General topics » "Keyless" Ride question

Sorry for another post, but I'm waiting to pick up my '23 RS this week, and the weather is hanging on to winter for dear life. In fact, this is one of the longest winters we've had...ever...at least here. So, if you don't mind...another question.

Every bike I've owned has operated via a standard ignition key. My RS is "keyless", so I've got this fob to deal with. Where do you carry yours when riding? Have you found this keyless thing to be a positive, or a negative? My first reaction to it was..."Oh, great...another bit of technology that I really don't need". Why has this technology become so pervasive...is there an advantage for a motorcyclist that I'm not seeing?

Thanks. Once I have my bike (weather permitting) my question volume will likely drop rapidly to zero...lol!

Zitat von BEARR im Beitrag #1

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Sorry for another post, but I'm waiting to pick up my '23 RS this week, and the weather is hanging on to winter for dear life. In fact, this is one of the longest winters we've had...ever...at least here. So, if you don't mind...another question.

!

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I love the convenience of keyless ride. One less thing to fiddle with before you ride off. I keep the fob in a pants pocket. I don't see any downside at all to the system. I have not even changed the fob battery in 18 months of use. In fact, the system even gives a warning when the battery level gets low anyway.

Zitat von BEARR im Beitrag #1

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Sorry for another post, but I'm waiting to pick up my '23 RS this week, and the weather is hanging on to winter for dear life. In fact, this is one of the longest winters we've had...ever...at least here. So, if you don't mind...another question.

Every bike I've owned has operated via a standard ignition key. My RS is "keyless", so I've got this fob to deal with. Where do you carry yours when riding? Have you found this keyless thing to be a positive, or a negative? My first reaction to it was..."Oh, great...another bit of technology that I really don't need". Why has this technology become so pervasive...is there an advantage for a motorcyclist that I'm not seeing?

Thanks. Once I have my bike (weather permitting) my question volume will likely drop rapidly to zero...lol!

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We don't carry our fobs in our jacket because sometimes we leave our jackets laying on the bikes when we stop. Our jacket and bike can be stolen this way :)
I made a little tether so the fob can be attached to our pants and carried in a pocket.
Klim.jpg - Bild entfernt (keine Rechte)

I don't trust using the key part on the stiff seat lock so I ordered a non chipped metal key from our dealer. It was around $35 the end of 2021.

Keyless makes more sense on the RT or GT where those bikes have central locking.
If it had been possible to order our bikes without keyless and still get all the other option I would have been temped to do that.

I did order a second 'non-keyless' key from dealership rather than risk the fob breaking on the seat lock and it is tight against the satnav locking mechanism.

Just tried the extra key and it is just a key, not 'keyed to the bike electronics' so will not operate like the emergency grey one.

Also spare battery under the seat, just in case.

Normally a non keyless bike has two standard keys, sometimes three, but not on the keyless versions unless you pay or get it supplied as an extra..

Advice from dealership when discussing my 'non-partexchange' last year I confirmed i had both keys and the 'grey ' emergency one in my jacket.

He confirmed on more than one occasion, either at valuation/new bike swop or a fob issue/battery/lost that owners often do not carry the emergency key, Why not I can only guess.

Since found a local guy who has the correct blanks and can laser cut copies as I did not need 'programmed keys' for this baggage use.

I wanted an extra pannier keys as one went with my R1200ST set and one for my RS set but because they are not matched to any bike bmw could not supply any.

Since 2005 when bmw supllied 3 pannier locks/two keys and even though every pannier lock since was rekeyed to match these bmw could not assist.

New security I guess which I suppose is a reasonable idea and why, unlike me, accessory keys are now synchronised to a bike.

I forgot to mention a possible disadvantage of keyless.
Several times on my wife's bike the gas cap would not open.
If you have not seen how to open the gas cap when the fob will not open it, let me know and I'll post a couple pictures.

Personally, having owned two keyless RSs, it's pretty much the "Oh, great...another bit of technology that I really don't need".

I follow the "Lee procedure" - when I leave the house the fob goes into my the front right pocket of my riding trousers and stays there all day - actually, for 'belt-and-braces' approach, inside the small plastic waterproof bag which lives in the pocket! I also have a metal 'dumb' key on a keyring with my house/garage keys as well as the grey plastic emergency key - the metal key is the one I actually use all day, in the luggage, GPS mount and seat lock.

I suppose keyless is quite convenient in practice - but only 'quite' - especially when fuelling up. And like Lee, I've also experienced failure of the keyless fuel cap, which is not fun on a dark rainy night when you're miles from anywhere...

I keep my fob in my riding pants pocket and if the pocket has a zipper, I close it.

Zitat von Lee im Beitrag #8

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I forgot to mention a possible disadvantage of keyless.
Several times on my wife's bike the gas cap would not open.
If you have not seen how to open the gas cap when the fob will not open it, let me know and I'll post a couple pictures.

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I wish it was slimmer. My Prius fob is about half the thickness and has the key in it too. Biggest hassle is where to keep it. I have a lanyard for my neck and try to set the fob in the jacket pocket of my leathers. I have my top case key attached, so it’s all the more bulk.

Just like with a keyless car, I keep the fob in the front right pocket of my pants. My two pairs of pants are Belstaff jeans where the key stays in and Aether Rambles, which have a zipper. I'm not going to take my pants off at a stop (well, maybe), so the key is always with me.

Personally, I like keyless. At this point, if I get in a car without keyless and have to get my key out of my pocket, I find it a bit annoying (except for my 911, which is an occasion). The bike is the same. I walk up, press the button to turn it on and then start it.

Yes, maybe some day it'll fail and I'll have a problem, but plenty of keyless cars have been working for over a decade. The ECU on my 911 took 37 years to finally die so electronics can be reliable in the long term.

Keyed to keyless is a quick transition. Have had my '16 RS for a month now. Pant pocket is not a bad solution, but I found a neck lanyard tucked in my shirt is most comfortable. My 800GT is conventional key which resides in pant pocket, except when I forget to take it out of the ignition.

I really should get a spare dumb key cut so I can leave the smart key in a zipped-up pocket. I seem to recall someone saying a Ducati blank ( from Timpsons in UK) is suitable for BMW keys, does anyone know if that’s correct , or where else to get one cut in UK without resorting to the dealers?