I’m not Mario Andretti

Prettiest crotch-rocket ever. (Photo by BobbaLew)

The other day (last Thursday, October 21, 2010) we had a man from a local HVAC contractor come out to service our tankless water-heater.
A tankless water-heater is just that; it’s not trying to keep 40 gallons of water hot in a holding-tank.
It heats the water as it passes through, thereby saving the cost of trying to constantly keep 40 gallons of water hot.
I.e. it’s only heating the hot-water you use.
It’s an appealing idea; supposedly to save on your gas-bill.
But I don’t think it has.
The average 40-gallon tank-type water-heater will run out of hot-water before you finish your shower.
So you slow the flow-rate to a trickle, and/or shorten your shower.
A tankless water-heater will supply hot-water at a higher flow-rate constantly — it won’t run out.
I end up using about the same amount of gas per month with the tankless.
This was despite incentives to switch to tankless.
Reminds of our lo-flow toilet, which supposedly saves water by using less per flush.
Except I flush it a lot.
Some uses require two flushes — either that or plug.
So I’m using way more water with that lo-flow toilet.
Seems every service-man that’s ever visited notes my motorcycle (above) in the garage.
Our plumber, our furnace service-man, landscapers, fence installers, electricians, that water-heater guy.
It’s a yellow 2003 Honda CBR600-RR.
“That your Honda out there?
I’m surprised to see....”
“....Someone my age riding a motorcycle like that,” I interjected (I’m 66).
“Isn’t that uncomfortable, riding in a racing-crouch?”
“That’s what I prefer,” I said. “Same as a 10-speed racing bicycle.
That’s what I’m familiar with.
My first motorcycle, a Norton, was sit-up-and-beg.
About the most I could do was 55 mph. Beyond that it was hang-on-for-dear-life. I felt like I was gonna get blown off the seat.”
“I have an old Yamaha 650, and am considering getting another motorcycle. I doubt I could do a racing-crouch.”
“I’m 66 years old,” I said. “This is my last motorcycle.”
“Are you sure?” he asked. “How about that one-liter BMW; you’d be the fastest guy around.”
“Don’t need it,” I said. “This thing is way faster than me. It’s red-lined at 15-grand, but I doubt I ever had it higher than nine. All I do is putt.
I’m not Mario Andretti.”

• “Mario Andretti” is a retired car-racing driver, still alive. He won the Indianapolis 500 in 1969, and also the Formula-One driver’s championship in 1978. He also won the Daytona 500 in 1967.
I consider him to be the greatest racing-driver of all time.
• “HVAC” is heating/ventilation/air-conditioning.
• A “one-liter BMW” is a new crotch-rocket motorcycle by BMW with one liter of engine-displacement — 1,000 cubic centimeters. It’s extremely fast, 180 horsepower.
• RE: “It’s red-lined at 15-grand, but I doubt I ever had it higher than nine.....” —15,000 revolutions-per-minute, 9,000 revolutions-per-minute. Red-line is what RPM the engine is limited to; often the engine has a rev-limiter that cuts out the ignition at red-line. 15,000 is extremely high speed; most car-engines are red-lined at 6-7,000 rpm. —The reason crotch-rockets are so powerful is because their engines are capable of such high RPM.