Modification of a stuck gas cap

Other day, pulled up to the gas station and the cap wouldn't open, rrrrrgh, not the 1st time. So I rode over to the local Honda dealer, where I got the bike. The maintenance mgr. and I were looking it over and he has a trick to open it, push down on the cap then with out applying any pressure quickly turn the key while pulling up, it works but it shouldn't have to be that way. He said he took off some material from the 2 locking tabs on his, mmm ok I'll give it a try. Got home, took off the cap, used the dremel with a sanding roll and took off the sharp edged corners, works like a charm now! It makes sense because the tabs are locking under a 360 degree area but the tabs are not very rounded and are getting stuck because they are not retracting enough. Try it, you'll like it!

 

Uh, and be careful of sparks near your fuel vapors.

But yes, I'll be doing this. Mine was nearly stuck at a gas station 380 miles from home. Took me 5 minutes to open it, and reality was setting in.

 

The only time I've had a problem with a VFR gas cap in 4 years of ownership was when I was on a trip and there were four straight days of rain. Got to the gas station, tried to unlock the gas cap and the key wouldn't turn at all. It actually started twisting at some point. I rode to an AutoZone, got some liquid wrench and a 5mm Allen wrench, unbolted the cap from the tank, sprayed liquid wrench in the keyway and around moving parts of the cap lock, 30 minutes later it was smooth as butter. Haven't had a problem since. I would try that before removing material. Oh, and I checked later, liquid wrench did not make the cap O-ring swell.