Locking Gas Cap?

Over on another forum theres a thread about locking gas caps. Never thought much about them. Have them on my Volvo semi, both tanks. Back at the beginning of April was at the dealer getting the annual inspection on my trike and a rider and his wife were there with steam coming of thire ears.They were at Walmart doing some shopping- its only about a quarter mile from the dealership. Some punk poured a slushie into his fuel tank.Got it on parking lot camera. They made just to the entrance of HD when it conked out. Him and his lady pushed it up the driveway. Brand new RoadKing. I immediately went inside and bought the HD locking gas cap.

Old Road Dog said:

Over on another forum theres a thread about locking gas caps. Never thought much about them. Have them on my Volvo semi, both tanks. Back at the beginning of April was at the dealer getting the annual inspection on my trike and a rider and his wife were there with steam coming of thire ears.They were at Walmart doing some shopping- its only about a quarter mile from the dealership. Some punk poured a slushie into his fuel tank.Got it on parking lot camera. They made just to the entrance of HD when it conked out. Him and his lady pushed it up the driveway. Brand new RoadKing. I immediately went inside and bought the HD locking gas cap.

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My 2011 Triglide came stock with a locking gas cap I Immediately went out got rid of the lock and put a push button lock on too much trouble trying to unlock barrel locks they tend to jam and besides i Rarely frequent Walmart…..

Old Road Dog said:

Over on another forum theres a thread about locking gas caps. Never thought much about them. Have them on my Volvo semi, both tanks. Back at the beginning of April was at the dealer getting the annual inspection on my trike and a rider and his wife were there with steam coming of thire ears.They were at Walmart doing some shopping- its only about a quarter mile from the dealership. Some punk poured a slushie into his fuel tank.Got it on parking lot camera. They made just to the entrance of HD when it conked out. Him and his lady pushed it up the driveway. Brand new RoadKing. I immediately went inside and bought the HD locking gas cap.

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I sure hope they were able to identify and finds the guy that did it. The question that I can't answer is WHY, why on earth would someone think that is funny

If you’re concerned about someone *$%king with your gas tank, then just upgrade to the flush style cap.

A stupid A#$hole is too dumb to figure out how to take off the flush cap.

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/shop/Flush-Mount-Fuel-Cap-and-Gauge-Kit/p/62823-08D

I’m going to upgrade my Freewheeler with one of these not because of I’m concerned about the gas but rather I like the look and function.

I’ve had this setup up my Heritage since many years.

Blueraven said:

If you’re concerned about someone *$%king with your gas tank, then just upgrade to the flush style cap.

A stupid A#$hole is too dumb to figure out how to take off the flush cap.

https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/shop/Flush-Mount-Fuel-Cap-and-Gauge-Kit/p/62823-08D

I’m going to upgrade my Freewheeler with one of these not because of I’m concerned about the gas but rather I like the look and function.

I’ve had this setup up my Heritage since many years.

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I put one on my Victory Gunner’ And for the same reasons as you ..

Blueraven said:

If you’re concerned about someone *$%king with your gas tank, then just upgrade to the flush style cap. A stupid A#$hole is too dumb to figure out how to take off the flush cap. https://www.harley-davidson.com/us/en/shop/Flush-Mount-Fuel-Cap-and-Gauge-Kit/p/62823-08D I’m going to upgrade my Freewheeler with one of these not because of I’m concerned about the gas but rather I like the look and function. I’ve had this setup up my Heritage since many years.

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Was thinking about this setup, or something similar, for awhile, but I've heard complaints about the gas cap failing to pop up preventing people from getting it off at gas stations. I'm guessing you've never had any issue with yours?

JTJersey said:

Was thinking about this setup, or something similar, for awhile, but I've heard complaints about the gas cap failing to pop up preventing people from getting it off at gas stations. I'm guessing you've never had any issue with yours?

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I never had problems with the pop-up caps..That said I did have problems with caps/trunks with barrel locks jamming..

Those that are having trouble with locks of any type- what type of lube do you use? Never ever never never use WD40.More locks in my opinion have been ruined by that stuff than anything else short of a screwdriver. The best Ive found is Dri Slide. Works good on cables and pistol slides also. Contains Moly B, so its a bit messy.

JTJersey said:

Was thinking about this setup, or something similar, for awhile, but I've heard complaints about the gas cap failing to pop up preventing people from getting it off at gas stations. I'm guessing you've never had any issue with yours?

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With winter gloves on it can sometimes be a chore to push the cap down and turn it so that it pops up but that’s only due to the cushion of the gloves not the gas cap itself.

Bare handed or with lightweight gloves I’ve never had an issue.

BTW- my LED fuel gauge on my Heritage has never been that accurate but some say it’s accurate for them.

Since I have the combo Speedo/Tach on my Freewheeler I wouldn’t use the LED gauge anyway as the Speedo/Tach gauge is pretty accurate.

So I went ahead and ordered the pop up gas cap and fuel gauge kit from HD. Fuel gauge directions say to disconnect the negative battery terminal. I can't even find the the negative battery terminal under the seat. I see the positive terminal. If I pull the main fuse instead is this going to scramble my ECM and cause a bunch of problems?

I should have prefaced this post by mentioning that I was over my buddies garage and he has them on his Roadking. Came that way when he bought it, but got to play with the gas cap none the less. Way easier to remove and replace than the stock cap. I've been struggling to keep from scratching up the paint around the cap with my finger nails when trying to get it on and off. No problem with his at all.

JTJersey said:

So I went ahead and ordered the pop up gas cap and fuel gauge kit from HD. Fuel gauge directions say to disconnect the negative battery terminal. I can't even find the the negative battery terminal under the seat. I see the positive terminal. If I pull the main fuse instead is this going to scramble my ECM and cause a bunch of problems?

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No, the ECM will be fine, it has many partitions like your lap top

I always disconnect power on any electrical work I am doing, I do not like surprises

You will have to reset your clock tho

Jack Klarich said:

No, the ECM will be fine, it has many partitions like your lap top I always disconnect power on any electrical work I am doing, I do not like surprises You will have to reset your clock tho

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I must have watched 20 vids about replacing the gas gauge and no one, I mean no one, disconnected the battery. I can't image that quick disconnect to the gas gauge wires causing a problem. Oh, by the way, how did you know I have multiple partitions on my laptop? Hmm?

JTJersey said:

I must have watched 20 vids about replacing the gas gauge and no one, I mean no one, disconnected the battery. I can't image that quick disconnect to the gas gauge wires causing a problem. Oh, by the way, how did you know I have multiple partitions on my laptop? Hmm?

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Common sense

I know a lot of folks that do electrical and not bother with a disconnect, I know a lot of folks that have terrible times with electrical

I am not one of them, I learned from the best ( My dad, a certified Mack and Detroit diesel mechanic NOT a tech) His rule was always disconnect power

I have seen some cars and trucks activate the starter ( burned contacts in the solenoid) with no one present. I have a friend with a 1974 Shovelhead that burned up from a stuck solenoid

Jack Klarich said:

Common sense

I know a lot of folks that do electrical and not bother with a disconnect, I know a lot of folks that have terrible times with electrical

I am not one of them, I learned from the best ( My dad, a certified Mack and Detroit diesel mechanic NOT a tech) His rule was always disconnect power

I have seen some cars and trucks activate the starter ( burned contacts in the solenoid) with no one present. I have a friend with a 1974 Shovelhead that burned up from a stuck solenoid

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Changing spark plugs on my 68 Charger i dropped one square on the starter terminals , And it shorted out the starter......:blowup:......

Ok is this the Positive or Negative terminal? The diagram in the manual is a bit vague on this and I don't see any markings visible.

JTJersey said:

Ok is this the Positive or Negative terminal? The diagram in the manual is a bit vague on this and I don't see any markings visible.

View attachment 108344

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That’s negative if you fish around to the other side you see another terminal that has a red color that’s positive..

Managed to get the gas cap/fuel gauge combo installed this afternoon despite multiple interruptions and phone calls. I did disconnect the negative battery terminal. I knew getting the wires off the connector of the OEM gauge was going to be a nuisance, but I wanted to save them intact for future use. I always save my factory parts when I change something. Finally found the right tool and got the pins out, then the real fun began. That gauge, despite the instructions, can go in multiple ways and of course I picked wrong. Disconnect battery again and take it all apart and rotated it. Still wrong. Did it again. Not quite straight. Getting irritated I didn't remove the terminal because I just knew I was going to drop that screw down into that abyss under the seat. Finally got it straight, locked it down and went and got gas. Works fine, but threw a Check Engine Light. Another half hour to find out the ECM was telling me that the battery had been disconnected. Oh, no kidding! Cleared that and everything appears to be right with the world again. Getting the gas cap assembly installed was the easiest part of the job, by the way. Couple of pics if anyone's interested.

Looks good JT:clapping:

JTJersey said:

Couple of pics if anyone's interested.

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Nice; I’m motivated.

Just added it to my Surdyke shopping cart.