Oh, I think I have gas.
So, a few months back I got the speedohealer. My bike speedometer is 100% accurate. That is a plus. The minus is, I use to hit the reserve between 130 and 145 miles, now I have to hit it around 105 miles.
So I headed into work yesterday. My boss says if we are going to be later than 10:00, to call and let them know. I told him I'd be in around 10:15. I was literally 2 miles from work on the highway when I got in the left (passing lane) and felt the ever so familiar stalling sensation. Normally not a big deal. I've done it so often I can reach down with my left hand a flip the reserve on and be good to go. This time it was different. Because I was passing someone, there was a car riding my ass behind me. I could tell the bike was already slowing down and decided rather than get run over, I'd pull to the side of the road and flip it there. When I pulled over the bike had totally stalled out. I flipped on the reserve, pushed the start button, and it wouldn't turn over. I guess the small amount of gas left didn't weigh enough to give it the shot it needed to turn over.
I calmly called W1 so she wouldn't worry. Unfortunately, I was on the side of a busy highway so all she could hear was cars and trucks zooming by, and me saying her name (since I couldn't hear her well either due to the noise). Her first thought was paramedics were calling her from the side of the road, as I was already later than usual. Once I got off the phone with her, I called Rescue Russell. Being 2 miles away from work he stopped at a gas station and got some gas in a can for me. After I put a little in the tank, I was good to go, and made it in at the early hour of 11:00 AM.
While siting on the side of the road waiting, 2 cop cars passed without a second look. Then a motorcycle cop gave me the thumbs up as he passed, to ask if I was okay. I gave him the finger, ha ha, just kidding, I gave him the thumbs up to let him know I was fine. In the time I sat there waiting 4 sportbikes stopped to check on me, and 2 cars. I was pretty impressed considering I was only sitting there for 20-30 minutes. One of the sportbikes passed, exited the highway, u-turned, and came back to check on me. And one of the 2 cars was a co-worker from my lab, who was also running late. I thought that was nice of him. But I did catch a ration of shit from the rest of the lab when I did finally make it in.
Worst part of the story. Right after I left the apartment this morning the tires felt weird. So I stopped at a gas station to put air in them. With the weather changing from hot to cold so often they tend to get low. I was going to gas up while I was there, but I has to stop at 2 gas stations to find a working air hose. Noticing I was at 85 miles at the time I "just figured" I had enough gas to make it in. And stopping for air made me later than usual which makes W1 worry. (No I am not blaming her for this!) So yeah, I ran out of gas on the way to work, 20 minutes after I stopped at not one, but two gas stations.
3 lessons learned from this experience (one I have known for a while).
1. Fill up before work when I'm at 80 miles on a tank of gas.
2. Hit the reserve while still moving.
3. Don't figure!
So I headed into work yesterday. My boss says if we are going to be later than 10:00, to call and let them know. I told him I'd be in around 10:15. I was literally 2 miles from work on the highway when I got in the left (passing lane) and felt the ever so familiar stalling sensation. Normally not a big deal. I've done it so often I can reach down with my left hand a flip the reserve on and be good to go. This time it was different. Because I was passing someone, there was a car riding my ass behind me. I could tell the bike was already slowing down and decided rather than get run over, I'd pull to the side of the road and flip it there. When I pulled over the bike had totally stalled out. I flipped on the reserve, pushed the start button, and it wouldn't turn over. I guess the small amount of gas left didn't weigh enough to give it the shot it needed to turn over.
I calmly called W1 so she wouldn't worry. Unfortunately, I was on the side of a busy highway so all she could hear was cars and trucks zooming by, and me saying her name (since I couldn't hear her well either due to the noise). Her first thought was paramedics were calling her from the side of the road, as I was already later than usual. Once I got off the phone with her, I called Rescue Russell. Being 2 miles away from work he stopped at a gas station and got some gas in a can for me. After I put a little in the tank, I was good to go, and made it in at the early hour of 11:00 AM.
While siting on the side of the road waiting, 2 cop cars passed without a second look. Then a motorcycle cop gave me the thumbs up as he passed, to ask if I was okay. I gave him the finger, ha ha, just kidding, I gave him the thumbs up to let him know I was fine. In the time I sat there waiting 4 sportbikes stopped to check on me, and 2 cars. I was pretty impressed considering I was only sitting there for 20-30 minutes. One of the sportbikes passed, exited the highway, u-turned, and came back to check on me. And one of the 2 cars was a co-worker from my lab, who was also running late. I thought that was nice of him. But I did catch a ration of shit from the rest of the lab when I did finally make it in.
Worst part of the story. Right after I left the apartment this morning the tires felt weird. So I stopped at a gas station to put air in them. With the weather changing from hot to cold so often they tend to get low. I was going to gas up while I was there, but I has to stop at 2 gas stations to find a working air hose. Noticing I was at 85 miles at the time I "just figured" I had enough gas to make it in. And stopping for air made me later than usual which makes W1 worry. (No I am not blaming her for this!) So yeah, I ran out of gas on the way to work, 20 minutes after I stopped at not one, but two gas stations.
3 lessons learned from this experience (one I have known for a while).
1. Fill up before work when I'm at 80 miles on a tank of gas.
2. Hit the reserve while still moving.
3. Don't figure!
posted by H1 @ 12:13 PM
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