They are very honest, but they use a very limited number of products to
evaluate the product.


"Duncan D. Sterling" wrote in message
...
K Smith wrote:

: Make your own enquiries & decisions as always of course but, be aware
: this is from the same team who brought the world Ficht & they are now
: marketing under a different name, making all the usual BS claims about
: how "it's all fixed now".

Karen,

You should have a look at the latest version of "Power Boat Reports"
which has an article on their ongoing testing of the "fixed Fichts".

According to the article therein, they experienced "not one hiccup"
during testing so far in a variety of conditions. The motors (there
were two) were not babied.

PBR does not accept advertising from any manufacturers, so I don't
think this falls under the guise of "spruiking". They are generally
quite picky in their evaluations of marine products.

FWIW,

--Duncan

Duncan D. Sterling wrote:
K Smith wrote:

: Make your own enquiries & decisions as always of course but, be aware
: this is from the same team who brought the world Ficht & they are now
: marketing under a different name, making all the usual BS claims about
: how "it's all fixed now".

Karen,

You should have a look at the latest version of "Power Boat Reports"
which has an article on their ongoing testing of the "fixed Fichts".

According to the article therein, they experienced "not one hiccup"
during testing so far in a variety of conditions. The motors (there
were two) were not babied.

This means nothing & is typical marketing spruik.

"Only" 1 in 5 fichts failed but that's way too many if it's 1 in 100
it's still too many.

If they were "babied" it would more likely bring up the conditions that
lead to detonation, long light load at the upper end of the lean mixture
rev range, then a fairly quick return to full power & mixture.

This hopefully final attempt to suck money out of consumers will end
the same as all previous Ficht experiments, a high failure rate (not
ever engines that's a given)

PBR does not accept advertising from any manufacturers, so I don't
think this falls under the guise of "spruiking". They are generally
quite picky in their evaluations of marine products.

Sorry it's just BS & nothing more.

However as I made it clear each person has to make their own decision,
we've been warning about & explaining why this particular DFI won't,
indeed we say can't, work since before they were even properly in the
market & to date have seen nothing but BS from OMC, Bomb now da "family"
(how appropriate!!).



FWIW,

--Duncan

K

"K Smith" wrote in message
...


However as I made it clear each person has to make their own decision,
we've been warning about & explaining why this particular DFI won't,
indeed we say can't, work since before they were even properly in the
market & to date have seen nothing but BS from OMC,


Hey Karen,

Whump........Whump..........Whump..... ......Yep, the horse is still dead.
When are you going to come up with any information that is newer than 1998?

Bill Grannis
service manager

"Billgran" wrote in message
...

"K Smith" wrote in message
...


However as I made it clear each person has to make their own
decision,
we've been warning about & explaining why this particular DFI won't,
indeed we say can't, work since before they were even properly in
the
market & to date have seen nothing but BS from OMC,


Hey Karen,

Whump........Whump..........Whump..... ......Yep, the horse is still
dead.
When are you going to come up with any information that is newer than
1998?

Bill Grannis
service manager

It is still a question unresolved. Is there a fundamental problem with
"clean" 2 strokes that would, under some conditions of use, lead them to
fail? Or was there a problem with manufacturing quality or design that
led to some models of Ficht having problems?

The fact that PBR has run a couple of motors without problems doesn't
really prove much. After all, OMC ran more than a couple of motors,
presumably without significant problems, during their testing phase yet
ran into problems upon general availability.

The fact that the Bombardier family put their personal money into buying
the recreation group is a sign to me that it is possible that the
problems were not fundamental, and have been worked out. But that's me.
I guess we will know in a few years.

del cecchi

"del cecchi" wrote in message
...



It is still a question unresolved. Is there a fundamental problem with
"clean" 2 strokes that would, under some conditions of use, lead them to
fail? Or was there a problem with manufacturing quality or design that
led to some models of Ficht having problems?



Del,

All hype aside, there has been no outbreaks of excessive powerhead failures
due to sooting or detonation with FICHTS. That was resolved after the 20%
problem showed up in '98. Since the redesign ( FICHT Ram) in 2000, the
motors have run OK. OMC has had problems with vendors and some motors would
experience sensor, pump, and electrical problems from time to time, but
nothing related to earlier designs or to the FICHT process of DFI. When
Bombardier took over 2 years ago and had the backing to replace "out of
spec" vendors and also built a state of the art production facility in
Wisconsin, the Evinrudes and Johnsons became close to bullet-proof. We have
fewer warranty claims than we do with Yamaha, especially this year.

If there were still problems with the FICHT design, you would be reading
about it here and in other forums constantly. The boating press would be
publishing stories about it and BoatUS would be "waving their arms". Have
you read anywhere that folks have had catastophic problems with their
Bombardier Evinrudes ? I still service many 2000 and 2001 OMC FICHTS for
commercial crabbers and fisherman, along with law enforcement and DNR, and
those motors have well over 1000 hours on them (one has over 2000) and they
are still in use. One tow boat operator has over 1500 hours on a pair of
2001 models. So no matter what you hear from "downunder", things are looking
good, and I keep in touch with dealers and techs around the country so the
news is not just from my area.

Evinrude replaced Honda as the motor of choice on pristine Lake Tahoe,
mainly because of fewer total emissions and better reliability. You see them
at the Bass Tourneys, check the 2003 winners, Walleye tourneys, and the SKA
offshore contests. If they kept "breaking down", they would not be used
since thousands of $$$ are at stake. There is a company in the Bahamas that
runs 4 FICHTS on the back of an offshore boat taking day trips from Nassau
to Exhumas daily.

Bombardier Outboard division has sold out production for 2 years now and has
made money since the first year. E-TEC looks interesting, the injector is
new and the electrics are new, but the rest of the motor uses internal parts
from the 175hp motors, and commercial or V4 and V6 gearcases for
reliability. The idea that it is magneto driven and doesn't need a battery
like EFI and other DFI motors, also makes things more reliable. Of course,
time will tell, but I've followed the testing since last Feb. at the Miami
Boat Show, where it won the Innovation Award, and reports from the field and
the media have been positive. Someone may call this "spruiking" or something
like that, but these are the facts.

Bill Grannis
service manager

Billgran wrote:


Del,

All hype aside, there has been no outbreaks of excessive powerhead failures
due to sooting or detonation with FICHTS.

There are plenty of FICHT-powered fishing boats out on the Bay and along
the Atlantic Coast running out of the Virginia Beach area. If the motors
were crap, you wouldn't see so many of the boats way offshore. Further,
when you read any of the serious sal****er fishing newsgroups, you'll
find boaters with problems to report about every brand of outboard, I/O
and inboard.

Someone may call this "spruiking" or something like that, but these are the facts.

Bill Grannis
service manager

No one who is seriously involved in boating pays the slightest attention
to the over the top claims of Karen Smith. She obviously has many issues
in life beyond her dislike for me, you, the former OMC and anyone who
disagrees with her, and these surface almost every time she posts
something. If she lived in the United States or had the fare for an
airline ticket, I'd be worried about her hiding in my shower and waiting
for me with her long rusty knife, snaggle teeth, wart on her nose,
really bad breath, and, of course, her pointed black hat.

Karen Smith has found a new cheering section among the more
simple-minded right-wingers here. They deserve each other.
She's best ignored.



--
Email sent to is never read.

"Billgran" wrote in message
m...
snip
Del,

All hype aside, there has been no outbreaks of excessive powerhead
failures
due to sooting or detonation with FICHTS. That was resolved after the
20%
problem showed up in '98. Since the redesign ( FICHT Ram) in 2000,
the
motors have run OK. OMC has had problems with vendors and some motors
would
experience sensor, pump, and electrical problems from time to time,
but
nothing related to earlier designs or to the FICHT process of DFI.
When
Bombardier took over 2 years ago and had the backing to replace "out
of
spec" vendors and also built a state of the art production facility in
Wisconsin, the Evinrudes and Johnsons became close to bullet-proof. We
have
fewer warranty claims than we do with Yamaha, especially this year.

If there were still problems with the FICHT design, you would be
reading
about it here and in other forums constantly. The boating press would
be
publishing stories about it and BoatUS would be "waving their arms".
Have
you read anywhere that folks have had catastophic problems with their
Bombardier Evinrudes
snip

Bombardier Outboard division has sold out production for 2 years now
and has
made money since the first year. E-TEC looks interesting, the
injector is
new and the electrics are new, but the rest of the motor uses internal
parts
from the 175hp motors, and commercial or V4 and V6 gearcases for
reliability. The idea that it is magneto driven and doesn't need a
battery
like EFI and other DFI motors, also makes things more reliable. Of
course,
time will tell, but I've followed the testing since last Feb. at the
Miami
Boat Show, where it won the Innovation Award, and reports from the
field and
the media have been positive. Someone may call this "spruiking" or
something
like that, but these are the facts.

Bill Grannis
service manager


That's good news, and goes along with the fact that the insiders at
Bombardier were willing to put their own money into the buy out.

As for the innovation awards, I have seen a number of them given to
products that turned out to not be such a good idea, so it is hard to
judge the significance of them. And I have personally designed or
worked on a few innovative products that turned out to not be a good
idea when it was all said and done.

Here in Minnesota I haven't seen many Ficht motors around so I am unable
to tell if the lack of reports was because they weren't selling many, or
that they were working great. Among the walleye fishers 4 strokes seem
to be catching on except for the 150 and up crowd.

del cecchi