Packing the bike up on Sunday, ready to leave at 0500 on a three day 1500 mile trip, I removed the seats in order to fit the BMW tank bag, refitted the seats and was unable to take the key out of the seat lock as it had jammed completely. Half an hour of pushing, pulling and twisting made no difference. The key was not completely upright in the lock, and would not budge into the upright position. I read every post I could find on this forum, and resumed my efforts, this time with graphite spray, and pushing down hard on first the rear seat, then the front. Zilch.
No way could I leave the key where it was, as anyone would be able to use the keyless start and ride it away, so I grabbed a pair of pliers, held the body of the key in them and slowly applied more and more pressure. Just as I thought it was going to snap, the key shifted slightly and I was able to use the pliers and pull it out.
I used the Live Chat feature on the dealer's website and outlined the problem to the nice lady who answered, and asked her to arrange a workshop appointment for me, as I would be on the road for the next few days from 0500 to 1800 each day, and requested email confirmation that this would be a warranty issue.
Monday came & went - no confirmation. Had to stop & phone the dealers, who knew nothing about the live chat, and promised to call me back and email me. They didn't. Stopped to phone again on Tuesday - same promise, same outcome. All day riding on Wednesday, so phoned the dealer again this morning. The workshop chap I needed to speak to was too busy at 0900 to talk to me, same at 1000 and at 1115 I phoned again and went somewhat crazy at the poor receptionist. That got me a phone call back, and was advised to call BMW Assist, as they would send someone to look at it, and if it can't be repaired on site, they would arrange transport for it to go back to the dealer (I live a 3 hour round trip away).
That was this morning. It's 4:30 now and I'm still waiting for the promised text with an arrival time.
Whilst the bike behaved impeccably during my trip (my only complaint is the seat, which is torturous and will have to be replaced toot sweet)) gave me 60 mpg over all, this has left me wondering whether I have made a mistake and should have bought the Kawasaki Ninja 1000 SX instead.