Ignition barrel key sticking/hard to turn

[Gillie76]

Got my new (used)DL650A K9 yesterday and when it got delivered the bloke pointed out that the key needed a bit of a wiggle to turn it on. Key works fine to remove seat. I'm guessing that due to the bikes age, the barrel and key will probably be well worn. It seems a bit hit or miss if the wiggle works...is there something I can do to rectify this or will it have to be a locksmith or new barrel? TIA

[The Doctor 46]

You could try putting graphite powder on both sides of the Hello then put it in, wiggle it around then repeat. It doesn't need much powder in there. It might be good to spray lots of WD40 in there first but wait until it has dried for a while before using the powder.

This may help but as you say, it could just be the age of the lock. I think I could probably live with it as a quirk of the bike. Good luck. 

[Gillie76]

Thanks. I'm a bit sceptical about using WD40 as I did that in my old van and the locksmith wasn't impressed at all!
Might try the graphite powder as it seems to get mentioned quite a bit

[Upt North]

Gillie,
My key was a little notchy yesterday, especially when going towards lock/parking light.
I rubbed a black pencil on a file above the key and did this a couple of times putting it in the lock and turning each time.
It smoothed things out nicely.
Strangely like yours it was smooth in the seat lock and this on a low mileage bike.
Good luck.
Upt.     But not quite as Upt as you.....

[Gillie76]

Thanks Upt,
I suppose I could try filing up some pencil lead and trying that, rather than buying some graphite powder from a shop! That would be a cheap fix if it worked

[The Doctor 46]

https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/204695187738?itmmeta=01HWX44VDNZ2N8Y795W6FBB08N&hash=item2fa8c8b11a:g:hJMAAOSwCOtl9AHH&itmprp=enc%3AAQAJAAAA4EJB4IDo7%2FLZEsarKKKBiDm3MFc9MzWQZsot6TKiwRq7b7d%2B08zTM2zYZdCCXAMaRzMvj8CO9kHqlVdRDW%2B%2F8qOEB4hlOU4PKQ0AeqCrk7OzbMq%2F3%2FzPC7f3pl%2B3So7EayhfwPYTXwo8MWAWYEZe03hG%2BPW32TtdoC%2BGKjg4zxxhEGYb8pUK0YsojnrUmc98aVwOIxvgquFoqs1jYSDwdXiLBsx3C5QgIhAhw%2BKqsWlRYomDLvO9%2Fp4MOLAyD85MzCJhLDs7AkSd6mYOSLAd3J%2BFPoVWGvxijHIjmM0caMtX%7Ctkp%3ABk9SR4C3k6TnYw

[Rookie]

I'd second graphite powder, it works wonders.

[Rixington43]

You can spray contact cleaner through first to try and flush out any contaminants and then use the graphite powder once it's all dried out. Improved my K7 no end (even got the parking lights back) and I now repeat yearly at service time.

[Ianmc]

   A little tip, after you have given the lock and key a good dose of graphite powder, don’t try and turn the key,just slide it in and out for a few minutes and it spreads the graphite along the tumblers and makes it much easier to turn.

[Gillie76]

Thanks, just been to screwfix and got some contact cleaner. Will give it a good squirt tonight then let it dry off and attack it with some graphite tomorrow 🤞

[purplebikeunicorn]

Probably the standard Suzuki ignition problem. Steel key, brass wafers, so the wafers wear first.

Try putting a bit of pressure on the short edge of the key (not the side facing the tank when in the "On" position) as you turn it. So if it's in the off position, put some pressure on the head of the key in the 5 o'clock direction.

If it turns easy, you've just figured out your new anti-theft device 

[Gert]

Have you had a look at the discussion in https://www.stromtrooper.com/threads/sticky-ignition-lock-fix-w-pics.66706/ wrt ignition switch waffer inspection and re-dressing?
Some of the pix have been blocked / lost, however in reply #65 of the same link, the pix where uploaded once more.

[Gillie76]

Thanks for that! I had seen that post but thought the pics had disappeared. I'll try the graphite when it arrives but I've got a funny feeling it may have to come out as per that post 😫

[purplebikeunicorn]

I've left mine as is, don't fancy touching the security screws yet! Depends how bad yours is. If it is that, once you get the hang of it, it becomes second nature.

[Gillie76]

If yours is an L7 then apparently its different security bolts, much harder to do. My K9 is supposedly Torx 40 security bit needed. I've ordered one just incase!

[purplebikeunicorn]

Yeah, weird and wonderful apparently. I'm leaving that job until I have to do it, or I have the front end off for some reason. Good luck! Pictures would be loved :D

If you could, measurements of the wafers would be good too, you can get boxes full of lock wafers from Aliexpress and other places, I wondered if you could get replacements.

[Gillie76]

Great news, as per suggestions from all of you: last night I blasted the ignition barrel with contact cleaner a few times to try and get rid of any crap in there. I then left it pretty much 24hrs to dry out and I've just been at it with some proper graphite powder (not pencil filings 😂, that didn't work) , putting some on the key then sliding it in and out a few times, then repeating a few times. Seems to have made a massive improvement. Enough of an improvement to not justify taking the barrel out, for now anyway. Will see how it goes. Might have to repeat the whole process a few times, but certainly better just now! 🥳
Thanks all for your input, much appreciated.
Have a good weekend 🏍️

Can't work out how to post a pic, but it was WD40 Specialist Contact Cleaner and Kasp Microfine graphite powder I used 👍

[Robotstar5]

A locksmith told me NEVER use WD40 on locks and gave me a can of ABUS PS88 which has sorted a few locks over the years
https://abuspadlocksonline.co.uk/abus-ps88-50ml

[NeilM]

I worked for Yale for a little while.

Locksmiths hate WD40 or other similar sprays because they remove all the lube put in the lock when it was assembled. Using it to flush out any crap that has worked its way in over time is fine, provided you follow that up with graphite, or similar.

I once spent the day visiting remote water pumping stations in Devon and Cornwall with one of the Yale technical blokes and a chap from the water authority. Every complain was about padlocks that could not be undone. Some of these pump houses were in sight of the sea, so took some real weather.

At every call the procedure was the same. Get a pot of graphite powder, breathe on a key to make it slightly moist, dip it in the graphite and insert the key in the lock. Sometimes it took a couple of applications and a little wiggle, but every single padlock opened.

We later supplied the water authority with load of little pots full of graphite powder.

[Gert]

These two threads should address any queries wrt the posting of pix, https://www.v-strom.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=33022.0 and https://www.v-strom.co.uk/smf/index.php?topic=41261.0