Yamaha 2.5 or Honda 2.3?

dartmoor said:
I do think weight is an important issue - and the Suzuki and Honda are the only ones around 13 kilos.

The Tohatsu/Mercury/Marina seem well made - but at 19 kilos are monstrously heavy for a 2.5HP output. I seem to recall on a bollard pull test they were no better than the Honda and Suzuki.
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Knew they were heavy but did not realise how heavy, that is extraordinary. My Tohatsu 5hp is only 20kg. To the o/p, it is long way to go but have you considered a cruise to the C. I. ? Think I read that you can buy a new 2 stroke Tohatsu on Alderney. Failing that I would be very tempted to get a lightly used 2 stroke from ebay. That is what I did and it was one of my better decisions. Normally I do not need the extra power but faced with a longish trip it makes a huge difference to be able to plane the dinghy, you will need a rigid floor/airdeck though.
 
Storyline said:
Knew they were heavy but did not realise how heavy, that is extraordinary. My Tohatsu 5hp is only 20kg. To the o/p, it is long way to go but have you considered a cruise to the C. I. ? Think I read that you can buy a new 2 stroke Tohatsu on Alderney. Failing that I would be very tempted to get a lightly used 2 stroke from ebay. That is what I did and it was one of my better decisions. Normally I do not need the extra power but faced with a longish trip it makes a huge difference to be able to plane the dinghy, you will need a rigid floor/airdeck though.
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There's a market gap for a very good small 2.5-3.5 outboard:

Tohatsu/Marina/Mercury - far far too heavy

Yamaha - still heavy

Torqeedo - v expensive and battery doesn't last many years

Suzuki - light - but issues around tiny water channels and durability - and side it lays down on is handle size down which seems a daft design fault to me

Honda - cheap rusting fixings, noisy, and snatchy clutch

Selva - well who would want one of those!

If I were designing one, I would go for air cooled with some better sound proofing than Honda, and a proper gear lever - and aim for 13 kilos as a max. And use proper s/s fixings!
 
dartmoor said:
There's a market gap for a very good small 2.5-3.5 outboard:
Suzuki - light - but issues around tiny water channels and durability - and side it lays down on is handle size down which seems a daft design fault to me
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Rats! I thought Suzuki was the answer - what's the story?
 
It's often said that a small 2 stk is much lighter than the 4 stk equivalent. However the Tohatsu 2.5 2stk weighs in at 12.5kgs, the Suzuki 4 stk at 13 kg. My feeling is that the extra 500 g is worth the hassle of not mixing fuel?
 
I had a Suzuki DT2.2 2 stroke which was great in every respect EXCEPT that the coolant channels in the head blocked every season despite flushing in fresh water after every use. Now have a 7 year old Honda BF2.3 which, apart from being significantly less powerful, I am very happy with.

Light weight is king if you transfer the motor on & off the dinghy with any regularity.
 
Hey a man after my own heart. I have built such a motor Air cooled honda engine using an above water silencer and gear lever . Got a new prototype 35cc aircooled OHC 4 stroke 1.5 hp 9 KGS . Not sure yet if im going to have a centrifugal clutch or direct drive
 
I have a Honda 2.3 for 11yrs now. Clean out the carb (v easy) at the beginning of each season and it works fine. Does have a few rusty bolts etc but in a salt water environment I would expect some.

From motorcycle experience my 16yr old Fireblade with 70k mls is in better condition than the 2yr old rusty BMW 1600 GT6 with 40k mls. Unfortunately the BMW as a 140ml a day commuting bike is the DB's so had to PX for another. Wish Honda would update the Pan.

Sorry to hear of water cooling probs on the Suzuki as weight is a serious problem loading outboard off & on inflatable. From comments on here there appears to be no obvious winner!
 
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Whatever you decide, give Outboards Direct in Brighton a call. When I bought my Yamaha 2.5 6 years back they were by far the cheapest and that was including the delivery costs.

PS. They had nasty things to tell you about the small Suzuki.
 
I did a small survey of engines in st. Mawes harbour last month and the majority were Honda 2.3s. I intend to change rusty bolts for stainless on mine. Apparently the carb float chambers tend to rot as well - not sure what can be done about that apart from carry a spare.
 
ghostlymoron said:
I did a small survey of engines in st. Mawes harbour last month and the majority were Honda 2.3s. I intend to change rusty bolts for stainless on mine. Apparently the carb float chambers tend to rot as well - not sure what can be done about that apart from carry a spare.
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Hi Ghostlymoron,
I specialise in 2 and 2.3 hondas so i thought i would share my experience.A couple of things you may want to consider before changing your bolts. Firstly yes the bolts are better replaced but be careful changing over to stainless. The bolts you need to consider changing are m5 thread and are not too sturdy. With galvanic corrosion these tend to sieze into the threaded hole. Stainless bolts are very brittle and if you snap a stainless bolt off in a soft alloy casting its game over. If you do change to stainless apply plenty of copper slip. I tend to use plated mild steel fasteners now in all my Hondas. The fasteners you need to concentrate on replacing are rocker box bolts x4 (and whilst your there apply lots of grease to the cover) exhaust manifold bolts x 2 (usually these are severly corroded and a tip is to grind the heads off remove the exhaust apply loads of heat to the manifold casting and remove the studs left with mole grips. To get to these you are going to have to remove the powerhead and also the powerhead /engine casing bolts and clutch bolts. These are also prone to corrosion but easy enough to remove. Corrosion in the float chamber can be lessened by draining the carb of fuel after usage.
Hope this helps
Steve
 
Well, I've bitten the bullet an ordered a Suzuki. Time will tell. One problem I foresee is that based on my expected usage, it'll take me a year to run it in.......I'll have to spend a day or two going in circles round the harbour
 
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