Lately I have been contemplating cycles. Business cycles. Two cycles versus four cycles motors. And life cycles.
Anyway, Saturday I drove down from Huntington Lake to Shaver Lake to pick up four new Honda outboard motors for our Lakeview Cottages fishing boats. The old motors were, well, old. They had developed a number of ailments old things tend to get – less power, a lot of coughing and choking and conking out at inopportune times. Frankly, they had become undependable.
The old motors were from a different era. They were two cycle motors where the gas and oil are mixed together. Two cycle motors typically generate more horsepower per pound of weight and RPM than four cycle motors, because they have an ignition stroke every two cycles, versus every four cycles. However, this power advantage notwithstanding, two cycle motors are out of favor. They are noisier, smellier, and discharge more pollution into the air and water than four cycle motors. There are now a number of lakes and rivers where use of a two-cycle motor is prohibited.
So we bought four new Honda four cycle (4 Stroke) motors. Clean and green. Eco friendly and fuel efficient. Quiet, shiny, young and strong. By the time I rolled back in to Lakeview Cottages with four big boxes marked “Honda Outboard Motor” strapped to the back of my truck, most of the guests for the week had already checked in. The new motors generated quite a buzz among our fisherman guests. Too many years they’d suffered through the declining health of the old motors. Suddenly our old fishing boats were getting a new lease on life. Huzzah!
Honda has a term for exchanging old motors for new. They call it “repowering” your boat. Wouldn’t it be great if we who are becoming old and in declining health could just repower ourselves?
Anyway, Saturday I drove down from Huntington Lake to Shaver Lake to pick up four new Honda outboard motors for our Lakeview Cottages fishing boats. The old motors were, well, old. They had developed a number of ailments old things tend to get – less power, a lot of coughing and choking and conking out at inopportune times. Frankly, they had become undependable.
The old motors were from a different era. They were two cycle motors where the gas and oil are mixed together. Two cycle motors typically generate more horsepower per pound of weight and RPM than four cycle motors, because they have an ignition stroke every two cycles, versus every four cycles. However, this power advantage notwithstanding, two cycle motors are out of favor. They are noisier, smellier, and discharge more pollution into the air and water than four cycle motors. There are now a number of lakes and rivers where use of a two-cycle motor is prohibited.
So we bought four new Honda four cycle (4 Stroke) motors. Clean and green. Eco friendly and fuel efficient. Quiet, shiny, young and strong. By the time I rolled back in to Lakeview Cottages with four big boxes marked “Honda Outboard Motor” strapped to the back of my truck, most of the guests for the week had already checked in. The new motors generated quite a buzz among our fisherman guests. Too many years they’d suffered through the declining health of the old motors. Suddenly our old fishing boats were getting a new lease on life. Huzzah!
Honda has a term for exchanging old motors for new. They call it “repowering” your boat. Wouldn’t it be great if we who are becoming old and in declining health could just repower ourselves?
Does this mean that we no longer have to mix the oil and gas?!? YAY!!
ReplyDeleteRe-powering ourselves. Hmmmm. Sounds like a philosophical/spiritual discussion to me. I am sure all the female Lakeview managers are very happy with the new boat motors.
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