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Post by captaincrunnk on Sept 13, 2014 13:03:18 GMT -5
It's embarassing. Yes, yes this is true, but I firmly believe it's something everyone does at least once with a vehicle for one reason or another at some point in their lifetime. Today...I had my embarassing, inconvenient, run-out-of-gas moment on my scoot. I don't know if it will add anything to this story or not, but you should TOTALLY switch your brain to Morgan Freeman voice at this point. Thanks for your cooperation!The story begins last night. It was a beautiful night. The kind of night that makes you remember that night. I was relaxing with my wonderful girlfriend when I looked her in the eyes and thought, "Girl, I'm gonna scoot you to work tomorrow." So I said to her, "Girl, I'm gonna scoot you to work tomorrow." She was delighted. Oh how she loves riding on the scooter while I pilot it. She is the Goose to my Maverick, we're a team. "Awesome," she said. You see, my girlfriend works in Avalon - a super upscale shore town in South Jersey - at a condo/hotel/timeshare type place. Perfect scenery for a scooter ride with the brisk morning air nipping at your skin. And so we did. At around 8am today we left our place and began the 30 minute drive down to her place of employment with my gas gauge on about half a tank. It was a great ride, no real traffic to speak of, smooth roads, calm winds...perfect. She arrived on time, I took her gear with me in my backpack since it called for rain today and she would be coming home with a co-worker, and I set off on my trek home. I noticed my gas gauge was very low, below my E mark. That's when I realized I was in trouble.
"Uh oh," I said to myself, "I'm in trouble." You see, boys and girls, I had neglected to properly survey the accuracy of my Chinese fuel gauge prior to this point, I had always topped off my tank. This just so happened to be the day that I did not do that and left my debit card at home. My girlfriend never carries money of any kind to work. At this point I was already miles from town, and miles from the next town. I was on a road that runs through marsh and over water. Two bridges, lots of hills, and no protection from the surrounding winds and no cell phone service. So of course this is where I putter out of gas. I attempted to walk it a while, but it wasn't happening. Tons of cars were passing by but none were stopping to check on me. I was feeling pretty hopeless I did take a half decent panorama of Avalon & Stone Harbor while I was stuck on the side of the road for over an hour. Always thinking of you guys, lol. Eventually, a man stopped who happened to live nearby to ask me what was wrong. He said my head was in my hands giving off the universal sign for "Please God someone help me." Boy was he right. I told him I was out of gas and that I had nothing to give him in return except for my thanks, and he waved it off and said "No problem. I have plenty of gas in cans at the house. I'll go grab one and come back with it in a couple minutes. Sit tight, I'll be back. I promise." So I thanked him a hundred times and told him how much I appreciated it. He came back within 10 minutes and filled my tank for me. We chatted for a minute while I warmed the bike back up and I thanked him about 50 more times before we parted ways. Before he left he said "Make sure you do something good for someone else to repay me." That struck a particular chord with me because about a week ago I removed a giant hunk of metal from the busy main road that runs perpendicular to my own thinking, "Someone is going to hit that or crash trying to miss it." When I got back in the car I turned to my girlfriend and joked, "That's good karma, it'll come back to me." Moral of the story: Do good (and the right) things. You may not be rewarded right away or in ways you expect, but it always comes back to you eventually. So now tell me of your embarrassing, arduous, maddening, and funny times that you have run out of gas!
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Post by wheelbender6 on Sept 13, 2014 16:57:14 GMT -5
I ran my motorized bicycle out of gas a couple of times. It ran premix, so I began carrying 2 oz of 2t oil in a faux oil tank for use at the gas station.
I have never run my scooter out of fuel. Maybe I learned my lesson on my motorized bicycle.
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Post by scooter on Sept 13, 2014 17:05:15 GMT -5
Great story CC!
Here's mine. I was on my way to work. My gas float had fallen apart and the gauge always read empty but I would reset the mileage every fill up and was good for 300km. I needed to get my kickstand welded so I decided not to put gas in it until the weld job was done. I went to get it welded but it didn't work out. So anyway, I was on my way to work and the bike sputtered and sputtered and then it occurred to me that I had not filled the tank. I ran out of gas a little way from the gas station on a slight decline and decided it would be easier to sit on the bike and flintstone it than to get off and push. I made it to the station, out of breath, with rubber legs, fueled up, and that night I ordered a new fuel sending unit. Then I saw a float lying on the table at the local scooter shop and asked if I could have it, and they gave it to me. They were going to throw it away. So now I have a working gauge. I set it to redline at 50km left. It stays on full most of the time. I like to know exactly when I am going to run out of gas so I like this setting. I know if it redlines I have 50km to find gas.
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Post by JerryScript on Sept 13, 2014 21:09:07 GMT -5
Not gas, but battery issues can be similar, and show that there really is no reason to give up on our fellow humans! When I was 19, I was dating a preachers daughter while living in Killeen, Tx about 30 miles north of Austin. One weekend I took her to Austin for diner, with her preacher father strenuously telling me how important it was to have her home before midnite. We had a good time in Austin, great diner, saw a live band, and got back on the road shortly after 11pm to be sure we were back home before midnite. With no warning, my alternator had burned out. I had a strong battery, so I had no problems starting the car, and we took back roads so the dimmer headlights weren't apparent in the pitch black. About halfway home, the poor battery finally gave out. After about 20 minutes attempting to figure out what was wrong (multimeter was my Sherlock), and using language that my date's father would definitely not approve of, a good samaritan drove up. He was in one of the old huge station wagons, and asked if we needed any help. I told him what I thought was wrong, and he confirmed it for me. Turns out he was a mechanic himself, and in fact had an entire engine in the back of his station wagon at that moment, and a spare battery. He traded his battery for mine, and gave me his address in town. I got my date home, and spent another half hour convincing her preacher father that our story was true. The next day, I drove to the good samaritan's house to return his battery. He had mine on a trickle charger all nite, and refused any money for what he had done. Ever since, I have made it a point to pull over and check on people who are parked on the side of the road, even if they don't look like they need help!
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Post by Paladin on Sept 13, 2014 23:49:55 GMT -5
Running out of gas is common. I pushed a '53 Dodge to a gas station, in '62. Really can't remember all the times I ran out of gas. My Savage had a petcock, sometimes I forgot to switch from res to main, twice had to push to a gas station. Both times the tank took 2.91 gallons, for a nominal 2.8 gallon tank. My Vespa has a nominal 2.3 gallon. The LX went from carb to FI, put a fuel pump inside the tank, and I only have 2.13 gallons from dry to full. I went for a ride over the Grapevine, WOT on the Interstates. My Vespa gets 67 mpg average, I figured more on the highway and I could push it 130 miles. Wrong! WOT is bad. Ran out of gas about 3 miles from the station. At about 4 am. AAA guy had to wake up and drive to work and then the drive out to the middle of nowhere. Told he I only need a cup, he gave me about a quart without charge. I later found out that running a hair under WOT gives me over 70 mpg.
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Post by rockynv on Sept 14, 2014 0:41:51 GMT -5
My current bike is fuel injected and has a 30 mile warning light that comes on to remind you however I am painfully aware of how far I am in a tank of gas having lived with a Lance Vintage with only a 1.2 gallon gas tank. In over 40 years of riding and driving I have never once run out of gas. The closest I came to running out on the Aprilia was on April 22, 2011when I got down to 15.6 ounces of gas and only 7.71 mile to empty left. I did come almost as close when I traded in my Lance but filled it up before riding to the dealership with only 15.7 ounces of fuel left which was enough to get another 7.  miles. Yes I do track it to that level. Its a blessing and a curse. Remember I ride a fuel injected bike and running out of gas is death to the fuel injector pump which will cost about $500 if a dealer replaces it. $500 at my age my may as well be $5,000,000 and its not something I can easily forget about. |
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Post by oldchopperguy on Sept 14, 2014 1:46:06 GMT -5
OK, me too...
Back in the sixties, I DID run dry (several times) on "Old Blue" my chopper. Of course, it had no gas-gauge, and pumping out near 300hp, it gave about 15 miles to the gallon on Sunoco Blue 260, or, Aviation gas if I was near an airport...
Let's see... a 1 1/2-gallon "peanut" tank, NO speedometer, and 15 mpg... I finally just filled up EVERY time I got near a gas station... Though Old Blue's 14:1 compression motor did NOT like ANYTHING but 260, or avgas...
No great adventures when running dry, but got a LOT of exercise pushing her... But around Chicago, my old home town, there was a station most every mile or less...
Watch that gauge, and be glad you have one... And a speedometer... LOL
Leo in Texas
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Post by Jarlaxle on Sept 14, 2014 7:29:24 GMT -5
Ran out once...borrowed truck with a bad gauge. It showed half as it ran dry. Never before or since...I fill my Burgy when the gauge is in the red (a bit below 1/4).
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Post by captaincrunnk on Sept 14, 2014 9:52:24 GMT -5
Great stories everyone. It's good (I think?  ) to know that the struggle is alive and well not just with myself. lol. Then I saw a float lying on the table at the local scooter shop and asked if I could have it, and they gave it to me. They were going to throw it away. So now I have a working gauge. I set it to redline at 50km left. It stays on full most of the time. I like to know exactly when I am going to run out of gas so I like this setting. I know if it redlines I have 50km to find gas. How did you do that? That is something I'd absolutely like to look in to doing. Ever since, I have made it a point to pull over and check on people who are parked on the side of the road, even if they don't look like they need help! Your story felt like it was about to take a horror movie twist at the point where you were driving through woods. Well, then again, I guess it kind of did for a while. lol. But yeah, I'm right there with you, Jerry! I'll stop even if I can't directly help someone because I know I have friends that are just as in to giving someone else a hand when they can, especially if it's mechanical. When you give someone a hand, it shows them it's okay to help a stranger, which might make them help someone one day and the chain goes on and on. Remember I ride a fuel injected bike and running out of gas is death to the fuel injector pump which will cost about $500 if a dealer replaces it. $500 at my age my may as well be $5,000,000 and its not something I can easily forget about. OUCH! Yeah, I can definitely understand that sentiment. A big reason I got in to scooting is the cheap nature of most repairs, but having to replace a $500 part would put a hurting on me for a long time to come. Watch that gauge, and be glad you have one... And a speedometer... LOL Leo in Texas Haha, I'll be keeping a MUCH closer eye on it in the future for sure. As for my speedometer, not only does it work but.....it's ACCURATE!  Thanks to everyone who's replied so far, it's a fun topic for me to read about considering I've had more experiences going through it than I care to count. I thought those days were behind me. Curses! |
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Post by xyshannen on Sept 14, 2014 10:38:12 GMT -5
Great thread!
I make it a point to never run out of gas. When I was 17 I had a 65 chevy stepside on a K5 frame with a 396 bb on 44" swampers, and no gas gage. My tires weighd in at about 1k. I got all of about 6 mpg in this thing. I kept a 5 gallon gas tank mounted in the bed for days that I forgot how many miles I had gone since my last fill up.
One thing I like to do in any natural aspirated vehicle I get is to wait until my gas gauge is reading close to E then make lap after lap around my block until it runs dry. That way I know for sure how far down on the gage I can go b4 there's trouble.
On my lance I've learned to not go too low. The gas tank is in the floor and the cap is between my heels and the previous owners where not very careful when filling it. It's in a bad spot, perfect for getting trash in the tank. Iv'e seen junk floating around in the bottom. Last time I let it get too low I ended up having to clean my carb as trash had gotten past the filter and hung my float bowls on WOT. Sooner or later I'll have to pull the tank and give it a good flushing. I'm not the kind of person who can just leave something like that alone.
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Post by captaincrunnk on Sept 14, 2014 10:59:14 GMT -5
Great thread! I make it a point to never run out of gas. When I was 17 I had a 65 chevy stepside on a K5 frame with a 396 bb on 44" swampers, and no gas gage. My tires weighd in at about 1k. I got all of about 6 mpg in this thing. I kept a 5 gallon gas tank mounted in the bed for days that I forgot how many miles I had gone since my last fill up. One thing I like to do in any natural aspirated vehicle I get is to wait until my gas gauge is reading close to E then make lap after lap around my block until it runs dry. That way I know for sure how far down on the gage I can go b4 there's trouble. On my lance I've learned to not go too low. The gas tank is in the floor and the cap is between my heels and the previous owners where not very careful when filling it. It's in a bad spot, perfect for getting trash in the tank. Iv'e seen junk floating around in the bottom. Last time I let it get too low I ended up having to clean my carb as trash had gotten past the filter and hung my float bowls on WOT. Sooner or later I'll have to pull the tank and give it a good flushing. I'm not the kind of person who can just leave something like that alone. That sort of thing would drive me insane, knowing that there's crud floating around in my tank. On the other hand, I'm also not the kind of person that looks forward to doing things like that, so I'd probably leave it alone a while too. lol. It's a shame I was too worried about "oh man, when is it gonna happen" to take note of how far I traveled before it finally gave up the ghost because that's something I do like to know. I also need to fill up a can and watch my gauge while I fill my tank so I can see where it registers with what amount of gas. Fool me once, shame on you...fool me twice... |
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Post by xyshannen on Sept 14, 2014 16:09:56 GMT -5
It's bugging the crap out of me but getting at my tank is no easy ordeal. Not to mention I've been too busy with other projects to mess with it. An automotive grade fuel filter is the easy fix. Even after I dump the tank, trash getting in there over time is almost guaranteed, The tank fill port is in one of the worst places ever. I swear I have to wonder what someone was thinking when they designed this bike. Some things are genius and then some things are major fail.
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Post by scooter on Sept 14, 2014 18:06:25 GMT -5
Then I saw a float lying on the table at the local scooter shop and asked if I could have it, and they gave it to me. They were going to throw it away. So now I have a working gauge. I set it to redline at 50km left. It stays on full most of the time. I like to know exactly when I am going to run out of gas so I like this setting. I know if it redlines I have 50km to find gas. How did you do that? That is something I'd absolutely like to look in to doing. I ran the bike until it had 50km left of gas, according to the speedo, then I bent the metal leg on the unit until it read on the red line when inserted into the tank. I previously had run out of gas twice, as I was getting to know the bike, and it would start sputtering right at 300km. I suggest you fuel up to the top, bring some extra fuel in a small container, and let it run out of gas to see exactly how many miles you get out of a tank. This also accounts for the height of the gas outlet inside the tank. Then you can either make note of where "true empty" is or set it like I did mine.  |
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Post by rockynv on Sept 14, 2014 20:51:18 GMT -5
It's bugging the crap out of me but getting at my tank is no easy ordeal. Not to mention I've been too busy with other projects to mess with it. An automotive grade fuel filter is the easy fix. Even after I dump the tank, trash getting in there over time is almost guaranteed, The tank fill port is in one of the worst places ever. I swear I have to wonder what someone was thinking when they designed this bike. Some things are genius and then some things are major fail. Its not that bad to get at the tank which is just under the floorboards and drops in from the top. Once you get the two metal heel plates off and remove the black plastic behind them you remove the metal floor plates to expose the screws holding the floorboards in place and with a little wiggling they slide out OK. Easier if you remove the seat first. Not sure how you would get dirt in there aside from carelessness as there is a locked cover over the gas cap that turns upward toward the seat and by nature pushes anything covering it away from the fill. Are you missing the locking gas door? |
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Post by xyshannen on Sept 14, 2014 22:33:19 GMT -5
No the door is there just when the cap is off it's level with the floor boards. My scoot's previous owner lived out at the beach and used it to get to and from the bars at night. So yeah one can guess how filling it after a few drinks......
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miles. Yes I do track it to that level. Its a blessing and a curse.
