magnetic. I.e., I carry a magnetic key fob. Put the magnet in place, it pulls a switch closed, and the bike can start/run. Pull the key fob off, switch falls open, no more current, bike doesn't run. Dunno how practical it is, but I think it'd be neat, and it's MY bike... Just gotta figure out what kind of switch to use..

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

I agree ohgood. I was thinking about playing with an RFID tag, but wasn't sure of the operable range on them. I wanted something that I could theoretically just keep in my pocket and never even take out. But again, not sure of the range. I'll let you know if I come up with something. It won't be fore a few months, though.

[Egaeus]

RFID may not be such a good idea without some forethought.  The range is sufficient, but what if you're tooling along and all of a sudden you're in a high-noise area or a nearby car causes sufficient multipath interference and it loses communication?  Is your bike just going to quit running? 

Interesting idea, but implementation will be tricky.

[MrDan]

RFID may not be such a good idea without some forethought.  The range is sufficient, but what if you're tooling along and all of a sudden you're in a high-noise area or a nearby car causes sufficient multipath interference and it loses communication?  Is your bike just going to quit running? 

Interesting idea, but implementation will be tricky.

I thought much of the commercial RFID that's used had an effective range of less than a foot.  Something like a corporate application (like to get in to an office building/garage) would probably be able to do this ... although I really have no idea how other things can interfere.

Ignoring the ignition for a moment, I'd always thought it would be cool to do something similar for the gas cap/ helmet lock - would be nice not to need the keys for that.  And I'd like to do something similar at my new house since I'll have a fenced yard where I can store the bike - just need to figure out a way to get through the door without having to get off the bike (in case the ground is soft)

[Nepix]

im definatley intersted in this RF-id idea, it would be awsome to have a "key" tag on my neck or a chip in my wallet (so i dont forget my licence) I heard somewhere that they were trying to use RF-id on freeways in the little bumpy reflectors so cars could drive themselves or stay in thier lanes or something along the lines of cruise control.

when I bought my bike it had some key made by home depot or something its huge, I havent got around to going to a stealership to get a suzuki key made. Im definatley interested in ideas to bypass the key, magnet RF-id ect. lets make a kit and sell it.

Nepix

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Mr. Dan, vortex makes keyless gas caps, for track bikes, I'm fairly certain there's a model that would fit our bikes (They're probably kinda expensive though). I'm pretty sure I saw one on ebay, I'll see what I can find.

Egaeus, the interference thing was exactly why I decided magnetics might be a better way to go, because nothing's going to interfere with a 20lb pull magnet stuck to my top triple.

[Egaeus]

Mr. Dan, vortex makes keyless gas caps, for track bikes, I'm fairly certain there's a model that would fit our bikes (They're probably kinda expensive though). I'm pretty sure I saw one on ebay, I'll see what I can find.

Egaeus, the interference thing was exactly why I decided magnetics might be a better way to go, because nothing's going to interfere with a 20lb pull magnet stuck to my top triple.

But if you're going to do that, Just use a key. 

[ducati_nolan]

I agree ohgood. I was thinking about playing with an RFID tag, but wasn't sure of the operable range on them. I wanted something that I could theoretically just keep in my pocket and never even take out. But again, not sure of the range. I'll let you know if I come up with something. It won't be fore a few months, though.

I rode in a friend's Prius and it dosen't have a key, but rather a fob or something so as long as the fob is in or near the car, you just push the start button and away it goes. I don't think that's worth the expense on or cheap bikes but it would be cool.

A simpler idea, is just hide a little togle switch somewhere and use that instead of a key. I had a bike and the ignition switch started falling apart so I just put a little toggle switch under the tank and it worked fine and never got stolen.

[Egaeus]

I agree ohgood. I was thinking about playing with an RFID tag, but wasn't sure of the operable range on them. I wanted something that I could theoretically just keep in my pocket and never even take out. But again, not sure of the range. I'll let you know if I come up with something. It won't be fore a few months, though.

I rode in a friend's Prius and it dosen't have a key, but rather a fob or something so as long as the fob is in or near the car, you just push the start button and away it goes. I don't think that's worth the expense on or cheap bikes but it would be cool.

Yeah, I was just thinking of that.  If they're secure enough to unlock your car, why not just put a start button on it.  But then I thought of how much it costs to get them replaced, which is a significant fraction of the cost of our bike, and I don't know where you'd get such a thing aftermarket.

Or in other words, +1. 

[MrDan]

A simpler idea, is just hide a little togle switch somewhere and use that instead of a key. I had a bike and the ignition switch started falling apart so I just put a little toggle switch under the tank and it worked fine and never got stolen.

How would that work?  My brain can't wrap itself around that at the moment.

[Crash-n-Burn]

The RFID tag is a cool idea, another problem that I can think of other then interference is hackers. Then again, I doubt they would guess that a gs500 would have RFID.

[Chuck]

RFID may not be such a good idea without some forethought.  The range is sufficient, but what if you're tooling along and all of a sudden you're in a high-noise area or a nearby car causes sufficient multipath interference and it loses communication?  Is your bike just going to quit running? 

Interesting idea, but implementation will be tricky.

Umm... just make the key necessary for starting.  When the engine is shut off, then you have to use the key again.  Problem solved.

[aaronstj]

A simpler idea, is just hide a little togle switch somewhere and use that instead of a key. I had a bike and the ignition switch started falling apart so I just put a little toggle switch under the tank and it worked fine and never got stolen.

How would that work?  My brain can't wrap itself around that at the moment.

Err.. it's pretty simple.  The ignition lock is basically a switch, right?  It's just you can only flip the switch with the key in it.  When you turn the key on, you complete the electrical circuit that lets the bike work.  So you can just replace that switch with, you know, an actual switch.  Anyone could turn the bike on by flipping the switch, but most people wouldn't know that.

[ducati_nolan]

Anyone could turn the bike on by flipping the switch, but most people wouldn't know that.

I know the toggle switch isn't exactly the highest security option, but bikes are so easy to steal anyways that it really dosen't matter. All it takes is a pickup/van, two guys and about 10 seconds.

[NiceGuysFinishLast]

Yeah, the toggle was another thought of mine, but the security thing was my issue. I knew a guy on the corvette forums who ran a killswitch to his cigarette lighter. If he pushed the lighter in, it completed the circuit, and the car ran. Pop it out, and the car won't run. Again, who'd guess a  toggle switch on a gs500... definitely easier than RFID or magnetics... just gotta think of a convenient place to mount it, out of the way...

[mach1]

can anyone get a wiring diagram showing where the toggle switch will be i might do this but i dont wanna dig into it without a game plan.

[Bluebellylint]

The ignition switch is middle top. It looks like you would need a "Double pole, single throw" switch.