Help please

BeardyGit

Hi all,

My brother's in a real spot of bother with his Honda Varadero. It's a 2003 1000cc model. His keys were 'misplaced' a couple of weeks back and he's been unable to find a spare - He foolishly only got one key and didn't have a spare cut and programmed....the previous 2 owners are proving unhelpful

Honda dealers are saying the only way around this one now is to have a replacement ECU fitted, which will come with new keys programmed to match the integrated immobiliser. The problem is the cost - at something in the order of €1500 for this (which they'll insist on fitting), it's an awful expense to have to go to...

There MUST be an alternative to this. It's a genuine cock up but that's some expense to right it I'm sure you'll all agree. Can anyone advise? He can transport the bike anywhere it needs to go, and can bring full ownership docs/ID etc...

Thanks for your help,

Gil

Oryx

Have you got a breakdown of that cost?

SonOfPerdition

Gil_Dub wrote: »

Hi all,

My brother's in a real spot of bother with his Honda Varadero. It's a 2003 1000cc model. His keys were 'misplaced' a couple of weeks back and he's been unable to find a spare - He foolishly only got one key and didn't have a spare cut and programmed....the previous 2 owners are proving unhelpful

Honda dealers are saying the only way around this one now is to have a replacement ECU fitted, which will come with new keys programmed to match the integrated immobiliser. The problem is the cost - at something in the order of €1500 for this (which they'll insist on fitting), it's an awful expense to have to go to...

There MUST be an alternative to this. It's a genuine cock up but that's some expense to right it I'm sure you'll all agree. Can anyone advise? He can transport the bike anywhere it needs to go, and can bring full ownership docs/ID etc...

Thanks for your help,

Gil

try asking the guys on the uk trailie forum
http://www.xrv.org.uk/forums/

there's a varadero section there, those guys are really helpfull.

BeardyGit

About €500 for a CDI/ECU unit
Another €500 for a lock set
Another €400-500 for labour

Capital Honda reckon it'd be a job for Honda themselves. Understandably enough, they'd want ID & proof of ownership and the like - No worries there, it's just the costs that are horrendous.

A key could be cut by a locksmith for about €100 - not bad, but it apparently can't be coded for the ECU, so it's not much use really. I guess Honda don't release the coding algorithms (or whatever it might be) to the likes of Brown Bros. and the usual suspects.

Oryx

Ive checked with my experts here:), and unfortunately there seems to be no workaround. All I can offer is to double check prices, but Id say they are pretty accurate anyway.

BeardyGit

Thanks KtK - Any help would really be appreciated.

He also has to replace keys for a couple of vans, the wifes car, and two houses - his own and his in-laws....

So you can see how much pressure it's put him under. The keys weren't just 'lost' - They went walkabout from where he left them, in work! :mad:

The vehicles are all kept locked in a compound at night until the keys/locks etc are all swapped out.

Oryx

If you want to pm me the vin Ill check the price of a lockset and ecu.

Steffano2002

Terrible story to hear... Your brother must be raging!

Can't believe it will cost this much! Surely Honda should be able to get keys cut and re-programmed based on the ECU ID or Serial Number?

Fair play to Honda for making it so hard though... No point in stealing a Honda (without the keys) is there?

SlabMurphy

Is it not possible to order replacement keys from Honda if you supply the VIN and/or engine number ?? Some money for the replacement if not, my sympathies for your brother.

BeardyGit

@ KtK - Sent you a PM there, thanks for the help.

@ SlabMurphy - VIN number's no good. You need a new ECU if the key's been lost, as they can't program a replacement keys immobiliser chip without actually having a source key to read the code from. All this trouble could have been avoided if he'd had a spare key cut & copied in the first place.

That said, who'd want to leave their bike anywhere knowing that there's another key in the locality, most likely in the hands of someone who knows where you keep your bike?!

Bastards anyway. He's actually had to go and buy a new van, simply because he can't trust leaving either of the others anywhere for the same reason.....He'd come back some day to find it either gone or emptied out.

galwaytt

Gil_Dub wrote: »

All this trouble could have been avoided if he'd had a spare key cut & copied in the first place.

'fraid not - I friend of mine has the same issue now with another bike like that - you cannot copy anything other than the Master Key - if you think about it, it makes sense - otherwise all someone would have to do is pinch or borrow any of your keys, and copy..........

Your regular key is coded 'read only', the master key (usally red, or blue) allows it to talk to coding machine to transfer code to a new, read-only, blank.

FWIW - never, ever, bring, or use, your master key out on the road. Once gone...........I'm afraid yes, it's a Eur1500 job to cure..........applies to most new stuff, including Suzuki's

The ECU's on all the new stuff is write-once-only, and once burned in at the factory, that's it for life.

lukester

galwaytt wrote: »

'fraid not - I friend of mine has the same issue now with another bike like that - you cannot copy anything other than the Master Key

FWIW - never, ever, bring, or use, your master key out on the road. Once gone...........I'm afraid yes, it's a Eur1500 job to cure..........applies to most new stuff, including Suzuki's

The Honda HISS system doesn't have a master key. As long as you have one key you can create a copy.

But if you lose all your keys, as per the OP's situation, you are into new ECU and ignition unfortunately.

galwaytt

lukester - good to know, thanks. Suzuki and Yamaha, though, it's €€ time.

dubtom

Would replacing the ecu and ignition from a scrapped bike not do the job,surley cheaper,I'm sure a search in the UK would get you one.Only a suggestion,I've no idea if it would work.

dc69

dubtom wrote: »

Would replacing the ecu and ignition from a scrapped bike not do the job,surley cheaper,I'm sure a search in the UK would get you one.Only a suggestion,I've no idea if it would work.

exactly,probably cost half and a uk scrapyard would send everything you need.

lukester

dubtom wrote: »

Would replacing the ecu and ignition from a scrapped bike not do the job,surley cheaper,I'm sure a search in the UK would get you one.Only a suggestion,I've no idea if it would work.

See these for sale occasionally on ebay in the UK. I guess you'd need ecu, ignition and at least one key.

I also think Hondas in the US don't have HISS, so buying from there could be an option- shipping might be pricey though.

dubtom

My brother inlaw bought a 04' honda rune from the US and it does have HISS,I wouldn't even bother looking there though,duty and shipping would be huge I'd guess.

lukester

I know Fireblades in the US don't have HISS (hang out on fireblades.org a bit), maybe it differs on a model by model basis.