The CB1100 Community Forum

Good job Suhawk and glad you're out riding.

(06-10-2024, 04:38 AM)Cormanus_imp Wrote: [ -> ]$2.90 per litre in AUD. That’s high, even for us.

(06-10-2024, 05:38 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ]Take a pic with your bike by the sign Cormanus. It's the theme behind the thread lol.

Oh dear. This was one of those posts where I assumed everyone would know what was in my mind. AU$2.90 per litre for fuel was a reference to what fuel costs in Ireland according to Tev. The actual price in Australia is AU$1.93 / litre according to the internet.

Which brings me to the problem of participating in the photo competition. I’m 15,000 kilometers or a reasonable year’s riding away from my bike as I write. So there’ll be no picture. Sorry.

Here we have the Tale of Two Stations. Each is located on the intersection of Harbor Boulevard and Gisler Street in Costa Mesa. This intersection is immediately south of the 405 Freeway, and the stations are diagonally across from each other.

This intersection is on one of my daily walking routes, especially if I’m low on Tajin Chamoy hot sauce, as it’s only locally available a few miles further south along Harbor at the Mercado Mexican market.

I’ve always marveled at the huge difference in prices at each of these gas stations. Let’s compare apples to apples. In California it’s common for stations to display two prices, one for cash or that brand’s credit card, and a higher price for any other credit card. Of course this is a ploy for one to get that brand’s credit card. Nobody besides day laborers paid under the table carry enough cash to fill a gas tank.

If a station only displays one price schedule, the hope is that it applies to cash or credit, but that’s not a guarantee. So, let’s take regular grade (87 octane here). The Arco is offering it for $4.50 a gallon for credit card. Chevron, if the only price shown is for credit, wants $4.90.

Chevron is regarded as a more premium brand than Arco, but still, that’s a big difference, especially on the same intersection. Why the difference?

Location. The Arco is on the exit side of the street from the 405, and is next to an In-N-Out Burger. In-N-Out is always busy, and almost always has a long line at the drive-through. So there is a constant cloud of traffic around the Arco station with burger buyers fighting for the same driveways. And, if one was low on gas headed down the 405 and wanted to quickly exit the freeway to fill up, the traffic pattern doesn’t offer a convenient route back onto the 405.

The Chevron on the other hand, is more ideally located. Exiting the driveway from the station puts a driver directly onto the path to either the South or North on-ramps to the 405.

That’s quite a premium to pay for convenience.

"Nobody besides day laborers paid under the table carry enough cash to fill a gas tank."

Man, I laughed so hard at this. What a great line.

I expected Cali prices to be higher than that.

(06-12-2024, 11:45 AM)The ferret_imp Wrote: [ -> ]"Nobody besides day laborers paid under the table carry enough cash to fill a gas tank."

Man, I laughed so hard at this. What a great line.

I expected Cali prices to be higher than that.

High compared to other states for sure, but not as tragic as many might think. There’s a Shell station just south of the Petersen Museum at the convergence of Fairfax, Olympic and San Vicente boulevards - a confusing glob of traffic affectionately called “The Butthole” by some locals.

No matter what prevailing prices are, this station has historically displayed ridiculous pricing, often between seven and eight dollars per gallon. When national news reports on California gas prices, pictures of this station’s price board have commonly been shown. I wouldn’t doubt that you may have seen this station in the news, supposedly representing our normal gas prices.

I expected Cali prices to be higher than that.
[/quote]

I paid $5.45/gallon in 2013…Big Sur. It was either that or push a 900 lb Kaw Voyager

Took over $25 for a fill up. Glad it wasn’t completely empty.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

(06-13-2024, 05:19 AM)mtneers_imp Wrote: [ -> ]I expected Cali prices to be higher than that.

I paid $5.45/gallon in 2013…Big Sur. It was either that or push a 900 lb Kaw Voyager

Took over $25 for a fill up. Glad it wasn’t completely empty.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
[/quote]
Yeah, well... if you need gas in Big Sur, you need gas. Or push it one way to Carmel, or the other way to, what, Cambria? San Simeon maybe?

Sorta like that first gas station outside of Death Valley. Amazing how bad your gas mileage gets going up that looong hill on the way out. You'll pay what they want.

Gas sign in Slovenia

Price for 1 litre is 1.445 EUR, that is 1.55 USD or aprox 5,84 USD for a gallon.

Good looking bike, Bosti. Is it an EX with an aftermarket pipe?

A beautiful machine, Bosti.