Quote:
Originally Posted by Ian21401
I can remember the days when an attendant put the fuel in. Customers were not permitted to use the pumps. Often with dad in his Morris series E 5cwt van. About 1963 I owned an Ariel Arrow motor cycle. 250cc two stroke which required a shot of two stroke oil with each gallon of petrol. I relied on having the required shots of oil put in by the pump attendant before he put the petrol in. The device used was a portable cylinder containing the oil with a pipe and a plunger. The pipe was inserted at the tank filler and the plunger fully depressed to deliver the required measure of oil. Unfortunately it was not possible to see the oil actually being delivered and one relied on the honesty of the filling station that the oil in the container was the correct oil. I learned my lesson the hard way. Whilst riding back to Tyneside from T.A. camp in West Sussex I needed to refuel on the A1 somewhere in Lincolnshire. The normal procedure was followed. Fifty miles further on the engine seized. Eventually got home with the bike the following day after spending a night at a 24hr. cafe and begging a lift north (with the bike) in a furniture van. Local bike repairer stripped engine and found big end bearings shot. To this day I blame that filling station in Lincolnshire, but of course it was impossible to prove. Once bike was repaired I carried pre-measured bottles of two stroke oil which I put into the tank myself as required.
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I suspect your experience was one of many Ian and started the self-service revolution. Also that there was a fair chance the 2-stroke dispenser was in fact empty. Even if it had engine oil instead of 2-stroke oil it would have afforded some protection, more than 50 miles worth at least.