Is a Johnson 6hp 4-stroke made by Johnson or Suzuki?

[NickC]

To put it another way

Is a Johnson 4-stroke 6hp a re-badged Suzuki DF6
or is a Suzuki DF6 a re-badged Johnson 6hp?

My mechanic seems to think that Suzuki DF6s are made by Johnson but I thought it was the other way around. Can anyone confirm which way round it is.

 

[VicS]

To put it another way

Is a Johnson 4-stroke 6hp a re-badged Suzuki DF6
or is a Suzuki DF6 a re-badged Johnson 6hp?

My mechanic seems to think that Suzuki DF6s are made by Johnson but I thought it was the other way around. Can anyone confirm which way round it is.

Pretty sure recent Johnsons are rebadged Suzukis

Johnson, as brand name, has now been dropped by BRP anyway.

 

[cliff]

 

[Lakesailor]

What a weeny girl

 

[VicS]

What a weeny girl

Perhaps she's a rebadged Suzuki

 

[Spi D]

BRP, a privately-held company based in Quebec, Canada, was created in 2003 when the Canadian firm Bombardier Inc., sold the Evinrude and Johnson assets it acquired after the bankruptcy of OMC in 2001. Almost immediately after acquiring Evinrude and Johnson, BRP decided to pin its future on the direct-injected (DI) two-stroke technology it inherited from OMC. Sold exclusively under the Evinrude brand, BRP has been flogging the advantages of its E-Tec DI system while bashing the weight, performance and emissions of four-stroke outboards, most famously in a series in “infomercials” shown on cable television.

It was OMC that made Johnson a “four-stroke brand,” in a last-gasp effort to stay relevant in a market that was shifting to four-strokes, helped along by the dismal performance if the OMC Ficht direct-injection technology. With all of its engineering eggs in the Ficht basket, OMC was caught short when consumers turned to reliable four-stroke Honda, Suzuki, Mercury and Yamaha motors in the late 1990s. OMC struck a deal with Suzuki to supply it with four-stroke models to fill out its line. The Suzuki motors were painted and badged as Johnsons and gave OMC dealers four-strokes to sell alongside the two-stroke Evinrude models. Just before the bankruptcy, an OMC dealer quipped to me that “those Suzuki Johnsons are the best motors OMC is selling right now.”

This is the scenario Bombardier inherited, and as it preached the E-Tec gospel, the Johnson line was pushed aside. In 2004 BRP cut back the deal with Suzuki, and the supply agreement ceased entirely at the end of the 2005 model year.

Wikipedia has a story about the OMC, owner of JohnnyRude and more of the then so well known brands.

 

[NickC]

So the conclusion is that the Johnson 4-stroke 6hp has always been a Suzuki DF6 and has always been made by Suzuki.

Looks like my mechanic suggesting that the Suzuki was made by Johnson was complete rubbish.

Thanks

 

[VicS]

So the conclusion is that the Johnson 4-stroke 6hp has always been a Suzuki DF6 and has always been made by Suzuki.

Looks like my mechanic suggesting that the Suzuki was made by Johnson was complete rubbish.

Thanks

I dont think the earlier 4 srtoke 6 hp Johnsons were Suzukis. They have the familiar features of OMC outboards and are definitely not the same as the Suzukis.

From 2005 onwards the Johnsons look to be the same as the Suzukis.

Current Evinrudes look like something different yet again. Tohatsu I think.

 

[NickC]

Well the parts for our 2005 4-stroke Johnson 6 (model JR4SO) are exactly the same as a Suzuki DF6, so either Johnson make the Suzuki or Suzuki made the Johnson.

 

[VicS]

Well the parts for our 2005 4-stroke Johnson 6 (model JR4SO) are exactly the same as a Suzuki DF6, so either Johnson make the Suzuki or Suzuki made the Johnson.

Yes thats right and if you look at earlier models you will find that the Suzukis are the same as the 2005 ( and later models ) but the Johnsons are different. Johnsons obviously switched to rebadged Suzukis in 2005.

One of the first things I noticed was that the 2004 4T Johnson gearbox was pretty much the same as my 1984 2T Evinrude gearbox. No obvious major differences at all