Went to fill my 87 k75 for the first time and the gas cap will not open..

i saw the previous owner open it the day i purchased it (a week ago). so, i know it opened then. however when i put the key in the cap it just spins and spins either direction i turn it.
That leads me to believe that the lock itself is broken,
when i pull out the key slightly it seems to ingage the tumblers better however it does not pop the cap open.
I have tried prying on the cap while turning the key and that has not helped..

i've read articles about how some people putting a heat gun and graphite to the lock to get it to open. will this help in my situation?
how can i get my gas cap open?
How can i get the locking mechanism out of the tank/cap to replace it?
Any advice, tips or direction would be greatly appreciated.

For now i am unable to ride due to the fact that i cannot fill it with gas...

Most probably it's the plastic piece underneath the lock barrel that is worn out.
Have a look at this link.

Inge K.

thank you,
the link you posted was very helpful. i now understand what the problem was.
however i now have a new problem.

i broke the cap off and about have of what was shown in your link is now in my gas tank.

ive removed the tank and am looking at ways to get all the debris out of the tank.

any suggestions?

If no flammables left in there, shopvac with a piece of hose to reach in there. Altough they sell a nifty little kit of brushes/hoses and pick up thingies that adapts to most shopvacs.

Bigger pieces that you can see, one of them 3 prongs/claws flexible pickup tools???

But then you can always turn it upside down and shake the.....out of it. Shake enough and eventually things come out of there.

thanks for the reply,
shook the shook out of it, if you know what i'm saying. Most all of the stuff came out. the few other bits i just reached in there and grabbed. the only stuff left in there is some grime and silicon sealer the previous owner used to seal the gas cap assembly. However im unable to use a shop/vac because i'm not able to get all the fuel out.
After some research and finding out it can be rinsed out with water. I realized i can't even get all the fuel out. i'm going to try rinsing the crud out with a little more gas. seams kind of ridiculous using fuel as a rinsing agent, but ill have the piece of mind knowing there's now water in the tank.

while i have the tank off and am waiting for my replacement fuel filler cap, I've decided to replace the fuel filter and fuel lines.

any advice, warnings, or tips would be appreciated. thank you

Use submersible fuel lines inside the tank, SAE 30R10.

Inge K.

You may need some Methyl Hydrate (Methanol) to flush that tank. Any good hardware store should have that but wear gloves, not good absorbed through skin that the Methanol. May take a little while for it to release the silicone but should work. I have some rubber parts treated like that in my test jar...I'll look later.

Sure it is silicone??? If blue and a little sticky could be Hylomar,not much will touch and clean that. Long soak in Methanol maybe....again I should look at my tests.

If silicone I'd be weary, some aren't "sensor safe". Doesn't take much of that to pollute an O2 sensor if so equipped. And in any case none of them silicones are fuel proof, bad choice around fuel systems.Fuel resistant maybe once dried and outside of the system, but sure not so when exposed to gasoline.

Getting rid of the gas or water.....stick paper towels in there,long lenght keeping one end out. Should wick everything out.

I think Gates now has hose that will do both, in or out of the gasoline. Came upon that not long ago. If not make sure you get Spec 9 and 10.They don't interchange.