This Forum is now CLOSED use the link to get more details viewtopic.php?f=3&t=13924#p102587
By ChrisD
#100360
Hi guys. If you have a late-90’s 500 Bullet, perhaps you can help me. My ignition switch (the one set facing forwards in toolbox) is failing (the insides are cracked). I have noticed that our hosts don’t stock the same one again, but I have what appears to be a perfectly good one as spare except I don’t have its key. If anyone has the correct key (code C12 stamped on barrel outer), I’d appreciate a good scan of it so I can get a new one made and hence use my spare ign switch. Much obliged, ChrisD (in Cape Town)
User avatar
By stinkwheel
#100361
With a bit of ingenuity, you might be able to take it apart and re-arrange the internal leafs to suit your current key.

I've done it several times on Japanese bikes which have multiple locks so I only had to replace the broken one. I also did it on the fuel cap lock on my bullet. Some of them are held together with screws or a circlip which is easy. Others are pressed together and you need to bend back the curved over steel edge round the cylinder to get the core out.

You could practice on your old one.

Here's a decent video showing the principle, once you get the core out, they are all much of a muchness. Worth noting that some cores have a large leaf right at the end (furthest from the keyhole)thyat acts as a latch to stop you pulling the core out. It's not an actual locking leaf, the key doesn't act on it. This needs to be pressed down with a fine screwdriver or pick tool to let you pull the core out.
https://youtu.be/FX2AH9-isPA

If you want the really lazy way, once you have the core out, you could just remove all the leafs and then any key will work. Or you could put the key in and file down the leaf protrusions level with the barrel which would still give you a working lock but if there was a particularly high/low cut on the key, you could land up without much meat left on one of the leafs which could bend/break.

Also, any halfway competant locksmith would be able to do this for you, or even impression the lock and make a key for it. I'm not a locksmith and I've done it several times.
User avatar
By Chris [Stockport]
#100362
Totally agree with what Stinkwheel says.
I've done this on several locks, either switching the bits round or filing some down.
(I've not needed to do it on an Enfield, but re-did the fuel cap lock, and boot lid lock on my car, so they fit the ignition key.
Patience and a big white sheet in case you drop any bits...
C :
By ChrisD
#100365
Thanks for the info about taking the barrel apart - very useful IF I can get it out. But, as the images show, there are no circlips or other method of holding the barrel in the lock other than the pin plates themselves - so I cannot remove it. Hence my original question, if anyone has a C12 key, can they scan it and send to me? I am in Cape Town and so far away - too far to come and steal your bike!
Cheers, ChrisD
Attachments
MindaIgnSwitch.jpg
MindaIgnSwitch.jpg (158.28 KiB) Viewed 2391 times
By ChrisD
#100390
Stinkwheel, thanks for the input. However close inspection shows that the apparent circlip is no more than a couple of pieces of dirt. Under a hand lens, on both ignition switches, there are no circlips. So the only way to get the barrel out is with the correct key. Of course I could do what any Enfield rider would normally do and get a bigger hammer - but then I wouldn't have a spare switch. So, if there is anyone out there who has an OEM late 90's Bullet with the original switch labelled C12 on the outside cover, and it seems like they are very few, I'd appreciate a scan of the key so I can get a locksmith to craft a key. Are there any such users out there? Cheers, ChrisD
User avatar
By Haggis
#100392
This is the retaining wafer that holds the barrel in the lock.
Push it in towards the centre to alow the barrel to come out.
Be ready to catch the internal wafers and springs as the barrel comes out.
Image
By ChrisD
#100396
Haggis, many thanks for your comment that the end wafer was the barrel lock. I had thought that but it didn’t move with a little pressure. Once I knew it had to move, then a bit of welly solved the stickiness. You’re right, the wafer can take off with alacrity but it landed with a musical note so I could find it. Now, all back together (just one wafer filed down to suit, as the video shows) and all is well.
Cheers, ChrisD

Shop for accessories at Hitchcocks Motorcycles