Easy-er fuel cap access?

SMSW said:

My wife has been complaining about the quality of safety pins (well, at least the larger sizes) for a couple of years now. The older ones could not be easily bent with your fingers, and the new, cheap ones almost wilt before your very eyes. So, for others trying this, unclip the safety pin, and try to bend the wire (of the sharp end that clips into the head) by hand. The new ones feel like limp spaghetti - the old ones are pretty robust. Obviously, old pins will last longer when used as a spring.

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Well, these safety pins seem to bend easily, but are plenty springy...of course the bag of them have been riding in my tool box since probably 2003, LOL!

Uncle Phil,
You've got mail, sir.

Frank

Here's the pictures from Frank's install -

As I told Uncle Phil...it's not pretty, more of a proof of concept and experiment. I'll run it for a while, then redo it and make it permanent.

Frank

Frank - Well, I just got the three of mine done. I made my final bracket of aluminum stock that I have handy and used two 5/16" springs I got from Lowes. It took a bit of tinkering to get the bends where they worked consistently. The springs were 5/16"x1-1/2"X.020 compression springs. I still had to cut about a 1/3 off of them. The aluminum latch was 2"X2 1/4" before the bends. I had to do 3 of them so I got it down pretty quickly. ;-) My quality test was to be able to open the lid 10 times in a row without an issue before I remounted the shelter on the bikes. I have thought that you could make 'ring' with a slight 'hook' that stuck up and install it under the button on the top side. Then you wouldn't need any springs.

Heck yea, man! Looks good! Definitely more than one way to skin a cat, that's fo sho....I had the coil spring thought too, just wasn't sure how bad it would tear up the lid after a while. Pondering it while typing this, I guess it would probably take a century to dig all the way through the lid...........:

Frank

That is VERY trick Unc!

Bueller said:

Heck yea, man! Looks good! Definitely more than one way to skin a cat, that's fo sho....I had the coil spring thought too, just wasn't sure how bad it would tear up the lid after a while. Pondering it while typing this, I guess it would probably take a century to dig all the way through the lid...........:

Frank

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Frank - They just have to be compression springs not 'regular' springs. I put the 'finished' end (where they double loop them smooth) against the cap. Since there is not a lot of pressure, I think they'll be fine. That's the trick - finding the right spring and adjusting the length so that they have just the right amount of push but doesn't hold the cap 'out' against the latch.

You know, the only thing I'm worried about on yours, is catching your fingers on the fuel cap when you go to unscrew it....looks like it could make you leak out if not careful.....

Frank

Frank - That's the reason I 'rounded' all the corners on the latch (you have to look close to see it). Did a fill up this morning on one of mine and it was nice - no fussing with removing the ignition key to unlock the lid. I filled up while sitting on the bike which is what I usually do. I do have to be careful if the fuel nozzle has one of those big round overflow 'skirts' on it. You could probably put the springs further back and shorten the extensions. I'm still thinking about cutting a 'ring with a tab' to go under the push button so you wouldn't need springs. You'd just push with your thumb and lift with one finger.

A strip of metal tape or thin plastic might help the wear if it becomes an issue.

Ron said:

A strip of metal tape or thin plastic might help the wear if it becomes an issue.

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Good Idea - maybe gaffer tape!

That'll work too!

How your supply holding out?

Got gas today...man, it works slick! Should of done that a long time ago.

Frank

Ron said:

That'll work too!

How your supply holding out?

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Getting a little low to be honest!

Uncle Phil said:

Well, I just got the three of mine done

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Got a chance yesterday to see UnclePhil's push button fuel door release. Very cool. Wish I had a bit more time to discuss with him, but we were a bit pressed for time.
Possible future project!

I'm still cogitating on a better 'release spring' mechanism. A latch of spring steel would probably do the trick better.