I just had to relearn that one.

We were planning on taking a ride on my 1983 Honda GL650 Silverwing. Though the bike is more than 40 years old it has yet to break down, which is testimony to the sound design of motorcycles made 40 years ago. Japanese motorcycles, at any rate. Hondas and Kawasakis and Suzukis and Yamahas from that time had to be better than the British and American bikes of the time in order to convince Americans (and Brits) to buy them. For this reason, they were better-built. Their engines were very hard to hurt, even if you tried. These things just ran – and continued to run – for decades. It is why four decades after it was made, my Honda (and my even older Kawasakis) are still running reliably.

But only if you have a key for them.

Somehow, I managed to lose the one key I had for the Silverwing. Which I've managed to not lose since I bought the bike about 12 years ago. That's a miracle in and of itself as I am the absent-minded professor type who instantly forgets where I just a moment before left something. But – saving grace in this case – I usually just left the key in the ignition. This time, I left it somewhere else. Only God knows where.

I looked everywhere but could not find it. I will probably find it after I get a new key for it. Which is going to take more than getting one cut. Because without a key to serve as the pattern, you can't get another key cut.

You must have the code.

And that code is stamped on the ignition lock cylinder, which must be removed to be able to see what the code is. This entails some disassembly. Not difficult, especially. But a hassle and in the meanwhile, you can't ride the bike. Not very far, that is. Because even if you did a hot-wire end-run around the ignition switch, you won't be able to unlock the gas cap, which uses the same key as the ignition switch does. And if you have a bike with locking storage bags, you won't be able to unlock those without a key, either.

That also means you can't just replace the ignition switch with a new one because it will use a different key. You'd be able to start the bike. But it'd only run until it ran out of gas. And you wouldn't be able to carry anything much, either.

A thing to know about bikes – whether newer or older – is that unlike cars, the key info is not generally tied to the bike's VIN.

Having a title/VIN shows you own the bike but those documents do not have the information needed to cut a new key. Newer bikes may not even have a code stamped on the switch, in which case you may have to learn an even harder lesson if you lose the keys.