I am the 84-yr old owner of a 2019 Thruxton R with only about 1000 miles on it which I am unable to start due to an immobilizer fault. Just before the start of COVID I made the mistake of stopping the bike with the kill switch and leaving the key in the ignition resulting in a dead flat battery. More recently, in anticipation of being able to ride again, I purchased a Shorai battery and installed it only to find that the alarm light remained on continuously when the ignition key was turned on, indicating an immobilizer fault. I now find that to correct this failure I must rent a truck and transport the bike to a dealer who will then restore the registration of my key to my bike's immobilizer unit. In addition to the cost and inconvenience of transporting the bike, I will be charged for at least an hour and a half of labor. I am beyond angry that despite having proper keys for my bike, allowing my battery to discharge could cost me hundreds of dollars and this amount of aggravation. Does anyone know how to deactivate the immobilizer? I have purchased a 2nd immobilizer on ebay but the connector on the unit does not seem to match any of the pictures showing bypass connectors. I do not want or need any alarm functionality on my motorcycle. Had I known that I would be unable to start my motorcycle with its properly matched key because of a battery voltage drop I would never have purchased it. I consider this failure mode to be nothing less than unacceptable design flaw. If I am faced with trucking this motorcycle I will probably just put it up for sale to someone who is able to transport it.
The alarm/immobiliser PROBABLY has a small backup battery that needs charging up too? Mine was a PP3 one. My fireblade one was replaced by me as it was playing up. This is replaceable (I think) for a new one so worth a shot first?
Thanks. I suspect it would more likely be a large capacitor which would hold a charge long enough to allow for the bike's battery to be replaced since the immobilizer is a sealed unit. However no storage component would do the owner any good under these circumstances because the key matching would presumably be lost when the immobilizer became discharged unless the matching code was held in eeprom. I did purchase one to get the connector for patch wiring but I've discovered that a new Triumph dealership has opened quite near to me so finally decided to just have my unit reprogrammed. Then I will be able to sell the bike without an unsupported modification. At this point I have pretty much lost confidence that that I won't be faced with this issue again. I really find it hard to excuse a design that prevents the owner from starting the bike using his key alone after making repairs given the likelihood that a thief would simply load the bike into a van and drive away if faced with the issue.
I've never heard of this before. All the (Jap) bikes I've had over the last 20+years have had immobilisers without issues. My current ZZR has suffered a flat battery, plus I've had the battery off the bike for a few days without problems. I remember that when I bought my first Triumph in 2020 the sales guy did mention to avoid turning off the engine with the kill switch (which I have done without issues) for some reason, which I guess could be the possibility of leaving the ignition "on" and flattening the battery.
I get for a few days but the original post suggests it was left for 18 months + as it went flat just before the start of Covid until very recently.
my wife lost the key to our chrysler minivan. purchase of two keys: US$100 coding keys at the dealership: $300 tow the car to the dealership to have the work done : $150 total for two new keys: $550 for my old cars a new key is five bucks.
the exact total was $537, of which $150 was the tow. the rest was buying two electronic chip keys and having them coded- dealer only. there comes a time when advances in high tech become a hindrance. all my motorcycles are old enough that their systems are accessible to me, exvept insjde tbe EI box. im not interested in newer stuff because i do all my own work and have limited time to become competent in a completely new paradigm.
I feel your pain. All this new technology has overcomplicated motorcycles. Gone are the days of using fag papers to set the points, and there was always a way to get the bike home if it was playing up. I could not afford a new bike but even if I could I wouldn't buy one, especially not a Triumph, I hate to say. All I seem to see in here are problems, fob not working, display (speedo etc) issues, crap matt paint, spokes rusting, the list goes on and on. For me, bikes are for riding, not spending loads of time with a toothbrush cleaning after each ride out but I understand why some of you do that, just not for me. Sorry for the waffle.
