Filling up

[Warthog]

Just noticed my sv doesn't have a centre stand. How do you fill it up then at petrol stations? Do you sit on the bike, helmet on, filling it up, cos surely they will think you are about to speed away after that and won't turn the pumps on??

Odd question I know, sorry.

[Diveboy]

That's what I do. Never had any problems with staff thinking that. That said I'm normally too busy concentrating on not spilling any in my lap :lol:

"and it burns, burns, burns my ring of fire"

[Last Action Pimp]

i just fill it up on the side stand, thats probally why i dont get many miles to a tank (and my fat **** wont help & the fact that i rag the crap out of my bike)

[timwilky]

I tend to use the card pay pumps, so never get off the bike. Worst part is having to take gloves off to get the card out of my wallet

[Fuzz]

I've had forecourts not turn the pumps on until I was off the bike and helmet was off before. They told me it was health and safety :roll:

[Carsick]

I sit on the bike but only leave my helmet on if I'm in a hurry or if it's cold and I'm all wrapped up.
I've never once had anybody object to the helmet or me sitting on the bike.

[Anonymous]

You can take your lid off and straddle it and then maybe they wont think you'll ride off. Or as an SV's only little you can always push it more uprighterTM while you top the tank off.

I was once told to get off my bike for health and saftey reasons. I said 'Hey they are my genitals and...'. I didnt really but maybe should have.

[Well Oiled]

That's what I do. Never had any problems with staff thinking that. That said I'm normally too busy concentrating on not spilling any in my lap :lol:

Me too, and me neither. I do take my helmet off when going to pay, cos I just think it's darned ignorant not to, irrespective of whether they have any rules about it.


Cheers Keith

[Cloggsy]

I always sit on the bike to fill up, then replace the filler cap, put it on its side-stand & go & pay... As Tim says, its a bleeding nause taking all the kit off to go & pay though :roll:

[Peter Henry]

Warthog wrote:

I have owned my '99 curvy from new and just noticed my sv doesn't have a centre stand. :shock: :shock:

[Cloggsy]

Warthog wrote:

I have owned my '99 curvy from new and just noticed my sv doesn't have a centre stand. :shock: :shock:

:lol: :lol: :lol:

[haggis]

I would say the difference between side-stand and upright is negligible, maybe half a litre.


Anyone suggesting you must take your lid off is pushing it as far as I am concerned. They are assuming you're about to break the law! Tell them if they don't like it, come out and fill it themselves. Better still, ride off to another petrol station.

Do they ask chav's to kindly leave the burberry baseball cap and shades in the car?

What's next? Ask you to hand over your keys 'til you've paid.

[Diveboy]

Me too, and me neither. I do take my helmet off when going to pay, cos I just think it's darned ignorant not to, irrespective of whether they have any rules about it.

I had the guy behind the counter screaming do you want a receipt last Tuesday. I had my sat nav/music playing so didn't take my bone dome off. I pointed at my ear shook my head and apologised. :oops:

[Anonymous]

They are assuming you're about to break the law!

Yes, but down here there's cockney/scouse/welsh/mancunian/brummie thieves about (even this far west :shock: ).

Where you live I expect the old filling station lady says 'Och, here come's McHaggis on his new fangled motorbicycle SV-contraption. Don't worry if he steals the fuel we will call in the polis form the mainland by flying boat, and this time not burn him in a giant wicker man, perhaps'.

Or somesuch.

[Cloggsy]

What's next? Ask you to hand over your keys 'til you've paid.

I've seen a few where you have to pay before despensing fuel :!: Mind you, these stations were in the 'badlands' of the West Midlands :lol: :lol: :lol:

[Diveboy]

Warthog wrote:

I have owned my '99 curvy from new and just noticed my sv doesn't have a centre stand. :shock: :shock:

Dam you I scrolled up to check :twisted: :lol: :lol:

[Anonymous]

What's next? Ask you to hand over your keys 'til you've paid.

I've seen a few where you have to pay before despensing fuel :!: Mind you, these stations were in the 'badlands' of the West Midlands :lol: :lol: :lol:

And Reading, after dark :shock: 8)

[Fuzz]

I've seen a few where you have to pay before despensing fuel :!: Mind you, these stations were in the 'badlands' of the West Midlands :lol: :lol: :lol:

I've never paid first, even where they have a sign saying "please pay first!" Only once have they refused me, so I rode off to the next one. I always pay by card, and I don't know how much I'll need to fill the tank. :roll:

[Cloggsy]

I always pay by card, and I don't know how much I'll need to fill the tank. :roll:

Indeed, that is what I did too :thumbsup:

[Saint Matt]

Take my helmet off, sit on bike. Also use the one nearest to the cashier at my local one, as the guy who works there used to bully me at school, and he has a B reg metro and works there most of the time, so I want him to see how much better I am than him :P

[RandyO]

sitting on bike while refueling is not safe, in the event you have to move in a hurry, why would you have to move i a hurry..... I have seen an SUV accidently run over a bike that was parked at a pump, luckily the owner wasn't on it, he was inside paying for his fuel

I have also heard, but never seen stories of fires

the amount you can get in extra if you stand it upright is in the vapor space designed into the tank for fuel expansion, on a hot day, a lot of it will spit out the overflow vent

do what you want, you will never see me refueling a bike while sitting on it

[Diveboy]

sitting on bike while refueling is not safe, in the event you have to move in a hurry, why would you have to move i a hurry..... I have seen an SUV accidently run over a bike that was parked at a pump, luckily the owner wasn't on it, he was inside paying for his fuel

Thankfully Hummers are in short supply in the UK :lol: I don't think a Mini Metro will do the same damage. You might have to google that oneRandy I doubt America got the monster that is a METRO :o
I have also heard, but never seen stories of fires

the amount you can get in extra if you stand it upright is in the vapor space designed into the tank for fuel expansion, on a hot day, a lot of it will spit out the overflow vent

do what you want, you will never see me refueling a bike while sitting on it


So how does that work a curvy leans over much further than a pointy :?:

[haggis]

Where you live I expect the old filling station lady says 'Och, here come's McHaggis on his new fangled motorbicycle SV-contraption. Don't worry if he steals the fuel we will call in the polis form the mainland by flying boat, and this time not burn him in a giant wicker man, perhaps'.

Or somesuch.


Ha-ha, very funny.
Like flying boats have been invented yet, i ask you. :wink:




I understand there is a small risk of non-payment, and a small risk that a biker who refuses to remove their lid is an armed robber in waiting. But compared to the amount you can cram into a car petrol tank the amount of loss is marginal at best.

It's another case of bikers being tarnished with the 'unlawful, irresponsible' tag that is actually so untrue. In the majority of cases bikers, even bad-ass mo-fo muz-tash and be-stubbled harley gringo's are the most considerate, helpful folk on the road.

[Graham]

On my 2000 model there is a spout extending down into the tank about an inch long so I get more fuel in the tank when it's on the sidestand. I think it's been design to fill on the sidestand, I have tried getting more in by lifting vertical but couldn't get anymore in.
I don't fill up on the bike because over here the attendant won't turn the pump on until I get off and remove the helmet. I find it hard to believe that the ride off rate is higher here than in the UK :shock:

[RandyO]

On my 2000 model there is a spout extending down into the tank about an inch long so I get more fuel in the tank when it's on the sidestand. I think it's been design to fill on the sidestand, I have tried getting more in by lifting vertical but couldn't get anymore in.
I don't fill up on the bike because over here the attendant won't turn the pump on until I get off and remove the helmet. I find it hard to believe that the ride off rate is higher here than in the UK :shock:


+1, any more you can "jiggle" in will only spit out the vent

[Foey]

i usually sit on mine to fill up, remove gloves only, never had anyone ask me to do otherwise yet.
One of my local petrol stations often has cars drive off without paying, last time it happened one of the guys was running about asking everyone else if they got the reg of the car, when someone asked about their cctv he said it wasn't good enough to read a numberplate by, WTF. :?
Apparently some petrol stations are thinking about installing those hydraulic ramp things that some car parks have in a bid to put a stop to it.

[thor]

Sit on the bike, don't remove my lid or my gloves, keep the visor down too in case it squirts up into my face. Then, I get off and pay. I've been to one place where they made me pay first. So I did. Then it was as normal.

[copper kettle]

I think the main reason is the usual health and safety thing. It is predominately down to the fire risk. Lets face it if you shoot petrol over the bike that's one thing. To soak yourself in it then go anywhere near a naked flame is asking for it. That said just don't spill it over yourself i guess. Personally i get off the bike and put it on the stand but have never been asked to take my lid off.

[ophic]

Sit on the bike, don't remove my lid or my gloves, keep the visor down too in case it squirts up into my face.
Yup the only time i took off my gear and got off the bike, i splashed petrol in my eyes, and that really isn't funny. So its on the bike and visor down for me.

[nuntius]

I always sit on the bike with the helmet on, gloves off. If I take the helmet off it takes an extra minute to get the headphones back in. Hold the bike straight up, fill it up to pretty much the last drop. And as for vapor space, Edinburgh is never warm enough to need it.

I have been refused petrol without taking my helmet off once. I gave them the finger, put my gloves back on, and drove to the next petrol station. Innocent until proven guilty, unless you're a biker getting petrol it seems.

[mitchbligh]

F**K 'em, do what you want, you're the customer. If they don't like it complain. There is no legislation that I know of that makes you take off your lid or get off your bike whilst filling up. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!) If you get nowhere throw the bloody nozzle on the ground ("Sorry officer, I must of dropped it"!), and depart, never to return again!
That's my take.

[21QUEST]

F**K 'em, do what you want, you're the customer. If they don't like it complain. There is no legislation that I know of that makes you take off your lid or get off your bike whilst filling up. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!) If you get nowhere throw the bloody nozzle on the ground ("Sorry officer, I must of dropped it"!), and depart, never to return again!
That's my take.

Yeah , 'nice take' Way to go.

[Diveboy]

F**K 'em, do what you want, you're the customer. If they don't like it complain. There is no legislation that I know of that makes you take off your lid or get off your bike whilst filling up. (Please correct me if I'm wrong!) If you get nowhere throw the bloody nozzle on the ground ("Sorry officer, I must of dropped it"!), and depart, never to return again!
That's my take.
Perhaps a little OTT. Maybe you have suffered more than I have. I must admit the only time an attendant has mentioned my bike was to say how nice it looked.

Move to Newcastle land of friendly petrol attendants and sunshine.

Well at least one of the above

[admin]

I've stopped using my local Sainsburys because of this. I always sit astride the bike to fill up, done it for years.

a few years ago, i dropped into sainsburys to fill up when some twit starts yelling at me from the shop. I can't hear him with my lid on. So he comes over and starts giving me grief, saying that I can't sit on my bike and fill up. I've got the tank half full by this stage and ask him what he suggests I should do. He admits that I might as well finish and then walks off.

I made a point of talking to him in the shop afterwards, told him yelling at customers is not gonna win him any friends and ask for a sensible explanation on this new rule. I can't get a sensible answer out of him, he started hiding behind corporate crap. So I said fine, I'll take my bike and car elsewhere in future.

I went back to sainsburys a couple of months ago, just as an experiment, this time they wouldn't start the pump. Some chap comes out to me and says that I have to put the bike on the stand. I pointed out that I only had a side stand and that I can't fill the tank properly whilst the bike was leant over. I asked him why I couldn't do it my way. Safety he says. So he offered to hold the bike upright for me while I filled up. I laughed and said, how is that safer than what I was doing? I told him I'd go to BP.

If people where honest and said that they rule was to stop people riding off with out paying I'd feel a little happier, but as usual bikers are expected to put up with this whilst car drivers are expempted. How many dodgy looking chav types have you seen that get asked to remove baseball caps and remove keys from ignition first.

As for removing helmets. I don't. Not because I wish to appear rude, it's that it's such a pain, having to remove glasses, find somewhere to put glasses, pull foggy mask out of way whilst pulling helmet off. Pay. Then reverse the whole process. I tend to go to the same petrol station each week, so the staff know me and hopefully are not bothered. If more pumps had the credit card option to pay, then I'd use them, save having to queue up behind people in the shop buying groceries.

John (grumpy mode)

[philipMac]

As for removing helmets. I don't. Not because I wish to appear rude, it's that it's such a pain, having to remove glasses, find somewhere to put glasses, pull foggy mask out of way whilst pulling helmet off. Pay. Then reverse the whole process. I tend to go to the same petrol station each week, so the staff know me and hopefully are not bothered. If more pumps had the credit card option to pay, then I'd use them, save having to queue up behind people in the shop buying groceries.

John (grumpy mode)

Yes.
Leave on the lid. I took mine off (cause it was summer in the US, I was sweating, and my reg was burnt so I needed to bump the bike.)
I put the lid on the path against the wall, closed the tank bumped the bike, turned around, and someone had booted the lid onto the road into oncoming traffic. I saw it roll under and SUV, which ran over it (actually, it didnt, it squirted the lid out from under the tyre.) One nice shiney Shoei binned. So, yeah, lid stays on, or worst case scenario, in hand. I have learned.

Also... I try and hold my breath, and then breath out slowly and evenly at the fill. Allegedley the vapours that lie around in your tank (that are pushed out by the incoming fuel are quite bad for you. In the US they even have to fit vapour suckers the pull it out as the feul goes in...

[madmal]

Warthog wrote:

I have owned my '99 curvy from new and just noticed my sv doesn't have a centre stand. :shock: :shock:

:lol: :lol: :lol: #-o :) :D

[Warthog]

yeah yeah hilarious, thank you SOME people for the useful answers :P :lol:

I guess I'll just sit on it then go pay and see what happens. (no innuendos please :) )

[thor]

Also... I try and hold my breath, and then breath out slowly and evenly at the fill. Allegedley the vapours that lie around in your tank (that are pushed out by the incoming fuel are quite bad for you. In the US they even have to fit vapour suckers the pull it out as the feul goes in...

The petrol smell is benzene, and it's quite carcinogenic. It's not a good idea to breathe it in.

[Halonic]

ok heres the procedure every time I pull up at a petrol station:

bike off / gloves off / bike on stand / unlock filler / realise I've pulled up to normal unleaded / find "proper" fuel nozzle / close filler / unlock steering / waddle bike to right pump / side stand / unlock filler / stick nozzle in / fill it as high as I dare (about inch from top of ramp) / nozzle back / undo lid / pull off lid and balaclava / bala in lid, holding d-ring balance gloves so not sat in lid ripping cloth and filling with dead flies / unzip jacket / fumble around for inside pocket / find wallet / one handed find card or cash / queue / pay / wallet back in inside pocket, stack mobile on it so it doesnt dig in to ribs / do up jacket / keys in ignition, gloves on bike, balance lid between bars / bala back on then lid / gloves / sit on bike / realise havent done lid up / glove off / seal lid / glove on / start bike / bugger off

total money spent = £10
total time wasted = 5-10 minutes, queue depending
frequency = every 100 miles +/- 15

FAR TOO MUCH PHAFF

[Fuzz]

Also... I try and hold my breath, and then breath out slowly and evenly at the fill. Allegedley the vapours that lie around in your tank (that are pushed out by the incoming fuel are quite bad for you. In the US they even have to fit vapour suckers the pull it out as the feul goes in...

The petrol smell is benzene, and it's quite carcinogenic. It's not a good idea to breathe it in.

Tell that to smokers. There's more benzene in a pack of fags than there is escaping out of your filler cap.

[philipMac]

Also... I try and hold my breath, and then breath out slowly and evenly at the fill. Allegedley the vapours that lie around in your tank (that are pushed out by the incoming fuel are quite bad for you. In the US they even have to fit vapour suckers the pull it out as the feul goes in...

The petrol smell is benzene, and it's quite carcinogenic. It's not a good idea to breathe it in.

Tell that to smokers. There's more benzene in a pack of fags than there is escaping out of your filler cap.

Huh. Well, cant comment on that. Except I dont want that muck in my lungs either.
What suprises me though, is that the US (not one for excessively ladyboy "health and safety at the workplace" issues) has enforced this rule making these vapour suckers on the pumps mandatory.
Ok, I have only been here a short while, but its been on every pump I have seen... and none at all on pumps in Ireland (or the UK from what I can remember?)

So, this makes me think that these vapours must be quite bad for you. (If you are right Thor, and its Benzine, then, yeah, tis bad news indeed for thine innards.)

[Warthog]

Well I filled up yesterday. Sat on the bike, filled it up, got off, went to pay. I had a chat with the bloke at the till about whether he cared about me sitting on it. His reply:

"I don't give a two f***s what you do"

Guess thats my answer then :roll: :lol:

[thor]

Also... I try and hold my breath, and then breath out slowly and evenly at the fill. Allegedley the vapours that lie around in your tank (that are pushed out by the incoming fuel are quite bad for you. In the US they even have to fit vapour suckers the pull it out as the feul goes in...

The petrol smell is benzene, and it's quite carcinogenic. It's not a good idea to breathe it in.

Tell that to smokers. There's more benzene in a pack of fags than there is escaping out of your filler cap.

I do tell it to smokers! :roll:

[JakeRS]

I have never had anyone ask me to get off the bike, or remove my lid, even when i'm wearing a neck warmer over my nose.

I guess Ashford/Folkestone has happy friendly pump people.