Gas station bike policy

[MikeL]

I must admit I never used to think about it, but I almost always get off the bike to fill up. After all you have to get off to go and pay. But I never take my helmet off. To take my helmet off, I have to take my glasses off. To take my glasses off, I have to take my gloves off... You get the point.
But since even with full gear on I obviously look totally unthreatening and completely harmless, I've never been asked to remove my helmet, ever...

[pete376403]

You should look at the labels on the gas station doors more closely. Most of them have a "remove helmets before entering " sign of some sort.
I don't always take mine right off, but I open it up - it's a BMW flip front so they (or the cameras) can get a clear view of my face.

[Lou Girardin]

I spoke to BP customer services today. The response was as I expected. The interesting thing was, when I asked if they actually refused to serve people with cellphones turned on, she said yes. Has anyone been asked if they have a cellphone on? I haven't.

[Yamahamaman]

After a logical analysis, I suspect that Cell Phones would have more effect on Gas Stations/Supermarkets (with Petrol Dispensing equipment) electronic reporting systems than producing a spark. The power supply in my cellphone is around 3.6 volts at full charge - current somewhere around 200ma (Ben Franklin would be disappointed). More chance of creating a spark from putting down your kickstand.

[Cajun]

Okay i use to manage a bp a few years ago, and i worked at gas stations, including night shift(18 months of it) for a total of about 5 years.

This policy of stoping pumps is crap,i have noticed it is mostly bp i had one a bp stop the pumps on me and i took off, i was also on a demo bike so that didn't worry me. but when they won't give me a straight anwser why, or won't let me speak the manager what they expect. Some bikes i have found make it really hard to full up from the side, due to the huge air box coming out of the tank. makes it easyest to come in from the back.

Also regarding helmets i hardly ever take my helmet off when going to pay for gas, but i also already have my wallet out visor WIDE open before i walk in the door, never had a problem with that before. I pretty much don't full up at bps any more due to there ruling of not allowing to sit on bike why refuelling, yes they are allowed there rules, just means i won't full up with them

Cajun

[James Deuce]

Did some reasearch last night.

Found two points that explain the mystery flash fires and banning of cellphones.

It appears that women explode at gas stations more than men. This is because they tend to start the pump running and then get back in the car. If the car has a different potential from the pump then you can earth the static build up back through the pump handle igniting the vapour coming out of the filler neck to your petrol tank. If you get out of the car/off the bike to start pumping stay out/off and you should be fine.

Cellphone usage is banned because if you drop it the battery contacts can separate and reconnect and possibly cause a spark. It has nothing to do with static or low wattage electrical fields.

There was also a thread running through the research that early high output cellphones interupted the radio transmission betwixt pump and till, thereby potentially creating a false reading in terms of litres pumped. Sounds apocryphal to me.

[pete376403]

Did some reasearch last night.

Found two points that explain the mystery flash fires and banning of cellphones.

It appears that women explode at gas stations more than men. This is because they tend to start the pump running and then get back in the car. If the car has a different potential from the pump then you can earth the static build up back through the pump handle igniting the vapour coming out of the filler neck to your petrol tank. If you get out of the car/off the bike to start pumping stay out/off and you should be fine.

Cellphone usage is banned because if you drop it the battery contacts can separate and reconnect and possibly cause a spark. It has nothing to do with static or low wattage electrical fields.

There was also a thread running through the research that early high output cellphones interupted the radio transmission betwixt pump and till, thereby potentially creating a false reading in terms of litres pumped. Sounds apocryphal to me.

Women explode more than men at just about anything. But it has a lot to do with the synthetic fabrics they wear - pantyhose and legs rubbing together can build up a good static charge.
Dunno about the radio links to the pump - why would they bother when the pump can be cabled, either under the ground or via the overhead canopy?

[RiderInBlack]

Another good reason for Leathers, hey

[Big Dog]

Some bikes i have found make it really hard to full up from the side, due to the huge air box coming out of the tank. makes it easyest to come in from the back.

? I don't get this statement at all. If you are too short to comfortably fill your bike surely you are too short for the bike in general?

I fill from the side (as stated earlier if there is a fire I would prefer it was not my sausage being flame grilled). I fill left handed if approaching from the right (usual as this keeps my right hand free to rock the bike). I dunno about you but the filler cap is just about my waist height. A tad low but very comfy.

I would have thought filling from the rear would be very awkward, what with you being on the seat? It certainly would be awkward for me unless I got up on the back seat.

[Big Dog]

Another good reason for Leathers, hey

Becaise we would look bloody silly in a body stocking. Not to mention it offering little or no protection.

[Big Dog]

Dunno about the radio links to the pump - why would they bother when the pump can be cabled, either under the ground or via the overhead canopy?

Way too expensive to radio, not to mention too easily tampered with.

Most stations are still being fitted out with eighties technology copper wire controllers.

It is not a big enough field to justify reasearch on something that would be expensive offer little or no return and as a result be less accurate.

[RiderInBlack]

Becaise we would look bloody silly in a body stocking. Not to mention it offering little or no protection.

Especially from exploding women Always wore my leathers (with the ammour and back protector in of course) around my ex-wife. Blood dangerous her. Talk about EX-plosive (just joking).

[James Deuce]

Way too expensive to radio, not to mention too easily tampered with.

Most stations are still being fitted out with eighties technology copper wire controllers.

It is not a big enough field to justify reasearch on something that would be expensive offer little or no return and as a result be less accurate.

I didn't just research NZ by the way. There is a huge amount of oil company, oil distributor and private owner information about static discharge on a forecourt. Some of case studies had radio (local not bought off a telco), microwave (the most likely candidate for cell phone interference), fibre optic, copper (analogue, SDLC, HDLC, proprietary X.35 RS448), coax, and dark fibre linking pump to till.

Tight band radio works fine.

[danb]

Cell phones causing fires etc... Well I never would have thought.


Good thing my CP gave up on me the other day..

Oh another funny thing happened. Some Asian woman in Hair Dressing Dept @ MIT was txting in class, Apparently the cell phone all of a sudden started getting warm and changed colours etc. The next min there was an explosion and the whole cell phone was splattered all over the room. The battery must have exploded or something. The cleaner from out Dept (Electronic Engineering) had to go over and help clean up the place. (How I found out). The Woman had to be sent to hospital for burns etc to her hand. And then there was the hole in the floor from the acid ... That will teach her for not listening in class
Next terriest Weapon????

[Hitcher]

Are you guys serious?

I spent several weeks once in the Hutt Hospital burns and plastic reconstruction ward and shared a room with a guy who had seen the ugly face of burning petrol up close and personal. So you've never dropped your bike while filling it up. So you like to get that extra 125mL in the top. Big deal! The worst case scenario at service stations has some pretty serious consequences -- particularly when your cordura and polarfleece bursts into flame and melts all over you at 300-plus degrees...

Get off and stand alongside when filling up, you eggs!