New fuel tank without keys to open it.

[Kentman7]

I have a 1982 Suzuki GS300L. It’s up and running great now, thanks to help from this great forum.

the problem I have now is the fuel tank has a pin hole leak from rust. I found a new tank on eBay. But, the guy who is selling it doesn’t have any way of opening it.

my question is, if I ordered the tank, could I open the fuel tank with my Suzuki keys?

 

[bwringer]

Probably not.

But, these are VERY simple wafer locks, and not very hard to rake or jiggle open. It's been a while, but I believe GS ignition locks have five wafers, and the gas and helmet locks only use three.

Once open, you can take the lock cylinder out of the gas cap, and by a combination of swapping or removing wafers, and filing wafers, you can get the gas cap lock to fit your key. You lose some security, but that hardly matters anyway; absolutely no one's running around picking gas cap locks on old motorcycles.

Poke around on YouTube and you'll find some videos showing how motorcycle ignition and gas cap locks work, and how to modify them. And others showing how to rake and "jiggle" wafer locks.

I'd be more worried about the condition of the inside of that tank, since you and the seller can't see inside. Still, if the price isn't too bad it's likely to be worth the gamble...

 

[Nessism]

On my very first GS, a 450, purchased in 2006, there was no key. I removed the ignition lock and took it to a local locksmith shop, who made me a key in about 15 minutes, for something like $10. I suspect, a similar shop could make you a key for a gas cap, for a pittance of a price.

 

[Big T]

Does the gas cap have a 3 digit code on it?
if so, there's a member here who's a locksmith and will cut you the proper key
Kiwicanuk?

 

[Brendan W]

So if nobody can open it, nobody can see what the insides are like?

 

[Cipher]

So if nobody can open it, nobody can see what the insides are like?

Petcock and level sender holes are accessible.