Managing your fuel supply on long dry stretches

PGlaves said:

Over the years folks in Oregon have cited two main reasons for the law. The legislature has argued that it is good for employment - jobs! Many locally owned stations/stores have argued that converting to self-serve pumps and equipment is too costly.

Is that all true? Maybe. Maybe not.

I have been in many small towns where the pumps are self-serve but not pay at the pump. Pull up. Fill tank. Go in. Pay.

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NJ is the same, and it is equally dumb. Self-serve pumps rarely get sick (break), and work 24 hours a day. You do not even need an attendant to pay.


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Not that many years ago there were a number of Cenex (Farmers Union Coop) stations in small towns in the Great Plains that were open daytime hours Mondays through Saturdays but which were closed evenings, nights, and Sundays. They had card readers that worked only with your Cenex account card.

So one fine Sunday afternoon on U.S. 36 in eastern Colorado I arrived at the only fuel stop in town absent anything resembling a Cenex account card. And, of course, I did not have sufficient fuel to make it to the nearest town in any of four directions.

As I stood there pondering things a kind local in a pickup truck pulled in. Without me even needing to say anything he told me we could use his card to fill my bike if I needed fuel. We did. I paid him cash. I thanked him. He said it wasn't the first time and we both laughed.

By now most (but not all) such stations take Visa and Mastercard as well as a Cenex account card.

The “private card” situation can be encountered in Canada as well. We encountered a number of stations where our chip cards would not function at the pump—the stations were set up for cash, private cards (e.g. commercial trucking) or leave your card at the cashier’s station as deposit—which I refuse to do. Our best luck was at PetroCan, where our cards never failed to work at the pump. Locals rattled off a name for the particular card they were set up to accept but I don’t recall what it was. Cenex used to call theirs “Cardtrol” IIRC.

Best,
DG

I don't believe it has been mentioned but a steady but slow acceleration rather than a rocket like takeoff from a stop will also reduce your bike's petrol consumption.

Slow acceleration is so hard to do.

PGlaves said:

Over the years folks in Oregon have cited two main reasons for the law. The legislature has argued that it is good for employment - jobs! Many locally owned stations/stores have argued that converting to self-serve pumps and equipment is too costly.

Is that all true? Maybe. Maybe not.

I have been in many small towns where the pumps are self-serve but not pay at the pump. Pull up. Fill tank. Go in. Pay.

Click to expand...

Thanks, Paul. It does make sense that requiring someone to pump your gas is good for employment, presumably at minimum wage. So are gas prices higher in Oregon and NJ? I'm surprised, but heartened, that there are still places where they trust the customers to actually pay after pumping their gas. Perhaps the cost of gas theft is more than offset by the price of card-reading pumps.

Oh, in B.C. when the gas station closes for the evening/night THEY SHUT OFF THE PUMPS! Hey lock the building, but let anyone with a Visa or MasterCard and valid pin number pump gas, wouldn't you think?

Another puzzlement - the relative price of diesel fuel VS regular gas. I've owned two diesel fueled cars. During my first ownership, the price of diesel was always lower. For the last 5.5 years I've owned a VW Passat diesel - which is going back for a refund on Friday. Price of diesel was about that of premium gas when we bought the car - a shock. Then it dropped below the price of regular for several years. Now it is again above the price of regular gas. Any explanation?

Rain

PGlaves said:

Over the years folks in Oregon have cited two main reasons for the law. The legislature has argued that it is good for employment - jobs! Many locally owned stations/stores have argued that converting to self-serve pumps and equipment is too costly.

Is that all true? Maybe. Maybe not.

I have been in many small towns where the pumps are self-serve but not pay at the pump. Pull up. Fill tank. Go in. Pay.

Click to expand...

People don't like to pump their gas in the rain, especially when the rain is going sideways, and it rains in (Western) Oregon a lot. That, in my opinion, is reason that this law persists. If they permitted pumping your own gas, then "full service" would soon disappear, due to it being non financially competitive. As for myself, I am quite happy to have someone pump my gas in my car, for that reason. Of course, the "official" reasons given are laughable and implausible; the real reason is RAIN. With motos they typically come out and insert the credit card for you and hand you the nozzle--crazy, and quite silly, but we are OK with it.

BCKrider--the gas vs diesel price disparity varies for number of reasons. Some of has to do with fuel usage in Europe. The refineries in Europe are putting out more gasoline than the markets can handle, given that there are more diesel cars in Europe. Consequently, the excess gasoline is exported to North America. In the U.S. the gulf coast refineries produce a lot of diesel fuel for export to Latin America and the gasoline, in some cases, is in surplus. But it can all change, depending on the North American economy. When the economy is booming, there is a lot more truck activity and more demand for diesel fuel and the price goes up. When the economy slacks off, the price of diesel goes down. There is also the role of ethanol in the fuel supply, which tends to extend the gasoline supply.

akbeemer said:

I wonder if all this sage advice has met the OP's expectations?

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I work in Tech Support for off road vehicles and it is typical to get a question that requires additional information in order to offer a resolution. The OP asked how to go 400 km (248.5 miles) with a bike that gets 200 km (124 miles) per tank. This is where the necessary information ends so the best answer is to take the existing gas tank and add another one. Or one could Google auxiliary tanks. Whatever the volume is stock he needs 2x that plus the small canister of reserve. Without knowing the model of bike it is unknown if an Acerbis tank is available. In summary, the output is directly related to the input. With some additional information a real answer is likely available.

p.s. Ditto on the Rockies fill up advice. BTDT.

BCKRider said:

Another puzzlement - the relative price of diesel fuel VS regular gas. I've owned two diesel fueled cars. During my first ownership, the price of diesel was always lower. For the last 5.5 years I've owned a VW Passat diesel - which is going back for a refund on Friday. Price of diesel was about that of premium gas when we bought the car - a shock. Then it dropped below the price of regular for several years. Now it is again above the price of regular gas. Any explanation?

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Supply/demand issues factor in, but there’s also BTU-Content pricing being applied by the energy companies. Diesel has substantially more BTU/lb than gasoline, and what you’re really buying in any fuel product is the BTU content.

Best,
DG

jkjohnson said:

People don't like to pump their gas in the rain, especially when the rain is going sideways, and it rains in (Western) Oregon a lot. That, in my opinion, is reason that this law persists.

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That is logical. But it fails to explain the laws in Washington where it also rains, or Montana and North Dakota where there blizzards or it is really cold, or Florida or Louisiana where there are hurricanes, or Minnesota where you can be attacked by mosquitoes.

We’ve managed to get this thread to 5 pages and the original poster has not contributed any additional content.

He has not posted anywhere since his last post here. Perhaps he has been unable to post because life happens, or perhaps he is displeased by the response to his question.

akbeemer said:

He has not posted anywhere since his last post here. Perhaps he has been unable to post because life happens, or perhaps he is displeased by the response to his question.

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Maybe he went for a ride and ran out of gas.

GTRider said:

Supply/demand issues factor in, but there’s also BTU-Content pricing being applied by the energy companies. Diesel has substantially more BTU/lb than gasoline, and what you’re really buying in any fuel product is the BTU content.

Best,
DG

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I appreciate your response, and also that of #68. But it would seem that refineries both in the US and Europe could see changes coming in the amount of gas VS diesel they will be selling and vary their production accordingly. I thought (and am often wrong) that turning crude oil into diesel fuel was cheaper than turning it into gas. That would account for lower diesel prices even though it is a more efficient fuel - which my two diesel cars bore out. It just seems bizarre that the US is sending fuel to South America and then importing it from Europe or the middle east. Those big ships filled with fuel have to cost big money - which we pay for at the pump.

Or I am again missing something?

BCKRider said:

Or I am again missing something?

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Any attempt to explain, understand or rationalize the price of fuel is an exercise in futility.

BC1100S said:

Any attempt to explain, understand or rationalize the price of fuel is an exercise in futility.

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I think you are completely right. THE BIG QUESTION IS WHY? Hell, it is just another commodity. Right?