What makes this sort of situation complicated is that many products are distributed through a family of semi-related companies. Only ONE of those companies is responsible for provided a warranty to a specific customer.

For example, the Nikon camera company of Japan sells cameras to Nikon USA, the "official" importer. If you buy a Nikon from an authorized dealer in the USA, the warranty is provided by Nikon USA, not by Nikon. If you buy a Nikon from an UNauthorized dealer in the USA, or from a dealer in Cancun, Hong Kong, or Beirut, Nikon USA provides no warranty, and neither does the Nikon corporation itself.


Magnum/OnGuard/Moore have similar arrangements. There is the "parent" company that designs the locks and sells them to the "official" USA importer,to the UK importer, Moore, and to importers in other countries.

If you buy a Magnum/OnGuard lock from an authorized dealer in the UK, the warranty service is through Moore, not the manufacturing company. Because the importing companies often use names similar to the manufacturing company, it can be difficult to know who you are dealing with. It is not clear whether Magnum/OnGuard in the USA is part of the manufacturing company, or if it is an independent company reselling the locks in the USA. Ford UK does not warranty cars sold through Ford USA, nor does Ford - Germany warranty cars sold by Ford UK.

That means you must figure out who you bought the lock from. If you bought the locks from an authorized dealer in the USA, it is the US importer that provides the warranty.


The problem with locking/unlocking 2004-2005 model locks from both Krytonite and OnGuard relates to the flat key design. There are several rotating plates inside the keyway that must be fully aligned with each other for the lock to open and close. Those plates can easily rotate out of alignment by vibrations while riding, and from twisting the key slightly while pulling the key out of the keyway, or by twisting the key before the key is fully seated below the lowest plate.

When all of the plates are aligned, the keyway passage forms a smooth sided rectangular slot that extends to the bottom of the crossbar. If any plate is out of alignment, the key can not reach the bottom of the crossbar, and cannot engage the bottom plate.

The solution is simply to realign the plates. Use the tip of the key to realign the top plate with the second plate. Then align the second plate to the third plate. Then the fourth, the fifth, the sixth.

When I first discovered this problem it took me about thirty seconds to realign all of the plates. Then, I practiced a bit, and I can do it in five or ten seconds.

The 2006 model OnGuard and Kryptonite locks I've seen also have rotating plates, but they are much "stickier" and seldom need to be realigned. The only way to get the plates out of alignment is to insert the key and twist it hard before it is seated below the bottom plate. The locks have red warning stickers on them, warning owners to not turn the key before it is fully seated. But, again, it takes just a few seconds to realign the plates and get the lock working smoothly.