I had an experience which was no doubt one of the biggest dumbass moments of my life about 10 months ago, when I had just moved from Florida to California. They have these funky elephant trunk looking covers on the nozzles of all the gas pumps. You have to dock the end of this with the metal ring around the port on your car, in something akin to connecting the Starship Enterprise’s shuttlecraft to the Mir space station. Apparently, it’s there to catch fumes.
Well, these Californians around me, familiar with this setup, had no trouble filling up. I, on the other hand, get into an arguement with the pump attendant, telling him that the pump isn’t working. He finally comes out to the car, connects it and says “You have to connect the ring to your car.”
I turn the color of tobasco sauce, apologize, fill up the car, and pray that nobody will see me again.
Not all nozzles in California are equipped with the vapour-return boots. I try to patronize gas stations that don’t use them.
My ex-g/f worked with a guy who bought a new bike. He was shocked at its short range. While we were getting 200 miles before refuelling on our bikes, he was only getting about 75 miles or so. He had been using the nozzle in the same way as for a car. That is, he stuck the end into the tank and locked the boot on. He was only getting a bit more than a gallon of gas when he refuelled! Ex-g/f explained to him that he had to hold the boot back with one hand while holding the end of the nozzle just inside of the tank, if he wanted to actually fill the tank. Booted nozzles are a PITA for motorcyclists!
My first experience with the booted nozzles was back in the early-1980s. I was driving my first car, a 1966 MGB roadster. The filler is on the back-right side below the boot lid. The angle of the filler pipe was such that it was very difficult to get the nozzle to work with it. IIRC, I ended up holding the nozzle upside-down in order to get it to work.
Probably. I have no personal knowledge of that, but the official rule is that only an attendant may dispense gasoline. In practice, I believe bikers often fill their own, but we all know they’re an ornery bunch anyway.
I always though the NJ self-service thing was an urban legend (I never actually met anyone from New Jersey, just a lot of 'I heard from a friend…"
Then again, I didn’t think anyone would actually patronize a restaurant called “Hot dog on a stick,” and I thought there’s no way California beaches could be so !@#$ cold!
You park your @$$ in 60 degree water on an 80 degree day and call it beach fun… I’ll take a FL beach ANY day!
I also didn’t realize that for it’s reputation, most of CA save for the spankin new suburbs look really run down.
How can they force self-serve on you? Here in Mass., its optional most places. You can pump your own, or for a few cents more per gallon the highly trained professional will do it for you.
Every so often in NJ and in Oregon someone gets the idea that self serve should be legalized. Most of us here apparently like it as is, where you get the full service without having to pay extra for it, because every time it comes up the idea gets shot down.
Quite true. I don’t think I’ve ever had to deal with one, every pump I’ve used you just stick the nozzle in the filler hole and pump away (ya know, that sounds pretty dirty! :D)
Wait, never mind, I HAVE used one. Once. The gas stations I frequent (due to them having the best prices close to me) just have metal nozzles, no “elephant trunk thing”.
Johnny, as far as I know the attendants in NJ fill your bike. I don’t think you’re permitted to dispense gas on your own. Maybe if you pitched a fit, they’d relent; or, failing that, maybe you could just supervise. Either way, AFAIK pumping your own gas - car or bike - is against the law there.
This is making me wonder if I’m not using those vapor-recovery boots properly. :o
Seriously. I simply put the metal part in the hole and proceed as normal. The boot is there, but it doesn’t interfere and I don’t do anything special to accomodate it.
Pull up to a gas station in Portland somewhere, reset the little mileage counter doohickey, and get out to happily pump my gas.
I saunter over to the pump and stare* at it for a few seconds trying to figure out where to stick my credit card in to pay for it. While I stand there gawking at the pretty lights and shiny cigarette ads I notice someone’s standing next to me. I turn and look directly into the face of a gas station attendant.
We glare at each other with squinted eyes like gunslingers for a few moments, fingers twitching, gum smacking…
…suddenly the wage-slave makes a grab for the nozzle! But, with the strange and mystical powers coming from my diet consisting solely of ramen and Mellow Yellow, I am faster! Like a light breath of wind I whip my hand out, snatch the nozzle from his grasping fingers, and with a cry of victory ram that puppy home into my car
Hence I found out that Oregon’s gas stations aren’t self-service.
My ex-girlfriend used to joke about me bodily flinging the attendants out of the way to get to the pump whenever we had to stop for gas.
Nothing different about the Oregon pumps, I gaze blankly at all gas pumps for a bit whenever I have to pay with a credit card. I don’t know why…
How do you know you are not paying extra for it? I suspect that you are - because if the gas station needed fewer empoyees, payroll would go down and the station could offer more competitive prices. The best way to find out would be to allow self-pump, then see if the service stations are still at the same price as the self-pump.
Sad but true, mere mortals cannot fuel their own vehicles in the Garden State, no matter how many wheels.
One must have passed the training program and attained the moniker of Petroleum Intervention Service Specialist together with the embroidered badge spelling PISS in yellow letters.
In defense of regulations, people do stupid things with gasoline. I’ve already tried to advise someone not to fill a 2 gallon plastic tank for their lawn mower while the tank is sitting in the bedliner of their pickup, because static electricity can build up and act as an ignition source. Said advice was offered in a friendly manner, and since my truck has those fireman lights on the roof, perhaps I have some insight, do you think? No, I’ve had folks get snippy, as if I was a hobo telling them how to invest their latest tax refund. :rolleyes: