Lesson learned - emergency cash

[hppants]

I was hesitant to write this, cause it reminds me I'm still a newb, but what the heck.

Took the NH out yesterday for a ride in the country.  Left the house with 1/2 tank of gas (usual 700s gas gage poor reading), but with only 45 miles on the trip odometer, I figured I was good.  Nothing special, just running around in the country wherever the wind blew.  Wind is crisp and she wants to run, so I'm enjoying the throttle without a care in the world.  Long story short - 75 miles later, in the middle of nowhere, I'm shifting at 3K and looking hard for some fuel.  Stopped at a hole in the wall on a desolate country road only to discover I forgot my wallet at the house!  The old man at the counter is not hearing any of it - he probably gets this story every day.  Now, I'm really concerned.  I figure I'm about 40 miles from the house - closest route.  Reserve hit around 135 miles on the trip odometer.  Now I'm finding plenty of gas, with no money to buy it.  So, I stopped at a popular station to decide whether I'm going to run it dry or call for help.

The Lord works in mysterious ways, friends.

A guy I went to high school, who I have not seen in at least 25 years, pulls up to the station to fill up.  I recognize him, we shoot the bull, and he gives me a couple of bucks of gas, which gets me home easily.

I'm sure most of you already do this, but in my under seat paperwork storage, there is a $20.00 bill for future emergencies.

[Snoopy]

Wow..that sucks, but glad you had the friend..I think I will store a $20 for such emergencies..

[ROJ]

Yep, I keep emergency money in all my vehicles, just in case of events like that. It was a good thing you ran into guy. Another thing to try one day (with spare fuel of course) is to run the tank on reserve and completely empty it to find a rough mileage.

[DesignFlaw06]

I ran out of gas on a SeaDoo once. We went out on a friend's boat and SeaDoo. My wallet and all that stuff was in the boat. It was my turn on the SeaDoo and I got on and was following the boat. The boat kept getting further and further away until I couldn't see it anymore and I had eaten up 1/2 the gas I had when I got on. I ended up coasting into the channel and ran out then. Floated my way over from boat to boat looking for some gas. Someone was nice enough to point out the Reserve switch (this was way before I had a bike so I didn't know those existed) and I made it back.

Turns out, by the time I got on the SeaDoo and turned around, I chased the wrong boat. I was hurtin' the next day.

[Brumbie13]

That is a great idea.
I usually don't leave my wallet at home, but then you probably don't either.
I think I'll put a 20 in that little container box as well.

I also, decided I would see how far my regular tank would take me, and just ran out Saturday night, fortunately, I ran out about 300ft from my apartment. The tank lasted 135 miles. I think I'll fill up about 120 from now on.

(PS - That was the regular tank I was testing, not the reserve tank. I don't want to test how far the reserve tank will take me, because I don't plan on needing to use it very often, and if i do, it will only be to go a short distance. Also, If I know how far I can go on reserve, I'll push it to the limit and might end up stranding myself.)

[Bumblebee]

(PS - That was the regular tank I was testing, not the reserve tank. I don't want to test how far the reserve tank will take me, because I don't plan on needing to use it very often, and if i do, it will only be to go a short distance. Also, If I know how far I can go on reserve, I'll push it to the limit and might end up stranding myself.)

Knowing how far that aux fuel will get you can save you a lot of backtracking on a roadtrip. Which do you pick, 25 mile backtracking for an additional 50 miles or 30 miles to the next town. Get a gas can and find out how far you can go.
Then in the real world, AUX means stop at the next gas station.

Always have enough $$ onboard for a full tank of fuel from completely empty plus $5 since gas prices are nuts out on the road. Cash for day rides. And don't forget that you need a credit card for night rides. Those 24 hour stations don't always take cash nowadays.
And be warned that if you carry a credit card onboard strictly for emergency use, always use the card about once a month even if it's for a cheap lunch somewhere. If you don't use the card at all, credit card companies see no activity...then after a while they cancel the card on you without telling you about it. BTDT in the airplane a couple centuries ago and if it wasn't for the trust of the small aviation community in general, I would still be walking home. I was a long long way from my nearest source of funds at the time.

[hppants]

All's well that ended well.  My dad says that by the time you figure out life, it's almost over.   

One of the things I'm enjoying with the NH is taking the road less traveled.  "Never been on this road, let's see where it goes."  I sure hope $20.00 will fill up my NH tank indefinitely.  I'm not ready to go back to $5.00 per gallon fuel.

[Custom82Hawk]

you know, just a thought, but i bet that $20 would be a good theft deterrent.  if you put that $20 where only you and a thief would find it, he might only be hurting enough to need the $20 and leave you the bike once he found that ;)  or well, he might leave you the $20 and take the bike, or be really mean and take both.  but hey, it's worth a chance right? :D

[Bumblebee]

I sure hope $20.00 will fill up my NH tank indefinitely.  I'm not ready to go back to $5.00 per gallon fuel.

No kidding. I use to carry $1.50 around for emergency fuel money and that was more than enough. When the prices were through the roof, it took $15. That summer was $2000 in fuel for a roadtrip...and a friend went about 5 times further than I did. Sheesh.

[GingerKid]

I hadn't thought about doing that, but it's a damn good idea.  I forgot my wallet once when I was bringing my quad home, and maganged to make it 15 minutes from home so someone could run it out to me.  Apparently it wasn't enough of a pain in the ass though, since I don't have emergency money anywhere in my vehicles.

[ariwhiteboy]

I'm still trying to leave some emergency money in the bank account

[Bumblebee]

How many people carry aux fuel with them when they're not sure about range and fuel stops in order to avoid the situation in the first place?

I'm still trying to leave some emergency money in the bank account

Ahh it's just money. Get on with life anyway.

[Captainkirk]

Might sound silly, but I have two rules of thumb;
1) I tank up at the corner station each time I leave the house, and
2) I stop for gas every time the needle dips below 1/2 tank....which on the 700S is really about 1/4 tank or less.

[detdrbuzzard]

i keep $20 on each road bike even the ones that i don't ride. i did like you hppants. no wallet and in the middle of nowhere but some kind stranger gave me two dollars

[bajakirch]

I ran out of gas on a SeaDoo once. We went out on a friend's boat and SeaDoo. My wallet and all that stuff was in the boat. It was my turn on the SeaDoo and I got on and was following the boat. The boat kept getting further and further away until I couldn't see it anymore and I had eaten up 1/2 the gas I had when I got on. I ended up coasting into the channel and ran out then. Floated my way over from boat to boat looking for some gas. Someone was nice enough to point out the Reserve switch (this was way before I had a bike so I didn't know those existed) and I made it back.

Turns out, by the time I got on the SeaDoo and turned around, I chased the wrong boat. I was hurtin' the next day.

This reminds me of a guy I knew. We were on a trip to the Bahamas and he rented one of those PWCs for an hour. Then he decided to go all the way around the island we were on. His later comment: "It looked a lot smaller from the air." Well, he ran out of gas and then was floating powerless IN THE FRICKING OCEAN!

About 45 minutes after he was supposed to return, the company that rented him the PWC found him and brought him back.

Now, some emergency cash may not have helped...but some common sense would have.

[noahnsteph]

His later comment: "It looked a lot smaller from the air."

That's a classic.

[Cherry Bomber]

If your worried about leaving cash in or on the bike and have Citgo gas stations in your area you can get what they call a cash card, its like a prepaid credit card that you preload with funds and use at any Citgo station like a credit/debit card. I keep one preloaded with about $20 (enough for 2 fillups) on it in the tool kit tray under the seat just in case. A nice side effect of using the card is that you get a 2-5 cent discount on the price per gallon.
Peace
Spike

[Captainkirk]

If your worried about leaving cash in or on the bike and have Citgo gas stations in your area you can get what they call a cash card, its like a prepaid credit card that you preload with funds and use at any Citgo station like a credit/debit card. I keep one preloaded with about $20 (enough for 2 fillups) on it in the tool kit tray under the seat just in case. A nice side effect of using the card is that you get a 2-5 cent discount on the price per gallon.
Peace
Spike

Yes, but the only problem with that is that Citgo is owned by Hugo Chavez....
I boycott every chance I get.

[n5tbu]

Another worry on long trips,is getting mugged. I always stow a few 100 bills in assorted places. Gas and food and motel rooms cost much more than a spare 20!
Another tip,carry more than one credit card when traveling,sometimes the fraud detectors think you are acting differently and they shut down your card till you call them.
mod

[chromy]

Another worry on long trips,is getting mugged. I always stow a few 100 bills in assorted places. Gas and food and motel rooms cost much more than a spare 20!
Another tip,carry more than one credit card when traveling,sometimes the fraud detectors think you are acting differently and they shut down your card till you call them.
mod

I can personally attest to that!  My card got flagged during the Rally.  Fortunately the CC company contacted the wife back home in VA and she told them to turn it back on.   

[Bumblebee]

Another tip,carry more than one credit card when traveling,sometimes the fraud detectors think you are acting differently and they shut down your card till you call them.

+1000. All three of the cards I have got shut down this summer at one time or another while refueling..sometimes at the only station for 100 miles. I told them that if the cards are used in the same area for more than a week to shut them down. They thought I was crazy at first.
Personally I would never use a station dependent card for emergency fuel funds. You can never depend on that particular company to be at the only fuel station within range unless you're a local and don't deviate much.

[nighthawkned]

that is really good advice I will be stashin some cash very soon.

[fortyhourdays]

Careful, after telling the world about this, someone just might raid all those nighthawks of their $20 at the next rally 

[roadrunner]

HP -- don't know how but I missed this thread until today.  Thanks for fessing up because I just now stashed $20 in the bike for emergencies!   

[Floridamtbiker99]

I always try to keep $50 under my seat for that reason.   I still have not figure out my gas problem yet, do have the time yet.   I run out of gas, or the bike acts like is running out at 60 miles.   I lost my wallet 2 weeks ago, at college,   Thank GOD, I had money under my seat.  if not I could not get home from college 54 miles away, which means I have to stop for gas because my bike acts like it running out of gas at 60 miles.