gas cap fun

[Red750]

went for a ride fri night and cannot get my gas cap/filler cap open w key. shortened the ride a bit. any advice on how to remove from tank for repair or replacement? i have the four bolts out of the retaining ring but it still feels caught in the tank. i am able to lift the ring off slightly but unable to remove entire assembly. any help would be great as it is more fun to ride than work on.

[ep87]

It's being held down by the tangs that actually lock it. Is the key just not turning any more. If it was me I'd drain the tank as much as possible and remove and let a locksmith take a look. or sometimes if their good they might be able to cut a new key to get it open. Key or tumber is most likely just worn out. Seams to happen a lot on bikes.

I'm going to need to change out my ignition soon it getting harder and harder to operate. Just plain worn out.
Richard

[Red750]

thanks ep87. i thought that might be the case. key turns slightly but will not pull back the tangs. sounds like gravel in the lock. may run it to the local locksmith for a look.

[ep87]

Yah if you got the gas to get their, it would be a lot easier than taking off the tank. I know the local guy I've used before is about 100 years old but make it look easy.

Richard

[ThAzKat]

OK here it is, 4 screws have to come out. top left, top right, bottom left and bottom right. Get a thin screw driver and a rag. the tang on the top(towards the front of the bike) will compress with said screwdriver. Once you get that tang pushed in, the cap will come off if the outer screws are out. This might take a few minutes to avoid scratching the tank. I have a screwdriver for this sort of thing and it is bent just for this.

[venturesomerite]

I would put some graphite in the lock and try with the key. Work it in and out many times, has saved many a lock for me. Cheap and worth a try. I have found the powdered to work better than the liquid stuff.

If you have a lot of miles, or key in and out cycles on the bike, it's possible that the ignition and key have worn together, leaving the less opened gas cap worn differently and that may be why you are having a hard time. Just a theory though.

[Kreylyn]

The interal parts are aluminum. Aluminum will corrode forming aluminum oxide when exposed to water (white powdery consistancy, and many times you can see some of it on the outside).

I've cleaned and repaired several of the tank locks, always was the same issue. The interals corroded, the aluminum oxide is gritty and worked on biding up the tabs so they would not slide.

Dissasembly the lock, polish the parts so that there is no more oxide on them, and put it back together. It will work perfectly at this point, but I do suggest you start lubing it with dry graphite lock lube.

Disassembly is really easy (couple of screws) and doesn't take long.

Krey

[phantasm]

I was able to pick the lock onmy cap with a thin hack saw blade. took a lot of wiggle while trying to turn but did open.

[Red750]

hey everybody. just joined the forum. awesome advice from all. thanks for the tech info thazkat. i was able to remove the cap and rebuild the lock from below. as stated the aluminum parts were seizing. no lock smith charge!!!!!!!!! woooo hooo going ridin to the station for a fill up! thank you for all of your help.