IAM (Motorcyclists)

[The Fat Clerk]

If you think the standard of bike riding is declining, you should have been at Mallory today. The IAM ran twenty one, 20 minute sessions during which we had riders & Instructors riding round with their Visors up, overtaking under yellow and waved red flags multiple times, and two riders black flagged on the authority of the organisers because of their dangerous riding.
Funniest part of the day was when I was driving out, I counted 17 bikes in a queue to get petrol @ £1.55 a gallon.
Looking forward to normality on Friday when No Limits return, although before that we have the unknown of the 6th Gear Driving Experience tomorrow, making their first visit to the circuit.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by The Fat Clerk

Funniest part of the day was when I was driving out, I counted 17 bikes in a queue to get petrol @ £1.55 a gallon.

I only wish that we could get it that price up here! And they say that everything is cheaper up North!

[E.B]

Posted by The Fat Clerk
Funniest part of the day was when I was driving out, I counted 17 bikes in a queue to get petrol @ £1.55 a gallon.

Originally Posted by Mike Harte

I only wish that we could get it that price up here! And they say that everything is cheaper up North!

I only wish we could get it that cheap down here in Aus where it is supposed to be so much cheaper! I paid A$1.40 (c. £1.05) per LITRE of Premium Diesel yesterday.

[Mike Harte]

Originally Posted by E.B

I only wish we could get it that cheap down here in Aus where it is supposed to be so much cheaper! I paid A$1.40 (c. £1.05) per LITRE of Premium Diesel yesterday.

I believe that the national average for 95 Octane Unleaded is about £1.35 at the moment. However, the cheapest around here is £1.287.

[The Fat Clerk]

I paid £1.33 for normal diesel @ Morrisons here on Friday, came to£98.15 to fill up!

[John Elwin]

Originally Posted by E.B

I only wish we could get it that cheap down here in Aus where it is supposed to be so much cheaper! I paid A$1.40 (c. £1.05) per LITRE of Premium Diesel yesterday.

That's cheap! Diesel is getting close to EUR 1.50 per litre here, & that's the supermarkets.

[Lancsbreaker]

Originally Posted by E.B

I only wish we could get it that cheap down here in Aus where it is supposed to be so much cheaper! I paid A$1.40 (c. £1.05) per LITRE of Premium Diesel yesterday.

I suspect you'll find the Fat Clerk's quoted £1.55 per gallon should have read £1.55 per litre We haven't had fuel at around £1.55 per gallon since the 80s

[The Fat Clerk]

You're quite right, many apologies it is £1.55 per litre................sorry

[bauble]

Originally Posted by The Fat Clerk

You're quite right, many apologies it is £1.55 per litre................sorry

No reason to be sorry, sir, we should never had litres thrust upon us in first place, I always work on miles per gallon.

[E.B]

Originally Posted by bauble

No reason to be sorry, sir, we should never had litres thrust upon us in first place, I always work on miles per gallon.

Im with you there Baub.... my car tells me on the trip computer in litres per 100k and k's per litre, but I have a conversion list in my glovebox for l/100k to UK mpg.
10l/100k= 28mpg and 6litres/100k=48mpg always stick in my mind because thats the variance I get on my car for short stop start town stuff and long runs.

[VIVA GT]

Originally Posted by bauble

No reason to be sorry, sir, we should never had litres thrust upon us in first place, I always work on miles per gallon.

I believe that there were a couple of reasons why fuel changed from being sold by the gallon to being sold by the litre, both ignoring EEC intervention.
Firstly it was done to make the headline advertised price less eye-watering (and to mask the price increases). The second reason was a more practical consideration. Due to the actual cost of the fuel the actual 'money' dials on the pumps were whizzing around at such a speed there were concerns of mechanical failure. Slowing the fuel delivery down would have made filling a tank of fuel very time-consuming but by converting to selling by the litre these dials were slowed to less than a quarter of their original speed!

[zefarelly]

I'm down to fumes on the work hack and have drained 2 Lambrettas to fill No3 for work today, haven't seen a petrol station open with fuel for a few days, clearly they're getting filled at some point then a mile long queue. until its empty again

If I can't get any tomorrow I'll pump the Cortina out and use it in the scooter for a few days. lifes too short to queue with a load of panic monkeys topping up £20

The roads are nice and quiet though. I suspect people are 'working from home' and guarding their jerry cans in the shed.

[morninggents]

£20.00 topping up. A friend filled up last weekend and the dial on the pump from the previous customer registered £6.71. Topping up an almost full tank or a 5 litre can presumably. Whatever, it added to the queuing unnecessarily.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by morninggents

Topping up an almost full tank or a 5 litre can presumably. Whatever, it added to the queuing unnecessarily.

You may be correct - but it could also be a false assumption.

The individual may have been filling up a can for a lawnmower (or other petrol tool).
The person may be on limited means, and towards the end of the month they can only afford a small amount to keep them going (youngster on a scooter maybe?).

I agree that there are a lot of people 'topping up' without real need and adding to the problem, but not all small transaction can be classed as such.

[John Elwin]

I saw a guy on the internet yesterday filling a bin bag in a plastic bucket!!!

Maybe it was him.

[morninggents]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

You may be correct - but it could also be a false assumption. The individual may have been filling up a can for a lawnmower (or other petrol tool). The person may be on limited means, and towards the end of the month they can only afford a small amount to keep them going (youngster on a scooter maybe?).
I agree that there are a lot of people 'topping up' without real need and adding to the problem, but not all small transaction can be classed as such.

You are right and what you said did occur to me after I had posted.

[crmalcolm]

Originally Posted by morninggents

You are right and what you said did occur to me after I had posted.

- didn't mean to sound harsh, I just recall a time in life when I was working out if 5 pounds worth of fuel would see me through to the end of the month, and coming off throttle on every downhill stretch of road to extract every last slice of mpg.

And then last week realising our lawnmower needed fuel and wondering how much abuse I would get at the pumps for filling the fuel can.

[grantp]

Originally Posted by crmalcolm

And then last week realising our lawnmower needed fuel and wondering how much abuse I would get at the pumps for filling the fuel can.

I used the last of my mower fuel (or at least put it in the mower) last weekend.

I think I can get another mow out of it and avoid the current queues.

If all else fails I will have to rely on the battery powered grass trimmer.

The idea o d forcing people to limit their fill to £20 or £30 is a great way to ensure maximum inconvenience (and so persuade people to avoid travel) whilst providing the media with plenty of opportunities for pictures of cars queuing to fill up - mainly because they could not put a sensible amount in the tank the day before.

Presumably if one does a "Pay at pump" and simply uses 2 or 3 cards one after the other one can get a full tank but it will take a little longer, slowing everyone else down.

[GORDON STREETER]

Originally Posted by grantp

.

The idea o d forcing people to limit their fill to £20 or £30 is a great way to ensure maximum inconvenience (and so persuade people to avoid travel) whilst providing the media with plenty of opportunities for pictures of cars queuing to fill up - mainly because they could not put a sensible amount in the tank the day before.

I also think that if the car wont take the 20 or 30 quid that the filling station is allowing then they should still have to pay the amount stated

[The Fat Clerk]

Further proof that the worlds gone mad. Just been out to fill up. Morrisons - 24 Hour completely shut, Esso garage only had petrol with a maximum spend of £35, so third time lucky @ Asda where they had Diesel (and Petrol) and as much as I wanted, so £78 will get me to Silverstone and back on Saturday.

[grantp]

As big oil transitions to Big E and the entire electricity supply world seems to be claiming that all their supplied are 100% "Green", I do wonder whether the oil persons are actually bothered about making supplies available rather than making a case for converting their forecourts into electric parking bays. Or, in some cases when the tanks need replacement, housing plots.

If the certainty of continuity of supply was considered a key factor in their business plan and future modelling ... how did they allow the current situation, bubbling under for a few years now, to suddenly become a major issue just when everything else seems to be reaching the same point?

Or perhaps they have been concerned - along with all other businesses around the world - and have no means at their disposal to deflect or prevent the problems.

Still, if shortages mean prices can go up and competition is restricted one would have to fall back to the old adage that "It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good."

[jcdeleted]

Originally Posted by GORDON STREETER

I also think that if the car wont take the 20 or 30 quid that the filling station is allowing then they should still have to pay the amount stated

During a previous fuel shortage/panic (quite a long time ago) a a friend who owned an independent garage/petrol station instituted a £25 minimum spend no matter how small the actual quantity purchased. Quite clever I thought.

[Tel 911S]

Originally Posted by grantp

As big oil transitions to Big E and the entire electricity supply world seems to be claiming that all their supplied are 100% "Green", I do wonder whether the oil persons are actually bothered about making supplies available rather than making a case for converting their forecourts into electric parking bays. Or, in some cases when the tanks need replacement, housing plots.

If the certainty of continuity of supply was considered a key factor in their business plan and future modelling ... how did they allow the current situation, bubbling under for a few years now, to suddenly become a major issue just when everything else seems to be reaching the same point?

Or perhaps they have been concerned - along with all other businesses around the world - and have no means at their disposal to deflect or prevent the problems.

Still, if shortages mean prices can go up and competition is restricted one would have to fall back to the old adage that "It's an ill wind that blows nobody any good."

There is no fuel shortage , all of the fuel companies have plenty in stock .
The problem is getting it to the garages .
Poland is about 100,000 HGV drivers short , Germany over 60,000 down , most of Europe has a shortage of drivers and UK needs another 60,000 odd .
But a lot of the UKs problem stems from the DVLA , which used the Pandemic to hold up 54,000 HGV licence applications .
As well as the driver shortage , an anti Brexit supporter decided to create a panic by saying there would be no fuel at garages , which has led to the current problem so that they could blame it on Brexit . He probably saw the earlier toilet roll buying chaos and thought he would do the same with petrol .

[grantp]

Originally Posted by Tel 911S

There is no fuel shortage , all of the fuel companies have plenty in stock .
The problem is getting it to the garages .
Poland is about 100,000 HGV drivers short , Germany over 60,000 down , most of Europe has a shortage of drivers and UK needs another 60,000 odd .
But a lot of the UKs problem stems from the DVLA , which used the Pandemic to hold up 54,000 HGV licence applications .
As well as the driver shortage , an anti Brexit supporter decided to create a panic by saying there would be no fuel at garages , which has led to the current problem so that they could blame it on Brexit . He probably saw the earlier toilet roll buying chaos and thought he would do the same with petrol .

Indeed.

My wife managed to fill up (well, put £40 in through her own choice) today but as she told me only E10 was available. Her friends have come up with th afew claimed E10 issues so she is a bit wary - hence only about 2/3 of a tank purchased.

An '05 Corolla should be OK .... but who knows these days.

However, it did occur to me that if someone really wanted to mess with people AND "prove" that E10 was generally OK, creating an artificial availability shortage and then making only E10 available (or severely restricting anything else) might be an interesting ploy. If the opportunity was spotted at the right moment.

[midgetman]

Purlease Grant. You're only one step away from the FB "friend" who claims the the fuel panic is caused by the oil companies trying to get rid of unsold petrol stored too long due to lockdown.



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