My bike is whining like a skunk

[Tekime]

Short story: the gas cap on my '89 FJ1200 is whining like a sad animal after the bike is shut off. I believe this is venting, confirmed by a few other posts, but is it normal for this to occur intermittently for 30-60 minutes after shutoff?

Long story:

I parked my bike in the shed two nights ago and closed the carport. Returned 30 minutes later and a baby skunk managed to sneak in and get locked inside. I was too stubborn to leave and wait it out, so I was trying to coax it toward the door. It had fled to a corner behind a bunch of bike parts and was probably feeling trapped. It came out after a few minutes and looked right at me with this cute, sad little skunk face and started whining like the most pathetic little dog I've ever heard. I immediately Googled "skunk whining" and lo and behold, skunks whine when they're scared. So now I'm faced with the possibility of getting sprayed, but this adorable little creature is crying at me from the corner, so I turn the lights off and decide to wait him out. He finally leaves, and I tell my wife all about the skunk who was whining at me because I inadvertently trapped him in our shed!

So the next day, I parked the bike at a store and upon returning, what did I hear? That sad little mew/whine/whimper, clear as day. At this point I'm thinking great, it's finally happened, I've lost my mind. BUT... I kept listening and followed the noise back to my GAS CAP. Nope, no sad skunks, just some venting. Kind of feeling silly about the whole thing but at least now I know.

My only question is whether this is normal to occur 30-60 minutes after shutoff, or maybe a sign that it's not venting properly and needs to be checked.

I guess we can't embed YouTube in our posts, but I got the noise on my camera just to keep a record:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5yIiWuD584

[racerrad8]

Do this: http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=2024.0

But take this advise on top of it: http://www.fjowners.com/index.php?topic=11178.msg110290#msg110290

Randy - RPM

[FJmonkey]

The noise from the cap is normal. If you can't stand it then Randy posted the solution above.

[Tekime]

Excellent. Thank you!

I don't mind the noise. It's kind of like my bike is just whining for attention 'cuz she misses me.

[rktmanfj]

Short story: the gas cap on my '89 FJ1200 is whining like a sad animal after the bike is shut off. I believe this is venting, confirmed by a few other posts, but is it normal for this to occur intermittently for 30-60 minutes after shutoff?

Yes.

Sometimes, just the sun shining in the garage door is enough to do it.

FWIW, it's when it stops altogether that you're going to have problems...

[Country Joe]

I'm weird, but I kind of like the sound. I consider it an FJ singing a mournful song because the ride is over.

[Tekime]

Great. Haha, yes Country Joe I get the same impression. Soon as I parked today it whines at me like "awwww, already?" 

[giantkiller]

Yah I did the flap ectomy. And I must admit I miss the Fj howl.