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Oregon riders enjoy your new freedom lane splitting


duckie

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I kicked the attendant in the face my first time at a gas stop in Oregon. Didn't realize he was standing behind me as I stood on the peg and swung my leg over the tailbag getting off the bike.

 

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Let’s go Brandon

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1 hour ago, wanderer said:

Next maybe they'll get to pump their own gas. 

Motorcyclists are allowed to pump their own gas. That officially changed about 10-15 years ago. 

I'm pretty excited about this lane splitting bill. I actually worked with BikePAC on their lobbying efforts for this ~20 years ago but we never had any luck. We had to contend with ODOT officials lying in their committee testimony and a majority of lawmakers who just didn't want to listen. I'm glad to see they finally made it work. 

NOTE - it's not officially Official yet. The lane splitting bill passed both the Senate and House, and is now on the governor's desk for signature. She previously said she would sign this bill so a veto is unlikely. Assuming there's no veto, lane splitting on roads with 55mph+ speed limits becomes legal on Jan 1, 2022. 

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I learned to split lanes in San Francisco in 1973 as a motorcycle courier, the year it rained 60 days straight, the SLA shot it out with the Oakland cops after kidnapping Patty Hearst, while the Zodiac Murderer and Zebra Killers roamed the streets, and during the first oil embargo.

Cagers didn't like us splitting then and still don't

During both oil embargos they really hated me after they had to wait in line for hours when I zipped in between to an open pump, filled my tank with real gas, tossed the pump jockey 2 bucks and split out again, all within 3 minutes.

My G-d, in 73 gas went up to like 79 cents!  The incessant droughts didn't begin until I moved down to San Diego, where at least during the second oil embargo they got smarter and had plate odd / even fill-up days.  Still, in the heavy urban boroughs and mountains you never knew if they'd run out.

BTW, NJ is the last self pump hold out...

Riders of NJ, how do you get gas with no self serve?

Hello riders. I am taking a road trip and will be spending some time in NJ for the trip. I know that there are no self server stations in NJ and gas jockeys pump for you. Is there are issues with them doing so? Any fears for gas spills or overflows? I am super anal about gas drips and such on my bike. Any insight?

It is illegal to pump gas yourself. If you do, cops immediately show up, give you a good beating, cuff you, beat you up some more, then forget about you in the back of the patrol car in summer while they eat pork roll at the diner. Sometimes you have to share the rear seat with another cuffed biker or two. On the way to the station you will have to endure pork roll digestion effluvia. You will wish they had hot dogs instead.

In reality most times you can pump yourself, other times the attendant will swipe your card and hand you the nozzle, I've never had one attempt to pump gas in my bike.


You're not from Jersey! People in Jersey eat Taylor ham, not pork roll. The effects, however, are the same.
 

Don't just grab the nozzle, they get mad. It spoils their fantasy that only highly-trained fuel specialists are a required part of the operation.

you sure? I always have just done everything myself
 

All the ones I’ve gone to, they hand you the pump. Some let you swipe your own card, others do it for you.

Couple other things different than PA:

  1. NJ uses safety collars on the nozzle where gas won’t dispense until the collar is pushed back a certain amount. In a car it gets pushed back by inserting the nozzle in the filler, but you can’t put in it far enough in most motorcycle tanks, so you’ll need to lift the collar with one hand while pulling the handle with the other. First time I got gas in NJ the dude hands me the nozzle and walks away and I’m there futzing around for a minute trying to figure out why the gas won’t come out before the attendant comes over and shows me. Little embarrassing, but I had never seen one of those safety collars before.

  2. If they do let you pay yourself, most pumps are setup where you have to pre-declare the amount you want to pay and they automatically stop when you hit that amount. If you want to fill up, just put in $30 or whatever - you’ll still only be charged for the amount you use.

CA also has a similar safety collar/vapor guard thing. Some of the cheaper gas stations have some pretty wonky collars and you have to put substantial effort into pulling them or else you look like an idiot with the gas pump constantly turning off on you mid fill up.

They always took my card and did the payment, asked me what grade, then handed me the nozzle.

Edit: a few times they would stand there and wait for the nozzle back when I was topped up. Most of the time they just walk away though.

 
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Just so you all know the new politically correct title for gas station attends  is petroleum transfer engineer. I spent most of my high school years being one🙂  

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He who dies with the most toys wins.

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14 hours ago, roadrash83 said:

Just so you all know the new politically correct title for gas station attends  is petroleum transfer engineer. I spent most of my high school years being one🙂  

 When I was growing up in could handle a nozzle or 2

 Well dressed "attendants" wore Dickies

https://images.app.goo.gl/bqGD6yAF8yMJTBq89

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21 hours ago, 2and3cylinders said:

BTW, NJ is the last self pump hold out...

Oregon also bans self-serve for cars. Motorcycles used to be a grey area like in New Jersey, but they formally allowed riders to pump their own about 10-15 years ago. 

Starting in 2018 gas stations in counties with populations under 40k can allow self serve for everyone. Unfortunately this creates a weird patchwork, and many rural stations still have old non-digital pumps without credit card access. So if you're riding in the nicer parts of Oregon after 7:00pm gas can be hard to find. 

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18 hours ago, roadrash83 said:

Just so you all know the new politically correct title for gas station attends  is petroleum transfer engineer. I spent most of my high school years being one🙂  

 When I was growing up in could handle a nozzle or 2

 Well dressed "attendants" wore Dickies

https://images.app.goo.gl/bqGD6yAF8yMJTBq89

It sucks in OR  That in some parts it's hard to find gas after 7:00 p.m.

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Well today was the first time I've seen someone splitting lanes here in WA. On I-5 today a guy on a Beemer dressed in Aerostitch among cars stuck in traffic came up from behind and split lanes. I watched him have one of his side cases all but hit a car as he swerved to avoid it. It's not only illegal here still, but no one expects it. Drivers in CA expect it and will actually make space between their lanes so it can happen. Don't know what that guy was thinking, but he's a few years ahead of the times! 

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9 hours ago, Salish900 said:

Well today was the first time I've seen someone splitting lanes here in WA.

When I first moved to Oregon in '96 I had a real hard time getting out of the lane splitting habit.  I spent seven years in California in the Navy, the last four with 140 daily commute miles in the SF Bay Area. It felt unnatural and a bit scary to just sit in traffic waiting to be crushed. I split some that first year but finally stopped because I knew it was illegal and cagers weren't expecting it.

That said, I have done "lane splitting light" a few times when I've been in Portland and encountered traffic. I wasn't truly splitting, per se, just using my signal and frequently changing into small gaps to filter through the gridlock.

That's four states now: California, Utah, Montana, and Oregon. Come on America, we can do this!

 

 

 

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I moved here from San Diego in 81 officially

 I rode my bike in the densest urban traffic you can find in the Midwest Both commuting and for work

 I try not to split lanes but sometimes it gets the better of me after all these years

I've only been stopped though once

now I run a headlight modulator and look like a cop sometimes but that's just coincidental

 With my shield bags headlight modulator led marker  Front side and rear lights auxiliary taillights and running lights,  Big hit air Neon yellow vest matching red helmet And all the gear below

 It's just coincidental

😏

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On 5/20/2021 at 9:25 PM, roadrash83 said:

Just so you all know the new politically correct title for gas station attends  is petroleum transfer engineer. I spent most of my high school years being one🙂  

Lmaoo

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