Suzuki or Honda small outboard?

[BlueChip]

It's time for a new outboard, a small lightweight model 2-3hp is required and the favourites seem to be the Suzuki or the Honda
What do users of these models sugest?

 

[tidclacy]

Had the same decision a while back and went for the Suzuki. The clutch system on the Honda did not appeal.
Never had a problem with my choice.

 

[PetiteFleur]

I've got the Honda 2.3 - air cooled so no water cooling problems, some say it's noisy... same weight as the Suzuki which is water cooled. I like the Honda! Excellent engine, always starts 2nd pull, I always add the Honda additive.

 

[stu9000]

I've got the Honda 2.3 air-cooled outboard. Good bit of kit.
As with any 4 stroke you have to lie it down on the right side.
It's not that light (but not particularly heavy) and is a little noisy, but not having to worry about Impellers and blocked water channels cancels that out.

Also got an 1990s Tohatsu/Evinrude 2.5 hp 2 stroke.
Its not the lightest. But its reliable.

An old seagull is mouldering in the shed. Its bloody heavy.

My absolute favourite is a Yamaha P45 2 stroke from the darkest 1980s.
Its soooo light.
Risky eBay buy, and I had to wrangle with a few technical issues. But she now runs well, isn't too loud, and did I say, super light!

If I was buying new Id be looking hard at the Honda 2.3.

 

[[70521]]

I tried a pals Honda, so noisy you could not hear yourself think. Suzuki is a brilliant wee motor.

 

[Talulah]

Had several Hondas. Whilst they’ve improved I gave up on them due to corrosion. Never regretted switching to the Suzuki.

 

[CAPTAIN FANTASTIC]

Both are very good designs. I had a Honda 2hp (same as the 2.3) for many years and then I bought the 2.5 Suzuki. Hard to choose between the two. The Suzuki seems a bit more powerful

 

[RichardS]

Suzuki for me as well .... although don't forget to fit that cheap inline fuel filter for a stress-free life.

Richard

 

[phatcat1]

We have the Mariner (Mercury?) 3.5 and it’s been a great engine

 

[jamie N]

Honda 2.3. Perfect if one either gives an occasional wipe with an oily rag/WD once or twice a year, or gets the S/S fastenings from Steve of this parish. Brilliant motor which is utterly reliable.

 

[TopBanana]

I'm in the market for the same thing. Have today ordered the Suzuki mainly due to the noise reports.

Richard, do they not come with a filter as standard?

 

[RichardS]

I'm in the market for the same thing. Have today ordered the Suzuki mainly due to the noise reports.

Richard, do they not come with a filter as standard?

There is no visible discrete fuel filter although I think there is a coarse nylon mesh in the tank. I believe that there is a filter in the fuel line itself near the fuel tap but as it's in such a small cross-sectional it must also be a rather coarse filter. A proper inline fine filter costs a couple of quid on eBay and will stop the fine grains of crud which play havoc with the tiny carb jets.

Richard

 

[TopBanana]

Thanks Richard - great tip. You don't happen to know the fuel line internal diameter do you? I'll get one ordered

 

[steve66]

Hi...here is my twopenneth...I used to specialise in both the Suzuki 2.5 and Honda 2/2.3s. Suzuki reliability i used to get approximately 30% back due to reliability issues. This was usually down to clutch dog issues and at nearly £200 to repair made your eyes water!!Other issues were plastic oil pump drives going brittle due to age, snapping and causing the engine to seize. I tend to see around 1- 2% Hondas back for issues. I do not touch them now which is a real shame as they are fantastically designed engines.
Now these engines were second hand.....well serviced looked after you possibly wont encounter any problems. Make sure with your engine you drain your carb after usage oradd stabiliser .Its critical in small 4 stroke outboards

 

[RichardS]

Thanks Richard - great tip. You don't happen to know the fuel line internal diameter do you? I'll get one ordered

These really small 6mm ones are best: Universal 6mm Fuel Filter Lawn Mower Petrol Garden Equipment 1/4'' fuel line x 2 | eBay

There are plenty of larger ones which take up to 8mm hose and are a couple of inches long overall but I struggled to get it to fit neatly as there's not a huge amount of space under the cover so I changed to the smallest ones which are probably around 35mm overall and smaller diameter are easy to fit just inside the cover against the front edge.

Richard

 

[pawl]

For what it's worth this is my opinion. I bought a new Honda 2.3 some years ago and have never liked it. It's given no end of trouble and is not to be relied upon. Imho it's a masterpiece of p*** poor engineering, not to mention the extortionate cost of spares and you would think, given that some people might actually want to use it in the sea, they might have used some corrosion resistant materials! I know nothing about the Suzuki but wish I had my old Mariner 2 stroke back.

As you can see I'm not a fan.

 

[TopBanana]

My Suzuki 2.5 arrived yesterday and I had a quick play with it. Started easily and ran very nicely on the stand, and it's very quiet. It goes into gear more smoothly then my old Tohatsu 3.5 for some reason. Very much lighter to manhandle.

 

[Catalina36]

My tuppeny worth - find a good secondhand two-stroke and avoid four-strokes. I bought one of each brand-new 15 years ago (Mariner and Yamaha) before new two-strokes became illegal and used them alternately for years but eventually sold the four-stroke. Heavier, less power and without doubt the most unnecessarily complicated carburettor I've every seen on a tiny single-pot engine.

 

[duncan99210]

For me the decision tree was driven by the question “can the Admiral start it?” We had a Yamaha Malta that was great but died, so it was replaced in a hurry with a Suzuki 2.5 4 stroke. The Admiral never had a problem with the Malta but couldn’t get the wretched Suzuki to start, no matter how much instruction was delivered. So we replaced it with a very ancient Suzuki 2 stroke which she could start all the time.