130 Honda on a CD25 - adequate?

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Looking to purchase a used CD25.
One I am considering has a 130 honda.
We'll be cruising loaded with 2 adults and 4 kids. Is the 130 hp adequate power?

Anyone have experience with this?
 
Adequate is the right word, I suppose. I have a 1999 Honda 130 on my 1996 CD25, and I do wish at times I had a little more. My older hull is a bit heavier than the newer ones, but not much. I know Larry had a 130 on his 2004 CD25 Helen O, as did Lyle on the Bess C, and both of them were happy with the setup. I would suggest that you consider the motor to be just right. It will move her along between 16 and 20 mph and get 2 mpg doing it. So actually, the 130 is more than adequate. Climbing swells at the Columbia River bar and running against the river current is when I wish I had more hp. Or trying to keep up with B~C and his zippy little CD22.

All the Hondas are tough and the 130 is no exception, so don't let the motor size weigh too heavily on the decision.

Good luck! Let me know when you need the photo album.
 
I'm sure dr. Bob will jump in here he had a c-25 with the honda 130 which is a 2.2 litre design which was used for the honda 115 and 130 hp engines. The new 135and 150's are based on a newer design motor a 2.4 litre Accord engine

The older 90 suzuki and 115 were based on a 2litre design with the 140 hp based on the 2.1 litre

YOU probably will want to put on a permatrim to keep the bow down and if you don't like the honda 130 trade it in for the 150
 
Depends on how fast you want to run - and are the kids gonna hold you accountable if it won't pull a tube ?

I have a 150 on Fan-C-Dory, MORE than I need for the speed we travel. Butttt, if I ever NEED the extra power it's there. I think, I can get a tube to plane now (if the Permatrim gets the nose down). One of our members (Helm) went to a 200 Suzy and I believe he's happy with it.
 
As Dave said we have a Suzuki 200 on Chack Chack, we just finished a trip from Apalachicola down the Florida coast, through Lake Okeechobee and then up to Jekyl Island, Georgia. That included a 150 mile crossing across the Gulf of Mexico and a 50 mile offshore run up to St. Augustine. We were able to make the offshore runs quickly and comfortably.

With a bigger engine you can run the boat in the low to mid 20 knot range economically at around 4000 rpm and I think you would find that with a Honda 130 you'll be hard pressed to get in the upper teens especially with your family and gear on board.

Also we have found that we don't need a foil on the motor, just use trim tabs and if necessary trim the engine down in the chop. Our previous Suzuki 140 had a permatrim but I can't say that I miss the foil on our 200.

Just one opinion
Best
Eric
 
After 10,000+ miles (including the Great Loop) on our 2003 CD25 with the 130 Honda, we've never thought we needed more. I've clocked 32 mph on the GPS with just me on smooth water. Fully loaded for the loop (full gas and water, Honda 2000 generator, two anchors, supplies for two weeks, clothes for two months, etc., and two adults) our sweet spot (max mpg while planing) was 18-19 mph, and I could easily cruise at 25 mph, all on smooth water. Performance decreases in chop and waves, but then we generally slow down anyway as the conditions deteriorate. We have trim tabs (a must), and our lifetime gas consumption is 2.55 mpg. The engine only let us down once, when a stuck thermostat after 3 months on the hard caused overheating. Had that happened 30-40 miles offshore, which we've been a couple of times, I would have taken out the thermostat and limped home with a cool-running engine.
 
Interesting that there are different experiences with the 130. We found that with the 130, loaded for cruising, that 17 to 18 knots was about the top practical speed. After putting in a Permatrim and dropping the pitch a coupld of inches, the speed improved slightly.

I just had a correspondance with the new owner of Frequent Sea. He may chime in--He dropped the prop pitch to 11 inches, and raised the motor up one hole (which I had suggested)--He now can get 22 mph, and cruises easily at 18 mph. When we first went to Powell, we had difficulty getting on a plane, with I believe a 15" prop--and a load--no permatrim.

My personaly opininon is that the 130 is miminal for the C Dory 25. If buying new, I would go to 150 or 175 Suzuki. But there are plenty of folks who are happy with the 130, and we found it more than adequate for Alaska, Powell, the Delta, Catalina, Gulf Coast etc.
 
I should probably comment here, since the boat in question sounds like the former Bess-C which we owned for 6 years.

We took the boat all over Vancouver Island and seldom needed more power. The pluses on this motor outweighed the minuses. It always performed well, we never had any problems in the time that we owned it. Started right up, ran smoothly, generally acted like a Honda. We usually ran the boat between 14 to 18 knots and got around 2.5 kpg.

We are not light packers and really loaded the boat up for 2 week trips into more remote areas. With full fuel, water, and everything including the kitchen sink, going against the current in Johnstone Strait was a push. However, we never had a problem getting up on plane.

Since we never had a problem with the motor, I could see no reason to change it out to for a higher HP outboard. If for some reason a new motor was needed, I would have gone for something like the more powerful Suzuki or Hondas.

I never tried to pull a tube with kids, so I can't comment on that capability. As a steady, reliable cruising engine the 130 worked very well.
Lyle
 
Another thing that I find interesting, Bob, is that, if I adjust engine trim and trim tabs to maximize mpg on the fuel flow meter without looking behind me, I always end up with the engine throwing up two big rooster tails. When I first noticed this I thought throwing up that much water has got to be inefficient so I trimmed the engine down slightly to eliminate the rooster tails. But then however I further adjust the trim tabs I always end up with a slightly lower mpg. So I guess throwing the rooster tails actually takes less energy than pushing a little bit more of the engine through the water.
 
Foggydew

If you check the Lake Powell 2010 thread you will see the report on changes made to Frequent Sea (CD-25, Honda 130) for improved performance at 3600-3700 ft. elevation.

I forget how much power you lose per 1000 feet in elevation but seems like maybe 4 to 5%. The 130 isn't real quick by any means but it does the job on Powell and would surely be even stronger at sea level.
 
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