while i was at work my bike was parked in the parking lot at pizza hut. i come out and drive away and go to the gas station cuz i needed gas. i put the key in the tank and its really hard to push in. luckily i was able to get it open without much effort but still. if i wouldnt have gotten that open i would have been f**ked. out of gas and 30 miles from home. is there anyway to replace the lock to your ignition key or do you have to buy all need ignition and tank cap. is there some type of a motorcycle alarm that i could easily put on it to deter any would be vandals?? the funny and ironic thing is...they wouldnt have gotten away with much maybe a half gallon i needed gas anyway.

 

what a dumb thing to steal gas from, bikes only hold like 4.5gal chuck full. its so much easier to open the fuel door on a car and get 15 gallons

 

I'm an ex-locksmith (well, repo guy). If you take the cap and key to a proper locksmith, he can fix it. Unfortunately, you'll have no gas cap for however long it takes him (it's not a 30 minute job), and we don't work cheap.

Also knowing how locks work, how to pick locks, and what sorts of ****ed-up things people do that they THINK will pick a lock, I generally know what's messed up in there from the get go. What usually happens is they just get all of the little individual pins and springs in there all bound up and stuck from that friction, kindof like an old-school typewriter if you'd mash all the keys.

Try this: Spray a crapload of WD-40 directly into the lock, and whack it good and hard with the handle end of a screwdriver a few times. Push the key in and out like 20 times. If it still sticks, whack it some more.

If that doesn't work, you can get a little more extreme, but this can be VERY DANGEROUS if you're not paying attention:

REMOVE THE CAP FROM THE TANK, and get it **FAR AWAY FROM ANYTHING FLAMABLE!!!!!** Put it out on the asphalt or cement or something. Light up your favorite blow torch, and heat up the lock with it. BE AWARE THAT THIS **WILL START ON FIRE*** This is because you're igniting all that WD-40 and gasoline. The flames should not last long, but KEEP YOUR FACE AWAY. Move the flame up and down botch sides of the lock cylinder to get it good and hot, then try the key thing another few times. You're going to want some asbestos gloves, cuz it will be HOT.

If this works, drop some lock lube in there (cuz you burnt off the original), and reassemble. If this doesn't work, then it's locksmith time.

Be aware that if your lock isn't already totally unsuable, then the above proceedures may render it so accidentally.

 

There is no situation that can't be made better by starting something on fire. It may not FIX anything, but you'll at least feel a bit more content with things afterwards.