When having gas is a good thing...

By: Jeanette Tran

As I am sitting in my car on the way home from work, stuck in some pretty heavy evening traffic, the orange gas light taunts me. I start to believe that the gas needle is playing tricks on me too, as I watch it fall closer and closer to E although my car hasn't moved an inch. Sitting there staring at the gas light in my car made me start thinking about what I should do in the case that my car really does run out of gas before I am able to exit the freeway to get to the nearest gas station. I would probably just cause even more traffic by stalling in the middle of the freeway with no way of pulling off. With that thought in the back of my mind, I slowly start to make my way over to the furthest lane to the right in preparation to exit the next available chance.

Then the whole situation just gets me thinking. I have never personally run out of gas while driving my car, but I have more than once on my bike before. It's true that some bikes don't have gas gauges, or warning light indicators, but at least those have a reserve. A reserve switch, which on many occasions have saved me from becoming stranded on the side of the road, and/or in the middle of nowhere. There was one time during a ride in which I didn't have a control panel gauge on my bike at all, and I ended up getting stranded on top of a hill. Lucky for me I was riding with a friend and he we managed to get a hose from a stranger's home (the only house around for miles!!) and were able to siphon gas from one bike to another. Why my bike didn't have the proper gauges...now that.s another story. But when thinking about the times I have run out of gas on a bike, compare to the times I have run out of gas in a car (as a passenger) I actually cannot make up my mind which vehicle would be the more ideal vehicle to run out of gas with.

At least with a car, while you are waiting for someone to come bring you some gas, you have the comfort of the inside of your car to keep you safe. Whether you are on the side of the road, or on a deserted highway, at least you can still sit inside our car away from any dangers that might be apparent in the nearby facility. With a motorcycle on the other hand, you are vulnerable to everything possible, whether it be high speeding cars, or severe weather, you are but a sitting duck.

However, there's that possible chance of not being completely stranded when you run out of gas on your bike. What if that gas station was only a few miles down the road? You can just push your bike along with you until you get to that gas station. I actually did that one time when I accidentally had the bike on the reserve switch. I was lucky to have barely enough gas to exit the freeway, but I had to push my bike that little distance to the corner gas station in order to fill her up again. If I wasn't on the bike, I probably would have had to leave the car there (hopefully on the side of the road and not in the middle of it) unattended, and then walk my way over to the gas station and back. I can't imagine ever having to push my car anywhere! At least 1 person can push their bike, but I can.t imagine 1 person pushing and steering their car for a long distance before it can get real tiring quick.

Since I can't figure out which one is worse (or they both sound equally just as bad) the best bet is to just never run out of gas. Even if you have to pay that ridiculous price of $5 a gallon, just do what you have to do to fill up that gas tank, because you never know where you're going to end up within the next few miles of your journey. Besides, on a bike, you won.t be paying as much for gas as you would in a car. ;)

Published: Feb 8, 2010

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