Gallons v litres

[Athame57]

When I stopped motorcycling in the early 1990s ( I went back to sea ) it was still gallons and that's how I still think really. I returned to riding in a world of Litres and I've never really adapted to it, I think in terms of how much it cost me now! Would most of us have been happier like I would have been if Bxt  had us return to gallons, not that the EU forced the issue?

[Orcade-Ian]

George, when I started driving I used to get FOUR GALLONS for a quid and still come away with 1s 8d change.  It was a female PM (whose grave I would happily dance on) who took us to the £1 gallon.  I don't think bxt was the cause but every penny increase is 4.54p extra per gallon, so it's down to smoke and mirrors as usual.
It's now over £8 per gallon so thats a 32 fold increase.  I was getting £4 a week as an apprentice, many people are certainly getting 32x£4 or £128 per week
Bloody cheap this petrol stuff ain't it?  😀

Ian

[florence]

I went to school in the early seventies.  We were taught in metric and I have to say I prefer all measurements that way.  Imperial measurements are annoying and complicated to me.  Why are road distances still measured in miles and yards I would like to know, truly frustrating especially as the majority of road users today were never taught in imperial.  Recently, I spent some time in Ireland and felt very much at home, everything in metres and litres and petrol cheaper than in UK.  Ireland's economy is booming.

[K2-K6]

I'm fine with working in most units. Although, I never think in "thou" just metric in that scale.


A friend can recite all those little rhymes used during metrification period when a child, usually after drinking alcohol   

The 1970s Metrication Rhymes

During the transition from imperial to metric measurements in the UK, popular rhymes—often found on cereal boxes like Co-op cornflakes—were used to help people remember rough everyday equivalents:
• "Two and a quarter pounds of jam weigh about a kilogram"
• "A litre of water's a pint and three-quarters"
• "A metre measures three foot three"

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

George, when I started driving I used to get FOUR GALLONS for a quid and still come away with 1s 8d change.  It was a female PM (whose grave I would happily dance on) who took us to the £1 gallon.  I don't think bxt was the cause but every penny increase is 4.54p extra per gallon, so it's down to smoke and mirrors as usual.
It's now over £8 per gallon so thats a 32 fold increase.  I was getting £4 a week as an apprentice, many people are certainly getting 32x£4 or £128 per week
Bloody cheap this petrol stuff ain't it?  😀

Ian

When I started driving a car in 1965  four gallons of Esso Extra cost 19s 8d not much discounting back then.
I spent about about 30% of my wages in 1970 on petrol as a trainee on £10.00 a week.
As a % of my income today, l I spend  less than 4% of my income on petrol.

As much as you might want to blame Mrs T for the increase in petrol prices the truth is the West was held to ransome by OPEC when the the oil producing countries realised it was selling a finite natural product far to cheaply, it took them from 1960 to the first real fuel crisis in 1n 1973-75 to exercise their power.

[SteveD CB500K0]

I’m with Ted.

Although I would have been about 7 in 1965, I distinctly remember my dad going to the petrol station and getting 4 gallons for a 10s note.

Nowadays I have an EV.
It costs £6.25 to charge overnight for 300 miles range. [insert smug bastard emoji]


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Athame57]

I went to school in the early seventies.  We were taught in metric and I have to say I prefer all measurements that way.  Imperial measurements are annoying and complicated to me.  Why are road distances still measured in miles and yards I would like to know, truly frustrating especially as the majority of road users today were never taught in imperial.  Recently, I spent some time in Ireland and felt very much at home, everything in metres and litres and petrol cheaper than in UK.  Ireland's economy is booming.

I left school in 1973, I had been taught the old money system in many maths classes which all came to nothing with decimalization, that was a good idea. I was actually in Germany all this time from 1965 and outside the classroom money was metric, what a clash. But MPH and miles I much prefer, like gallons and pints!

[McCabe-Thiele (Ted)]

When I worked in Germany I thought in English, I translated in my head what I wanted to say from English to German to speak very basic schoolboy German. I was never truly bilingual as I had to do the conscious translation all the time.

Its the same with Imperial v Metric, I was raised on Imperial so I think in  Imperial.I have to translate in my head to SI units.

[badger_eng]

George, when I started driving I used to get FOUR GALLONS for a quid and still come away with 1s 8d change.  It was a female PM (whose grave I would happily dance on) who took us to the £1 gallon.  I don't think bxt was the cause but every penny increase is 4.54p extra per gallon, so it's down to smoke and mirrors as usual.
It's now over £8 per gallon so thats a 32 fold increase.  I was getting £4 a week as an apprentice, many people are certainly getting 32x£4 or £128 per week
Bloody cheap this petrol stuff ain't it?  😀

Ian

Must be a Hull thing…..
I’d gladly join you dancing on her grave. More than happy to make it an all nighter. Nowt to do with litres or gallons but a great excuse for a jive 😬

Give me metric anyday and I grew up with thou’s, pounds and yards.

Simple multiples of ten. 1 litre weighs 1kg etc etc Soooooo damn simple

[Athame57]

When I started driving a car in 1965  four gallons of Esso Extra cost 19s 8d not much discounting back then.

At least you got a Tiger in your tank, and probably still a tigers tail to take home, I customized the back of my jacket to that classic theme by the way!

[Bryanj]

OK, the first pint i pulled was 1s10p hapny, my RE 250 ran a month on a tankful at about£1, i was taught metric engineering then went to sea on a 1953 tanker in imperial, so can anybody explain why we buy timber as 3 meters of 4x2 inch for example!

Found a tiger sticker last week!

[Skoti]

Smiles per mile is what matters most when riding my classic stuff nowadays.

Have fun and try to forget the price per litre.

[Athame57]

Smiles per mile is what matters most when riding my classic stuff nowadays.

Have fun and try to forget the price per litre.

ESSO sign means happier motoring! 

[exvalvesetdabbler]

When I started driving a car in 1965  four gallons of Esso Extra cost 19s 8d not much discounting back then.

At least you got a Tiger in your tank, and probably still a tigers tail to take home, I customized the back of my jacket to that classic theme by the way!

Marginally better than a plastic smurf one of our local garages were handing out.

My earliest recollection of petrol prices was when I was sent on my bike to get a gallon of 16:1 for the lawn mower, two half crowns and enough change to knock on the backdoor of the pub for a packet of crisps and still have some change. The petrol pump was hand cranked.

Regards
Dave

[Laverda Dave]

I've just returned from a holiday in New England. We had a hire car and paid $4.19/gallon (and the Americans think that is really expensive).
Do you feel as though we are being ripped off in this country