How to unbolt ignition switch on a 94 RF900R, Special Tool ??

[GnBanditoCI5]

Hey guys,

Q: Is it a special tool for the bolts that hold on the ignition switch for a 1994 RF900R ?? And if so, what is it called and what size is it? It looks like a star type bolt head.

I have a 1994 RF900R. This weekend I went up to the Americaide ( The largest tour motorcycle rally in the world ) in Lake George NY. Anyway, on the way back from it, I had to pull over to switch the fuel cock ( Sounding like Bevis and Butthead - ha ha ha ha...he said COCK )...LMAO
Anyway, I had to pull over to switch to reserve because my fuel cock is hard to turn, and I sometimes need to use pliers from my tool kit.
Well it was being a pain in the ass and it was a pliers night....

Three or four days previous, I had a new key cut for me, and stashed the original key at home and was using the new key. Well...wouldnt you know...as I used the new key to open my seat lock to get my tool kit...I felt the piece of SH** twist, and I was not even turning it hard. PIECE OF SH** !!
Anyway, I did not even attempt to finish getting the seat open for the tools, cuz i knew it would DEFIANTLY be the end of the key then, as it was now...the key was still in 1 piece, and I felt that if I could get the fuel set to reserve, then I would have at least 1 last shot at sticking the key in the ignition and maybe getting her to turn 1 final time so I could get home.....ERRRR......NOT !!! The fu*r broke off right in the OFF position.

I'm tellin ya, my heart seriously dropped as I felt it give and the remainder of the key was hangin loose in my fingers.
It was a good thing it was 2AM Saturday night and I was in between exit 12 and exit 11 on the Northway, it is VERY desolate...nothing around for at least 3 to 5 miles in each direction...ATLEAST...and as I said..it was a good thing..because needless to say..I SCREAMED MY FU**IN LUNGS OUT !

Anyway, its a given now....I ain't goin NOWHERE !!

Thank God I had my cell phone on me, and called Good ol MOM.

I called up mom and she called the AAA Towing, well...another bad thing about them, they did not have any flatbeds to do the tow, nor did AAA cover motorcycles on my mothers AAA account, guess she didn't for see herself ever riding my Crotch Rocket...lol...shes a Harley ol Lady.
Anyway...AAA called around and finally got a flatbed to head out my way from Ganesvoort NY, about 50 miles from my location. I found this out when I finally got home.
So..while waiting for them to MAYBE get here...2 bikers heading home from the Americaide as well pulled over to help a brother out..lol they musta been cruzin at at least 100MPH when they blew by me, you could tell due to the distance they were away from me by the time they stopped em on the side of the Northway...lol. Both were pimpin some tricked out Busas...woot.
Anyway, I started walking toward them, as I saw them on foot walking back to me...told em my sob story, and they were kind enough to walk back to their bikes, and turn around and ride down the northward shoulder of the Northway, when we were heading south..lol
Them doing so provided light, and yes...the almighty Suzuki tool kit which I couldn't get to due to my key twisting...I will forever carry I SPARE SPARE key in my wallet
Well, he didn't have his screw driver in his kit...lol Because I was reduced to trying to take a screwdriver and jam it in my ignition, first trying to turn it ever so lovingly and see if I was able to jimmy it to the ON position, at least ill be able to get home, and then take my original key and worst come to worse disconnect the battery until I could get the ignition fixed/replaced.
Now remember back at the ranch...or should I say..NORTHWAY...2am...In the Boonies...Still unsure that a flatbed was indeed coming or not.
I had 2 options

#1 Cut the ignition wires and hot wire the bad boy ( Since I was lucky enough and when I shut off the bike, I didn't LOCK the steering)
or
#2 JAM A FREEKIN SCREWDRIVER IN THE IGNITION HOLE WITH THE BENT ASS KEY AND PRY THE LIVING HELL OUTA IT AND HOPE TO GET HER TO TURN ON THAT WAY !

Ill give ya three guesses at which option I chose, and the first 2 dint count !!

Yup, I got to JAMMIN....and needless to say...1994 ignitions are a BUNCH stronger than 1986 ignitions..LOL...(Refering to a 1986 GSXR 750 I had a few years back)
That bastard would not break...well at least with a cheesy screwdriver anyway.

Well, wouldn't you know...just as I get goin on pounding the crap out of my ignition and REALLY makin sure its jammed..lol...a damn flatbed pulls up...well good ol mom failed to call me back and let me know they were on the way...LMAO !

So here I am with a busted up ignition...which by the way, the locksmith shop I originally went to to get the dupe key cut, can take apart the lock and get the broke key out....LMFAO.,...well I wanna see em do it now !! lol

I am sure they can get the broke key out...but I don't think theres any hope for the ignition cylinder.

I guess the moral of the story is....when faced with those 2 options...Jam a screwdriver, or cut some wires....Choose the cut some wires...they solder or twist back together easier...LOL

Which by the way, ya got 4 wires on 1994 RF's...Red is power In...and Orange is Power out.....feel free to edit to fit your model bike..lol

Anyway, to make a long story short..which I cant do by now..Sorry had to tell my sob story...it blew. And expensive too...$95 for flatbed and its lookin like $95 for a new ignition from suzuki...or $102 for a full 3 piece lock set....ignition, tank and seat used online.

So this brings us to my question....

The ignition cylinder is held onto the triple tree by what I thought would be 2 Allen bolts....but no....Suzuki has gatta make my life harder and make it a type of REVERSE torqs bolt it what it looks like....like the nut itself is star shaped and you would need a star shaped socket to fit it.

Does anyone out there know if it is a special tool...and if so whats it called?? It looks like a star type bolt head. Let me guess what its called...We put a screwed up bolt on yer bike to make you have to come buy the tool from us tool ?

Any and all feedback IS greatly appreciated. And remember...CUT THE WIRES...itll probably be cheaper anyway !!!

Thanks guys...and remember..always carry a BACKUP of your BACKUP key.....3 keys total...one home and safe (Original) and 2 copies...one you use...and one in yer wallet. But make SURE you buy a key blank from Suzuki, they don't cut the keys at least the dealerships by me. Don't buy a key from even a locksmith shop...or walmart etc...Spend the extra few dollars to get a solid key from Suzuki or your make dealership!

Eagerly awaiting a reply...is it a special tool for the bolts that hold on the ignition switch for a 1994 RF900R ?? And if so, what is it called and what size is it?

Ride easy guys...

I also wanna thank June and Jay for stoppin on the Northway, I still got yer numbers brothers...and well get together and ride for sure !

[ZXLNT]

Just drill the heads carefully off the torx and then remove them. Replace with some allen bolts and use a little blue loctite...

[zzr-jason]

They are called tamper proof torx bit's, they put them in there for a reason. The reason being so that theives just can't simply unbolt it and hot wire it. Once it is unbolted the steering lock is disabled. So to answer your question you can buy them at sears or a good quality auto parts store.

[ZXLNT]

Yes you can replace them, however I doubt any thief is gonna spend the time to stand around and unbolt the ignition lock. Besides I dont think it would even come out from under the triple clamp if the locking pin is extended..

[Darksheer]

Sorry man, I don't have a solution for you but I just had to say THAT WAS A GREAT STORY!

[GnBanditoCI5]

Yea, thanx for the feedback guys...heres an update on the Northway ride from hell..lol

Well, After ripping apart a bunch of the front end of my bike, I was able to get the entire top tripple tree bracket off that had the ignition cylinder attached to it. And I brought it over to a friends bike shop and let him drill the suckers out. I eventually replaced them with good ol Allen nuts and lock washers.

The hell with it, if someone is gunna steal my ride, im sure the Allen bolts wont make it that much easier for them to accomplish...lol. Besides, they gatta make their way past either my 12 gague or Remington 30/30 when I hear them ruffling around in my garage. )

So anyway, got the bolts drilled out, I then payed a visit down to the locksmith that sold me that limp wristed key that broke off. And at first the lady that runs the place was actin all hard...well BITCHY anyway about the whole situation.

She then said "Ok heres the deal, I will pay for 1/2 of the ignition cost"....and I promptly replied with...PFFFFTTTT !!!...I said to her....ok you wanna pay half?...lets see... 1/2 of $95 for the flatbed, $95 for the ignition....and I lied and threw in " I had a friend who owns a bike shop help me rip it down to get the ignition off, that took 3 1/2 hours....and another 3/12 itll take to put it back together...lets see...at $60 per hour for labor....HMMMMM !

Well, needless to say, she opted for door number one.....LMAO

I made a B line to my local Suzuki dealership, ordered the ignition, and brought her back the recipt, which she promptly cut me a check for the full cost...WOOT !

Yea, I didnt get jack for the flatbed fee, or my time breaking the bike down....or even for my time being out of the saddle for 4 or 5 days. But hey, $95 is $95 !!!

So, it took 2 days for the ignition to come in at the Suzuki dealership, which is pretty good if ya ask me..not bad only 2 days !

So I slapped that bad boy back on, and recompiled the nuts and bolts strewen around my garage back onto my baby.

I then (Feelin pretty good at this point) backed her out of the garage and proceeded to crank her over anticipating the wonderfull throaty breath of life to roll sweetly out of the Yoshi pipes...

RRRR....RRRR....RRRRRR....RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

NOTHING ! My baby just turned over like a nympho at an orgy !!

Now remember, my fuel cock was still set to reserve from that fatefull night back on the side of the Northway. And I knew I was low on fuel. But I damn sure had enough to crank her up thats for sure.

I then thought, maybe the plug got fouled...Ok..not a problem...on the 94 RF900R it takes less than 4 minutes to yank the tank....pull the plugs...throw in another 5 minutes to properly clean the plugs and get em slapped back in.

RRRR....RRRR....RRRRRR....RRRRRRRRRRRRRRR

NOTHING !!!

Needless to say, I was as pissed as a crackhead with a couple 8 balls and no lighter...LOL

And it was blazing hot and muggy as well.

SO it took some time and went in the house...kicked back in the recliner and soaked in some AC and gathered my thoughts.

I took the opportunity to thumb through the good ol service manual, and came across a nice image of my fuel cock, yea thats right, it was some graphic shots of my COCK, LMFAO !!! Sorry couldnt resist.

Anyway, after staring at it for a few minutes, ( Thats how long it takes for my brain cells to start firing..LOL)....I noticed something that just didnt seem right....or should I say....the outline of the PROPER layout of the MAIN,RESERVE and line out to carbs as illustrated in the service manual did NOT match what was currently sitting in my garage.

As it turns out, I had just bought this bike a month and 1/2 ago, and although I had already replaced the MAIN and RESERVE fuel lines with some new neoprene lines. I ASSUMED that the freekin moron who owned the bike before me knew the PROPER layout to reattach the fuel lines to the fuel cock. And when I replaced the lines, I simply followed the layout as it was.

Well, come to find out, the smacktard I bought the bike from out the fuel line that goes to the carbs on the wrong nipple on the fuel cock, which made it so the MAIN fuel line from the tank was also on the wrong nipple...basicly the 2 were reversed.

Well, ok...fuel will still flow properly with those 2 lines reversed....BUT...with the 2 lines reversed, it made it so that if and when you switched to RESERVE....all you were basicly doing was creating a loop FROM the fuel tank...BACK to the damn fuel tank...LMFAO !!!

So...looking back to the wonderfull night I (AHEM) ran out of gas on the Northway coming back from the Americade.....and how I pulled over to switch to reserve.....errr...WASNT GUNNA HAPPEN !

As I said, when switched to reserve it just created a loop FROM and BACK to the gas tank, and I am sure we can all image how that simply wont get the job done.

So, I guess even if I didnt break that peice of crap key off in the seat/then ignition lock, I doubt I would have been goin anywhere anyway with the fuel lines as they were.
And although I had ample tools with me that night, yea I couldnt get to them being they were under my seat, and the key was broke. But even if I didnt break the key, it was dark as hell at 2am on the side of the Northway, and I am sure I wouldnt have figured out what a bone head the previous owner was/is. Granted, I could have maybe had someone go get me a few dollars in gas and been able to start her up.

But anyway.....im out $95 for the flatbed tow....4 or 5 days without my baby between my legs. And a few more grey hairs from the stress.

Hey, I look at it this way...

The key breaking off in the ignition made me have to break the bike down to get the ignition off....this gave me the opportunity not only to get to know my bike that much better ( being that I just bought it ), but I am MUCH more secure in the knowledge that the steering and top half of the front of the bike is indeed put together right and securely. Especially now that I know how much of a dipship the previous owner was...lol

Also, even though I am out $95 for the flatbed tow, I got the opportunity to meet June and Jay ( the 2 guys that pulled over to help a brother out)....I have their numbers, and we shall ride together...trust that ! So well chalk that $95 up to buying 2 new friends..LOL

Also, I have a brand new ignition, with 2 sparkley new SUZUKI KEYS, not cheezy keys that will twist off. ( Or atleast I hope not ).

And this experience allowed me to find the improper fuel line routing done by the previous owner. ( Which is now fixed nicely thank you )

And finally, I have a good story and memory that not only can I tell here ( which I did ), but will remember for the rest of my days.

So all in all, I guess it all worked out huh ? My baby is once again purrin like a kitten, atleast until the next furball gets hacked up that is !

Again, thanks for the feedback guys on the torx nuts on the ignition, and thanx for reading my story from hell. I am glad you enjoyed the story Darksheer, and hope you enjoy the dramatic conclusion I just provided

On that note, I wish you all the very best, ride safe and watch out for the morons who've never riden a bike and could give a rats ass about any of us.

Peace 4 now......Bandito OUTIE!!