Cap it off!

In my never ending quest to find the most pointless items to change or upgrade on my bike, I have discovered a wealth of objects. Almost everything I have found appears to be completely unnecessary. In no way do most of the items I've attached to my bike make a bit of difference mechanically. This next one's a doozy.

A hobby at this point.

About 2 weeks ago my wife and I decided we needed to take the bike in a different direction...stylistically. We were already adding some black accents on the front by using extra parts my uncle had lying around. Once we changed the air cleaner to black we realized just how good it could look. The high contrast between the white, chrome and powder-gloss black was undeniably sweet looking. It gave the bike personality and brought it into classic-modern territory. Although this was the look I wanted, getting there happened completely by accident.

While having one of our motorcycle starring sessions after completing our work 2 weeks ago, my wife and I decided the best way to break up the white of the tank would be by adding black gas caps. Fantastic! That would look good and compliment the hockey puck latches on the saddlebags. Naturally, I began to look at all the available options.

The air cleaner that broke the camel's back.

Believe it or not, it is very difficult to locate aftermarket black gas caps. There is always a caveat. It seems as though no one makes a simple, clean gas cap. This is further compounded by the fact that the left side is a dummy cap that houses a fuel gauge. You cannot simply change one side, both must go. I looked through all the major players, Arlen Ness, Kuryakyn, Drag Specialties and so on. Nothing. It was shocking to see almost no support for a clean design. I suppose at the prices I saw, it is understandable that people would want something different. Indeed, most of the aftermarket makers will cost around $240-300 for the pair. Looks are expensive.

I finally found my way back to Harley's official website of expensive accessories. At first I simply looked as gas caps. I found a fantastic, gloss black, flush mounted setup for around $200. This not only looked great but also used blue LED lights for the fuel gauge. The only problem? Would not fit my year. It began to fit the Road King in 2004 only. Odd, seeing as they are damn near identical, but I was not willing to make a $200 bet.

After two solid days of stressing and about 10 hours in Google searches I finally, FINALLY, accidently stumbled upon a different listing for Harley's website. There it was, a black, normal looking gas cap. When I clicked on it, the suggested items page showed me the matching fuel gauge. I could not have been any happier. Hiding in plain sight was a matched set of fuel caps that had a clean, official look. They were expensive, still clocking in around $215 after tax, but I was foolishly ready to pay that price after my long and stressful search.

An Actual Quick Job

The right side of tank was obviously an easy install. The left side was slightly, sort of more involved.

Stylish!

I located the jumper for the power leads that sat plugged in under the tank and between the cylinder heads. I unplugged the plug and then cut the connector off the wires, leaving about 2 centimeters of wire on the connector itself in order to identify wire order more easily. Once the connector was gone I lifted the fuel gauge out of the tank through the provided tube.

Pictures along the way help you remember important details.

The actual gauge has the same three wires I cut earlier but with no connector. They do provide a new connector with the cap. I ran the wires through the tank, used the old connector as a guide to insert the new wires and then closed the connector gently with pliers to lock the wires in place. I plugged the connector into the receptacle under the tank and turned the ignition on. Everything worked well! I then pushed the excess wires into the tank tube and moved on to the next project.

Worth it. I think.

It was an expensive proposition but I believe the results are worth it. It gives the bike more symmetry and breaks up the solid white. Now if only I could get that black dash for the tank...