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I got a 2018 Street Bob. What an amazing bike she is! Before I had a 1992 600 Ninja so I came over to the dark (custom) side.
Sure, I started doing some little things to it right away. One of these things concerns the topic title.
My FXBB sucks air into the tank through a vent. Now, I was sure that she does it through the fuel cap so I ordered a black vented fuel cap. When it arrived it looked great! But I really don't think it's vented. It's a big chunk of machined aluminum. Now, I read all kinds of things about some tanks being vented by a hose and some are not. So my question comes down to this:
Is the tank on the FXBB (FXBR has the same) vented - so that I can use a non-vented cap with zero problems?
I'd like to have some input before I run into problems. Thanks!!
On my Slim there's a rubber vent hose that runs from the top of the tank (underneath the speedo console) and down the front of the tank. It's plainly visible if you turn the forks full left.
Yes, it needs to be vented and what Id like to know if I can go without a vented fuel cap. There must be someone who figured this out already. My bike is new to me and I really am not knowledgeable enough to figure it out myself. Thanks Felix 808.
To my knowledge, all Harley tanks, for quite a few years, have been vented by a vent tube instead of a vented cap..... I believe they got away from vented gas caps for EPA/CARB reasons...
For example, CA CARB gas tanks have to be vented through a charcoal canister, all others can be vented straight to the atmosphere.... If there was a vented gas cap, it would defeat the CARB requirements ..... I have an '01 non-CA bike with a vent tube terminating to the atmosphere and an '03 CA bike with a vent tube terminating at a charcoal canister. Same vent system, different termination....
On the Twin Cam bikes, the vent nipple is either on the front of the tank (split tanks with a crossover), in which case you can see the rubber vent tube run down the front of the tank, behind the steering head. Other bikes (newer ones, with no crossover hose on the front of the fuel tank) have the vent nipple on the Fuel Pump Assembly Plate that bolts into the top of the tanks, and the rubber vent tube is run down the top of the tank, under the console, to below the seat area....
I have no idea where they put the vent nipples on the tanks for the M8 bikes. A close inspection of the tank for a nipple and a rubber hose leading down towards the engine, should be easy to spot.....
UPDATE: You don't need a vented cap. I got curious and found a 2018 parts finder... your tank has a vent hose as I suspected. Looks like it's on the bottom, right side of the tank. The vent hose is #12 in this diagram...
Last edited by hattitude; Oct 7, 2018 at 12:13 PM.
No FXBB.... Not a fan of the M8, won't consider one until the MoCo sorts out the issues...
Currently very happy with my Twin Cam Harleys.... '01 Springer FXSTS, '03 Heritage FLSTCI, and '16 Ultra Classic FLHTCU.... all of which have performance/comfort/ appearance mods...
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My FXBB sucks
