Motorcycle & Scooter Keys: getting ready

A copy cut at a hardware kiosk turns the ignition on some mornings and skips it on others, occasionally sticking halfway and needing a wiggle that the original key never required.

Worth answering before the call

What is the make, model and year of the machine? Where is the machine currently kept? Has anyone already tried to cut or copy this key elsewhere?

Do I have to have the original key for you to cut a new one?

No. When every key for the machine is gone, the locksmith reads the lock directly, working out each wafer's depth by picking and reading the cylinder or using a decoder built for that keyway, and cuts a fresh key to the code that comes out of that reading. It takes longer than copying an existing key, since every wafer is read individually, but it produces a key that matches the lock rather than a guess.

Would a copy from a general hardware-store machine work just as well?

It can, but motorcycle wafer locks vary between manufacturers even when they look similar, and a generic cutter is not always set up to read the specific depths and keyway profile correctly. A copy that is slightly off shows up as a key that catches or needs a wiggle, which is often what brings someone in after trying that route first. Cutting from the lock's actual code avoids that guesswork.