Filling Up While Sitting?
Advanced
Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 94
Likes: 0
From: Chesapeake, Va
Always off the bike, standing beside it to fill up. I did see a guy the other day filling his up sitting on it, jiffy stand up and bike running. First time I had seen that, seemed pretty risky to me!
Stellar HDF Member
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 3,117
Likes: 1,145
From: Directly above the center of the Earth
Always sitting while filling up. (I can also shake the bike back and forth and get another pint or so in the tank while sitting and filling)
I've only once ran into a pump that didn't click off automatically. No big deal so long as you keep the bike waxed even a little bit. Hot pipes will rarely cause any excess gas to do anything other than evaporate real fast (in the Navy they teach *EVERYONE* firefighting, and if you're stationed on a boat, you get even *more* training. I know what will and won't cause a fire).
If I'm at a station where the pumps look like crap and don't look like they'll cut off automatically, I'll do like another has said - just watch as you're pumping. Simple.
When I'm done pumping, I put the kickstand down, go pay the attendant, and back to the bike and on my way.
I've only once ran into a pump that didn't click off automatically. No big deal so long as you keep the bike waxed even a little bit. Hot pipes will rarely cause any excess gas to do anything other than evaporate real fast (in the Navy they teach *EVERYONE* firefighting, and if you're stationed on a boat, you get even *more* training. I know what will and won't cause a fire).
If I'm at a station where the pumps look like crap and don't look like they'll cut off automatically, I'll do like another has said - just watch as you're pumping. Simple.
When I'm done pumping, I put the kickstand down, go pay the attendant, and back to the bike and on my way.
Seasoned HDF Member
Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 28,842
Likes: 16,583
From: Wisconsin, USA
I have seen videos of fires from not setting your gas can on the ground when filling. I never saw that with a bike, but don't want to have my family jewels that close to the nozzle if Murphy's Law kicks in.
I saw a video where a man was in the pickup bed pumping, and a fire started, but I can't find it.
I saw a video where a man was in the pickup bed pumping, and a fire started, but I can't find it.
Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 10,907
Likes: 8,758
From: Galt's Gulch - MI
Not just a Michigan thing, I'm from Florida but currently in Michigan and I've always fueled up sitting on the bikes, both HD's and sport bikes. Simple to do but I am tall with long arms so that may be why it seems easy to me 
I never drop the end of the nozzle down into the tank so I can see it filling, the fuel reaches the neck and done. Never had any spills but obviously you need to use a modicum of care.
And because I love challenges, to make it even more fun I can pull up to the pumps from either direction and fuel from the left or right side sitting on the bike... and for the curious I put my leather gloves between my legs on the seat and the cap is on the gloves, chrome down. After this many years of fueling up sitting on the bike if I tried to do it standing next to the bike I'd most likely end up wearing the fuel
I never drop the end of the nozzle down into the tank so I can see it filling, the fuel reaches the neck and done. Never had any spills but obviously you need to use a modicum of care. And because I love challenges, to make it even more fun I can pull up to the pumps from either direction and fuel from the left or right side sitting on the bike... and for the curious I put my leather gloves between my legs on the seat and the cap is on the gloves, chrome down. After this many years of fueling up sitting on the bike if I tried to do it standing next to the bike I'd most likely end up wearing the fuel
Cruiser
Joined: Apr 2015
Posts: 186
Likes: 14
From: Lost Wages, NV
I have seen videos of fires from not setting your gas can on the ground when filling. I never saw that with a bike, but don't want to have my family jewels that close to the nozzle if Murphy's Law kicks in.
surveillance cam footage of truck catching fire - YouTube
I saw a video where a man was in the pickup bed pumping, and a fire started, but I can't find it.
surveillance cam footage of truck catching fire - YouTube
I saw a video where a man was in the pickup bed pumping, and a fire started, but I can't find it.
Advanced
Joined: Mar 2015
Posts: 85
Likes: 1
From: Classified
99% of the time I will get up and walk around a little - stretch the legs and all that... The other 1% is when it's so cold out my nuts are frozen to the seat and I want the warmth from the engine to help thaw out my legs...
Road Warrior
Joined: Aug 2009
Posts: 1,889
Likes: 104
From: Mississippi
Something similar happened to me once on a trip on my Sporty. This was at a Chevron station - I forget where. I don't lock the handle when I'm filling the bike, but even so, when I released it so I could check the fuel level, the gas just get kept coming. Got all over my tank, engine, and me. There was no emergency shutoff, it just kept going for a good 12-15 seconds.
It didn't catch fire, though. The liquid isn't flammable, just the gas. If you dropped a lit match into a barrel of gasoline, it would fizzle out if it landed before the vapors ignited.
I still sit on the bike when I refuel, most times, but I find a different station if I don't see a shutoff switch.
It didn't catch fire, though. The liquid isn't flammable, just the gas. If you dropped a lit match into a barrel of gasoline, it would fizzle out if it landed before the vapors ignited.
I still sit on the bike when I refuel, most times, but I find a different station if I don't see a shutoff switch.
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Extreme HDF Member
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 10,907
Likes: 8,758
From: Galt's Gulch - MI
As I posted earlier in this thread I've been fueling while sitting on the bike since I can remember, I insert the end of the nozzle just into the neck of the tank and squeeze the handle gently to get it started, pull the nozzle back enough so I can see in the neck and watch the fuel level as it fills. Obviously you don't run the nozzle full-on but control the flow as it's going into the hole in the neck. These people worried about a pump nozzle clicking off do make me wonder, it's not like we're filling a 100 gallon tank here, 3-4 gallons or so at most, it only takes a few more moments to hold the nozzle, watch the fuel level and ease the fuel in to the tank, a bit of finesse goes a long way to help keep the dragons from coming to call
Last edited by TinCupChalice; May 7, 2015 at 10:43 AM. Reason: Added a bit of info