Common Ground

Our friend Tom McCormick of Taco Comfort Solutions recently posted a photo of a certain greenish motorcycle in their HQ lobby. The bike was built by CG's Dan Vastyan. It's now one of three Harleys owned by Taco President & CEO Johnny White, and there's a fun story to how that happened. It's as American as hot dogs, baseball and Taco’s 007e.

In 2012, Common Ground (Ok: mostly Dan) built the “TacoBike,” inspired by them, and their pilot, Johnny White, who's an avid biker and Harley enthusiast. Shortly after seeing the bike, Johnny called Dan to ask if he could acquire it (why, sure). That was several years ago now, and it's since had a facelift.

“There’s no other machine like it on the road,” confirms Dan. "From its Taco ‘tattoos’ and big, fat whitewall tires, hand-crafted leather seat and a WWII artillery shell casing air filter frame, to its custom, rigid frame – the machine was built to evoke the spirit of this unique manufacturer.

“We now know so many people in the Taco camp, with loads of bikers,and loads of customers on two wheels, too,” Dan added. “The inspiration to build a bike honoring them was an easy thing to do – and a whole lot of fun in the process."

Rachel's recent article for PM Magazine is about a brand new Jumanji-esque exhibit at the Tulsa Zoo, which features Watts Radiant radiantly heated "hot rocks" and sand bars for Komodo dragons, Malayan tigers and Chinese alligators. Part II of the article to follow after the exhibits' grand opening, in 2017.

PlumbingandMechanical September 2016 Page 50 By Rachel Ruhl Lost — but comfortable — Kingdom Tulsa Zoo utilizes radiant technology in multimillion-dollar renovation. Johnson Tiger, McIntosh, works to install the more than 50 lineal ft. of ProMelt electric radiant heat cable encased in each of the 24 sq. ft. tanning beds, dishing out 50 watts p...