Thread: Help on Finding Yamaha

To me it’s all about where the dealer is that will service the motor you buy. If your Merc mechanic has done you right, I would buy another Merc. When I moved back to FL I had a Mercury for the first time in my life. I went to three or four tackle and mechanic shops and asked who was the guy for the older Mercury’s. No hesitation from any of them, my guy was the first words out of their mouth. And they were right. I’m about to buy another Merc just so that I can stay with this guy. Other mechanics make me nervous. I tell my problem and they smile and get a glint in their eyes and my wallet gets hit hard. I take care of those who take care, not advantage, of me.

That said, I like the Suzuki motors and have heard lots of good things about them. I’ve heard some buzz about the paint not liking salt water but you wouldn’t deal with that anyway. If your dealer is within a comfortable distance to you I would think they’re a good option. Lots of them being run offshore here and if they don’t make the trip both ways, they aren’t on the back of those boats very long, so that speaks for itself.

I have had Mercury, Johnson, Evinrude and my last two have been Suzuki, one a 200 HP on a pontoon the other a 140HP on a center console 20' aluminum boat. I have had very few problems with any of them but the two Suzuki engines have a 6 year warranty. To me that was a big draw. If you think about it most people including myself are not able to fish more than 2 days a week for 2/3 of the year. A 6 year warranty has to be set up for at least some commercial use. Six years of possible commercial use would be equal to 2 lifetimes of fishing for me. Like I said I have had very few problems out of any of the manufacturers and have used them a lot but the 6 year warranty is a deal maker for me. Also I noticed that there were a large percentage of new Suzukis on the water now. My current boat engine is really smooth. I am getting old and I plan on this motor lasting for the remainder of my fishing time. I also have a lot more time to fish than when working.

Originally Posted by Kelvin

Anybody have experience with a 115 HP 4 stroke Suzuki?

Commercial fishermen near here are moving to Suzukis. There is good dealer support near here for them now too.

My thoughts on outboards (worth exactly what you are paying for it) is it is about 60% the outboard and 40% the dealer support for it. No sense in buying something that you have to drive a crazy distance to get worked on.

Not sure how it works around you but closest to where I live I have a shop that does Johnson/Evinrude/Mercury and one that does Yamaha/Mercury and an independent guy that works on "US" motors but wouldn't touch my yamaha. Immediately around me there aren't many suzukis on boats. Go west of here 100 miles and they are popular. Same with Honda. Not many honda's immediately around me but go south 50 miles or west 100 and you see them.

If you get to looking at the suzuki look at the 140 as well. Compare the gross weight of it to the 115. Somewhere in their offerings they are the same or very similar weight but you can go up hp. I can't remember if it 90 to 115 or 115 to 140. HP to weight ratio is what I would look at and do the best you can there compared to the mercury you are taking off. It would be pretty sweet if you could get into a 140 and it be the same or less weight than your current 115.