Partial Gas Tank Removal?
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Road Warrior
Joined: Dec 2012
Posts: 1,690
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From: Lakeville, MN
Partial Gas Tank Removal?
Hi all. I bought new fork tins, the smooth chrome - to replace the three ridge tins behind the headlight on a 96 FLSTN.
HD instructions say "partially remove fuel tank" then "refer to manual". I have the HD manual for the 95-96 and there's nothing in there showing a partial removal. Ultimately I need to get enough of the tank off to A) get to the nut/bolt that holds the headlight on and B) to get to the wiring harness from the headlamp.
In the spirit of honesty, I'm kind of scared to take the tanks off the bike. I've never done it myself and when they WERE off I didn't pay attention because I never thought I'd have to do it. No clue how to drain them or if it's even necessary. I pulled the dash off and then said, hell no.
So I would like to know if this is much simpler than I am making it or if I should wait...this winter (yes, Minnesota winter) I'm paying a skilled mechanic to do the top end and heads so the whole thing will be apart anyways.
HD instructions say "partially remove fuel tank" then "refer to manual". I have the HD manual for the 95-96 and there's nothing in there showing a partial removal. Ultimately I need to get enough of the tank off to A) get to the nut/bolt that holds the headlight on and B) to get to the wiring harness from the headlamp.
In the spirit of honesty, I'm kind of scared to take the tanks off the bike. I've never done it myself and when they WERE off I didn't pay attention because I never thought I'd have to do it. No clue how to drain them or if it's even necessary. I pulled the dash off and then said, hell no.
So I would like to know if this is much simpler than I am making it or if I should wait...this winter (yes, Minnesota winter) I'm paying a skilled mechanic to do the top end and heads so the whole thing will be apart anyways.
Dirt don't hurt
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 21,062
Likes: 4,547
From: Haslet Texas
Man pulling the tanks off is a very simple job. I have done it many times just because I wanted to tinker with something under there.
As for draining your tanks do you have the vacuum operated petcock or an old fashioned one. The vacuum operated one will have a hose going to the back of the petcock.
If you have the vacuum operated one you will have to siphon the gas out.
If you have the old fashioned one you can simply remove the hose that goes to the carb replace it with a length of hose that you run down to a gas can ( I recommend using a 5 gallon can just in case). The put the petcock in the reserve position and drain the gas into the can.
Next you have to remove the crossover line that runs between the tanks on the bottom front of the tanks. You will loose a little gas here but not that much.
The next thing I do is loosen the 3 tank bolts remove 2 then while holding onto the tank take out the third. KEEP ONE HAND ON THE LOOSE TANK AT ALL TIMES! It can be bad if you don't.
There is also a top crossover line and a vent line attached to the right hand tank. I remove the vent line before I take the tank off and to avoid scratches I pull the tank to get it free from the crossover line.
It sounds a lot harder than it is in practice.
As for just loosening the tanks to change the new fork tins I would take them all the way off to make sure I didn't hit them with a wrench by accident (something I am good at).
As for draining your tanks do you have the vacuum operated petcock or an old fashioned one. The vacuum operated one will have a hose going to the back of the petcock.
If you have the vacuum operated one you will have to siphon the gas out.
If you have the old fashioned one you can simply remove the hose that goes to the carb replace it with a length of hose that you run down to a gas can ( I recommend using a 5 gallon can just in case). The put the petcock in the reserve position and drain the gas into the can.
Next you have to remove the crossover line that runs between the tanks on the bottom front of the tanks. You will loose a little gas here but not that much.
The next thing I do is loosen the 3 tank bolts remove 2 then while holding onto the tank take out the third. KEEP ONE HAND ON THE LOOSE TANK AT ALL TIMES! It can be bad if you don't.
There is also a top crossover line and a vent line attached to the right hand tank. I remove the vent line before I take the tank off and to avoid scratches I pull the tank to get it free from the crossover line.
It sounds a lot harder than it is in practice.
As for just loosening the tanks to change the new fork tins I would take them all the way off to make sure I didn't hit them with a wrench by accident (something I am good at).
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