Here's something you should know about your trunk "lock."
If your trike was manufactured before 2014, chances are the lock for your trunk is not keyed to your ignition. Here is how I discovered this.
My wife and I were touring the Miami area, on our 2010 SG trike, and stopped into Peterson's Harley to look around. We pulled up to another black Harley trike and went in and we bought a few things. When we went outside to put the items in the trunk I discovered that my trunk was locked and this was very strange because when I'm at a Harley shop I don't usually lock my trunk and, to make things worse, I left my key in the trunk (I keep my fob on me) so I now had no way into the trunk. I went into service to see if they could help and according to them, unless I had my key I was out of luck.
I went back outside and there was a group of people sitting there and I asked them if any of them owned the other black trike. When asked why I told them what happened and thought maybe their key might work. One of them stood up and went over to my trike, unlocked it with his key, took a new set of mufflers out, unlocked the other trike trunk and put the mufflers in there!
His friends started making fun of the guy because it seems the owner of the trike had purchased the mufflers and had given them, and his key, to this guy to put the mufflers in his trike. His response was... "Hey, they all look the same to me!" Once I got my key out I tried it in the other trike trunk and sure enough my key worked in his trunk but not his ignition.
When I got back to the Daytona Beach area, where I live, I went over to my brother-in-law's place, who has a 2012 TriGlide and my ignition key opened his trunk and his mine. After that we tried the same thing with many other pre-2014 trikes and discovered the same thing. When my brother-in-law went back to Michigan he was able to open all pre-2014 trunks that he came in contact with and they all opened his as well. And so it seems that all pre-2014 trikes have a lock similar to the gas cap lock in that any barrel key will fit it. (I only assume that problem is with pre-2014 trikes because the locks look different. However, give it a try and see what happens)
When we toured the Harley assembly factory in York, PA we told that story to one of the customer service people there and he gave us the number to the customer service people in Milwaukee and told us to try talking to them. I had my wife handle it from there because I'm not as much of a people person as she is and over a period of a couple of months of calling and explaining the situation and requesting that this oversight be fixed because after all, "how would they feel if, after spending $35,000 on a vehicle they discovered that anyone with a barrel key could unlock their vehicle?"... to which she was given yet another person to call.
Because we have other things to do my wife could only spend so much time on the phone with these folks but through perseverance she was finally put through to someone in the engineering department who said that he would look into it, because he had a hard time believing this as well, and that he would call back within the week... uh huh...
By this time well over a year had gone by but by God the guy actually called back and said that he had talked to some people and given them our "muffler" story and the "what would you want to have done" story and that the "powers that be" agreed that they would take care of having the lock replaced with one that was keyed to our ignition. All we had to do is give them the service number of the call so that they could key it into their system authorizing the work. He asked which dealer would take care of it and we told him the one in Daytona Beach, and he put that in the service memo. We told him that because the summer was just starting and because we would be a various locations for the summer that we would wait until we got back in September.
So we got back and waited until Biketoberfest was over and called the service guy who told us to stop in next time we were in the area to arrange things. But because one thing led to another we didn't get over there until after Bike Week, 2017. By now it had been almost two years since discovering the issue. We finally got over to the dealer, explained the situation to the tech who took the service number and ordered a new lock that would be keyed to our trike and he said he would call when the lock arrived.
When the lock arrived we went over to the dealer on a Sunday, because there was a swap meet, and I mistakenly picked up the lock and had to pay for it at the time and was told that I would be credited the amount on my card once the work was completed. So I set an appointment and came back the following Tuesday when we were going to be out on a ride for our anniversary.
We arrived on time and finally got the bike back with the new keyed lock. There was no charge for the labor but were now told that "in cases like this" that we needed to call the factory to get reimbursed for the new key ($52) and that they usually reimburse by check. So my wife finally called today and was told that they will not reimburse us for the lock because the tech who did the work said that the lock that came out was damaged and needed replacing anyways so they weren't going to pay us back for the lock. Interestingly enough, they didn't say anything about this damaged lock when we picked the bike up nor did they give us the old lock back. My wife told them that her only recourse now was to inform the trike community and have them all do the same thing. His response was... "They will all have to follow the same procedure as you did which was to bring the trike in, explain the situation. n that they want a keyed lock in their trunk instead of the gas cap lock that was installed at the factory so that their trunk could be secured."
So this is my lot in life for right now... to inform my fellow trikers of my findings and of a possible solution. So try your barrel key on a few other trikes and see what you find. Then, if you decide it is important enough to get a keyed lock installed for free, go to your favorite Harley dealer and explain to the service department guy that your trike came from the factory with a non-keyed truck lock and that you want a keyed one installed free of charge. If need be, the customer service number to Milwaukee is 800-258-2464. Maybe if enough of us complain about the same thing they might even issue a recall???... Hey, it could happen! Not very likely, for sure, but it COULD happen.
But here's a few tips. First, if the dealer balks at the freebie idea, call Milwaukee and tell them about your discovery of all your fellow triker's barrel key fitting in your trunk and that there must have been a big mistake at the assembly plant and that you want your $35,000 machine to have an operational trunk lock, and not the gas cap lock that it came with. Next, don't pick up the new lock beforehand like I did. I was just so excited to get the lock that I wanted to make sure that I had it in hand just in case the factory wouldn't pay for the install.
Another interesting discovery during this whole thing is that before this whole thing started I had to replace the trunk lock because the first one broke and the dealer kept them in stock and they were about $25 (after the warranty ran out, of course). Then about a year ago, when it looked like we might be getting a new lock paid for by the factory, I went to the parts department at the Harley shop and asked if they had any replacement locks for my trike and the response was "yes" and that they "have them in stock."
Then while I was waiting around for my new lock to be installed I went over to the parts department and, because he wasn't busy that morning, started to chat and I told him what I was there for and I asked if he would look up the part number for my trike a Lo and Behold... you are now required to give them your key number and that all trunk keys must be ordered!!!... Coincidence?.... I think NOT!!!
And so it seems that Harley no longer sells the old non-keyed locks to trike owners. So now, anyone who has to replace a failed one will get a new keyed one and the customer will probably never know the difference.
Anyways... Good luck y'all. Let us know what happens!
If your trike was manufactured before 2014, chances are the lock for your trunk is not keyed to your ignition. Here is how I discovered this.
My wife and I were touring the Miami area, on our 2010 SG trike, and stopped into Peterson's Harley to look around. We pulled up to another black Harley trike and went in and we bought a few things. When we went outside to put the items in the trunk I discovered that my trunk was locked and this was very strange because when I'm at a Harley shop I don't usually lock my trunk and, to make things worse, I left my key in the trunk (I keep my fob on me) so I now had no way into the trunk. I went into service to see if they could help and according to them, unless I had my key I was out of luck.
I went back outside and there was a group of people sitting there and I asked them if any of them owned the other black trike. When asked why I told them what happened and thought maybe their key might work. One of them stood up and went over to my trike, unlocked it with his key, took a new set of mufflers out, unlocked the other trike trunk and put the mufflers in there!
His friends started making fun of the guy because it seems the owner of the trike had purchased the mufflers and had given them, and his key, to this guy to put the mufflers in his trike. His response was... "Hey, they all look the same to me!" Once I got my key out I tried it in the other trike trunk and sure enough my key worked in his trunk but not his ignition.
When I got back to the Daytona Beach area, where I live, I went over to my brother-in-law's place, who has a 2012 TriGlide and my ignition key opened his trunk and his mine. After that we tried the same thing with many other pre-2014 trikes and discovered the same thing. When my brother-in-law went back to Michigan he was able to open all pre-2014 trunks that he came in contact with and they all opened his as well. And so it seems that all pre-2014 trikes have a lock similar to the gas cap lock in that any barrel key will fit it. (I only assume that problem is with pre-2014 trikes because the locks look different. However, give it a try and see what happens)
When we toured the Harley assembly factory in York, PA we told that story to one of the customer service people there and he gave us the number to the customer service people in Milwaukee and told us to try talking to them. I had my wife handle it from there because I'm not as much of a people person as she is and over a period of a couple of months of calling and explaining the situation and requesting that this oversight be fixed because after all, "how would they feel if, after spending $35,000 on a vehicle they discovered that anyone with a barrel key could unlock their vehicle?"... to which she was given yet another person to call.
Because we have other things to do my wife could only spend so much time on the phone with these folks but through perseverance she was finally put through to someone in the engineering department who said that he would look into it, because he had a hard time believing this as well, and that he would call back within the week... uh huh...
By this time well over a year had gone by but by God the guy actually called back and said that he had talked to some people and given them our "muffler" story and the "what would you want to have done" story and that the "powers that be" agreed that they would take care of having the lock replaced with one that was keyed to our ignition. All we had to do is give them the service number of the call so that they could key it into their system authorizing the work. He asked which dealer would take care of it and we told him the one in Daytona Beach, and he put that in the service memo. We told him that because the summer was just starting and because we would be a various locations for the summer that we would wait until we got back in September.
So we got back and waited until Biketoberfest was over and called the service guy who told us to stop in next time we were in the area to arrange things. But because one thing led to another we didn't get over there until after Bike Week, 2017. By now it had been almost two years since discovering the issue. We finally got over to the dealer, explained the situation to the tech who took the service number and ordered a new lock that would be keyed to our trike and he said he would call when the lock arrived.
When the lock arrived we went over to the dealer on a Sunday, because there was a swap meet, and I mistakenly picked up the lock and had to pay for it at the time and was told that I would be credited the amount on my card once the work was completed. So I set an appointment and came back the following Tuesday when we were going to be out on a ride for our anniversary.
We arrived on time and finally got the bike back with the new keyed lock. There was no charge for the labor but were now told that "in cases like this" that we needed to call the factory to get reimbursed for the new key ($52) and that they usually reimburse by check. So my wife finally called today and was told that they will not reimburse us for the lock because the tech who did the work said that the lock that came out was damaged and needed replacing anyways so they weren't going to pay us back for the lock. Interestingly enough, they didn't say anything about this damaged lock when we picked the bike up nor did they give us the old lock back. My wife told them that her only recourse now was to inform the trike community and have them all do the same thing. His response was... "They will all have to follow the same procedure as you did which was to bring the trike in, explain the situation. n that they want a keyed lock in their trunk instead of the gas cap lock that was installed at the factory so that their trunk could be secured."
So this is my lot in life for right now... to inform my fellow trikers of my findings and of a possible solution. So try your barrel key on a few other trikes and see what you find. Then, if you decide it is important enough to get a keyed lock installed for free, go to your favorite Harley dealer and explain to the service department guy that your trike came from the factory with a non-keyed truck lock and that you want a keyed one installed free of charge. If need be, the customer service number to Milwaukee is 800-258-2464. Maybe if enough of us complain about the same thing they might even issue a recall???... Hey, it could happen! Not very likely, for sure, but it COULD happen.
But here's a few tips. First, if the dealer balks at the freebie idea, call Milwaukee and tell them about your discovery of all your fellow triker's barrel key fitting in your trunk and that there must have been a big mistake at the assembly plant and that you want your $35,000 machine to have an operational trunk lock, and not the gas cap lock that it came with. Next, don't pick up the new lock beforehand like I did. I was just so excited to get the lock that I wanted to make sure that I had it in hand just in case the factory wouldn't pay for the install.
Another interesting discovery during this whole thing is that before this whole thing started I had to replace the trunk lock because the first one broke and the dealer kept them in stock and they were about $25 (after the warranty ran out, of course). Then about a year ago, when it looked like we might be getting a new lock paid for by the factory, I went to the parts department at the Harley shop and asked if they had any replacement locks for my trike and the response was "yes" and that they "have them in stock."
Then while I was waiting around for my new lock to be installed I went over to the parts department and, because he wasn't busy that morning, started to chat and I told him what I was there for and I asked if he would look up the part number for my trike a Lo and Behold... you are now required to give them your key number and that all trunk keys must be ordered!!!... Coincidence?.... I think NOT!!!
And so it seems that Harley no longer sells the old non-keyed locks to trike owners. So now, anyone who has to replace a failed one will get a new keyed one and the customer will probably never know the difference.
Anyways... Good luck y'all. Let us know what happens!
