[Richard T]

Last Saturday I had the misfortune to lose my transponder fob on the 10 mile journey from home to a petrol station. As I switched off, I saw the 'transponder missing' message flash up, but failed to react in time by switching back on. The fob must have fallen out of the jacket pocket I forgot to zip up. I had to phone my wife to come by car and rescue me with my spare, thank God I'd not gone a lot further before stopping.
Today I contacted the main dealer to order another - and was absolutely gobsmacked to be charged GBP240!!!!! I have to go in next Tuesday to collect it and have it registered/coded to my bike.
My insurance company aren't interested as the bike itself isn't lost or damaged, and even though I have the personal possessions extension to cover helmet & clothing, that doesn't kick in unless the bike is damaged, and the same excess applies (min £250). Fortunately, it appears I can claim against my household contents - personal possessions cover which has an excess of only £50.

The main issue though is - how the hell can Kawasaki justify £240 for a poxy little transponder containing probably less that £10 worth of components?
I will never buy another bike fitted with this system until the replacement pricing is more reasonable. :rant

 

[runnerhiker]

Richard,

Too bad, at least you were not far away from home. This fob is a solution to a problem nobody has.

 

[jonathan]

You could have purchased the cheaper fob from the 2010 and 11 GTRs. It looks like a credit card and will only work by holding it against the ignition switch, but as a spare it is perfect. Because it doesn't transmit like the more expensive fobs it is also a lot cheaper.

 

[bala]

They charge it because they can, and because you can't use the bike without one so you've no choice but to buy it. The list goes on and on €140 for 1 tyre pressure sensor, €240 for touring screen( it's a piece of plastic ! ), €400 for a pannier LID !...will I continue ?

 

[Richard T]

You could have purchased the cheaper fob from the 2010 and 11 GTRs. It looks like a credit card and will only work by holding it against the ignition switch, but as a spare it is perfect. Because it doesn't transmit like the more expensive fobs it is also a lot cheaper.

Is that for certain? If so, I might switch.
My household insurers have changed their minds, and now say as a vehicle accessory it's excluded from my policy. :angry

Last chance, I took my spare fob into a metal detector shop and found that it can easily trigger a metal detector, so I've borrowed one and this afternoon I'm going for a long (hopefully not too long) walk!

 

[jonathan]

Is that for certain? If so, I might switch.

Yes, that is certain. Have a look at these threads for more information:

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=3376.msg40175#msg40175

http://www.zggtr.org/index.php?topic=1560.0

 

[kenroyer67]

I bought a used 2010 Concours with no spare FOB. I never heard of the credit card thingy but discovered it accidently looking on the computer. 2 different Kawasaki dealers in Las Vegas didn't know about it either until I showed them a part #. It cost me $35 and a half hour labor ($65). Much cheaper than a new FOB and it fits on my regular key chain and I don't notice it in my pocket.

 

[jwh20]

You might have a look at this information here:

http://forum.cog-online.org/index.php/topic,53502.0.html

 

[NotDeadYet]

Have you had to purchase a replacement car key fob lately. That's another rude experience, especially for the European marques. I had to pay $450 dollars for a replacement Audi key fob. I new I was going to get bent over ... but really. :surprise:

 

[Dimiter Kalyashki]

They charge it because they can, and because you can't use the bike without one so you've no choice but to buy it. The list goes on and on €140 for 1 tyre pressure sensor, €240 for touring screen( it's a piece of plastic ! ), €400 for a pannier LID !...will I continue ?

But the price of the GTR1400 was the cheapest price ever for the best bike i ever bought... If you know this, try to not loose the key. Kawasaki can not be held responsible for anybody loosing his keyfob. Nobody stole my GTR1400 yet... +je

 

[KevA]

You might want to look at the date of the Thread before replying....Just Sayin