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Technology Stocks : Orbital Engine (OE) -- Ignore unavailable to you. Want to Upgrade?

To: PIERRE HANDL who wrote (3605)	12/18/1998 4:43:00 PM
From: Maverick	Respond to of 4908

Her conversations with me are about getting rid of me. You don't understand how these go. I ask a question, she replies. And that reply is the minimum amount of information she can give, generally only a few words. Then silence. No explanation. She'll sometimes then interject a drawn remark (such as "wellll thennn" or "okaayyyy") trying to suggest we're done and her phone is halfway to the receiver. Her goal IS ONLY to get off the phone as soon as she can. This, combined with OE's failure to respond to Emails, does not instill confidence.. Again, do not attempt to defend her approach by saying I sometimes post negative things about OE, making her behavior understandable. I post what is good and I post what is bad. And to expect otherwise is ludicrous. Obviously I think there is more good than bad or I wouldn't own the stock! I will concede I've been critical of her in the past, but in my recent calls I've tried to present sincerity and ask questions particulary relevent to everyone. If anything things have gotten worse. Her goal when I call is to provide THE MINIMUM amount of information she can without violating her obligations. This would be like me ONLY posting when I detect something negative. This is not a club, it's an investment. I'm gonna post the bad with the good. This isn't over. You might not like the results. Your bias matches hers, and is now being occasionally questioned. We have truly entered a new age of suspicion in this world in the last six months, and it's showing up everywhere. I have always felt there are very few coincidences. Would you like for me to prepare a demonstration of bias by presenting an "alternate" interpretation of the Boating outboard test for you this weekend? Of course one that would show OptiMax to be at or near the bottom of the pack? I'm betting all those Perkasa trucks are diesels.... Tom: I don't care if she likes me. The problem is I will not be given the same information upon an inquiry as others. This is quite serious. Flowers? I don't think my wife would go for that! Siemens+Mercury+Bombardier+Tohatsu+Lotus+Sundiro+Aprilia-BHP-RGC-RS=$3

To: PIERRE HANDL who wrote (3605)	12/19/1998 12:31:00 AM
From: Maverick	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 4908

Boating test picks Yamaha 4S over OptiMax, Ficht, and Honda! January issue, pages 122-126. The new Yamaha 4S "F100" motor is picked over the OptiMax w/OCP, Evinrude w/FFI, and Honda Accord based 4S. Boating tested the 115hp OptiMax, Ficht and Honda against the 100hp Yamaha on a 17' "fish 'n ski", the typical boat outfitted with these motors. The OptiMax weighs 440 lbs vs only 358 for the Yamaha, or 23% more! Note these figures result in power/weight ratio's, a critical specification for outboard motors (all the weight is literally hanging off the transom of the boat), of 3.58 lb/hp for Yamaha over the 3.83 lb/hp of the OptiMax. The power/weight performance of a motor is also considered one of the most important performance specifications. The Yamaha produced 7.34mpg on the ISO/EPA cycle, which accurately represents the proportion of time run at various engine speeds, vs. 6.52 for the OptiMax. Even the Ficht motor bested the OptiMax at 7.17mpg. While the OptiMax had the best acceleration and top speed, the DFI only reduced oil consumption by 18% at the WOT required to accomplish this. They noted that at WOT, the Yamaha was also consuming 51% less fuel than the OptiMax! And while the 4S motors left no smell of exhaust whatsoever, there was still a weak scent of oil left by the DFI's. They indicated that while oil consumption is dramatically reduced by DFI, oil is still being "wasted". Boating used words such as "thrifty", "powerful", and "compact" to describe the Ficht motor. OptiMax was noted for it's WOT throttle performance, but this only constitutes 6% of usage. The OptiMax motor was so big the motor couldn't even be tilted throughout it's full travel range on the test boat. The Yamaha was notable for it's simplicity, which they pointed out has become a concern of boaters regarding the 2S DFI motors. The F100 was also noted for it's impressive acceleration with a 15hp disadvantage, as it was only slightly less quick than the Ficht. Finally, Boating felt the F100 was producing well above it's rated power output, possibly as much as 110 hp. The fear of 4S maintenance costs proved minimal, as the Yamaha service schedule only requires a valve adjustment every 400 hours of use, or only every 2-5 years in typical use. They said the engine sound from the 2S motors was more irritating at all engine speeds, and the OptiMax was twice as loud as the Yamaha at the telltale operation of 1000rpm (for non engineers, every 3dB increase is a doubling of volume). Yamaha also provided the most convenient flush fitting, a maintenance feature frequently used by boaters in brackish or corrosive environments. In concluding, Boating said they felt the OptiMax was too big (refering to it's physical size, not power) to recommend for this boat unless your top priority was "performance" (acceleration and top speed). They praised the Yamaha for nearly keeping pace while offering the best fuel economy, providing compact dimensions, and running quietly. Boating's closing comment was the the Yamaha F100 was "hard to beat". Is this the OE coverage I should provide in the future? Who knows, when the data on side injection and low sulfur fuel starts to roll in, I may be able to make similar analysis. Gotta go, Tariq Aziz wants me to go over Richard Butler's report.... Siemens+Mercury+Bombardier+Tohatsu+Lotus+Sundiro+Aprilia-BHP-RGC-RS=$3