90HP Honda VS 115 HP Suzuki

K

kevrangray

New member
I currently have a 90HP Honda Carburetor outboard on my 22 Cruiser and come across a person selling 115 Fuel injected Suzuki. Their Suzuki has a 25" shaft on it. I'm not sure if this would fit on mine or even if I should stay with the 90HP and not go up anymore. Any/all suggestions are welcome. The Suzuki has just over a 100 hours and mine is around 30 hours.

Thanks,

Kevin
 
I find it odd that you only have 30hr on an 05 boat motor.
This spring I plan on doing the exact same swap, my Honda 90 for a 115 Suzuki but might go with the new Yamaha 115. My problem is finding a way to get rid of the 90, the dealer who takes the 90 in trade will get my ssss.
Can't answer your shaft question.
 
Don't buy anything until you run the 115 Honda. Smooth, quiet, economical, and strong. Detuned 150. On the Mar. 21.5 it's a jewel. My choice, but YMMV -- Dusty.

And Merry Christmas to all!
 
Sawdust":2gj8xsgu said:
Don't buy anything until you run the 115 Honda. Smooth, quiet, economical, and strong. Detuned 150. On the Mar. 21.5 it's a jewel. My choice, but YMMV -- Dusty.

And Merry Christmas to all!
Click to expand...

At around 480lbs it’s a quiet behemoth.
 
Looking like I'll be holding out for the Yamaha 115. As for the hrs, it only had about 3 hrs on it from the guy I bought it from a year ago. I'm in the service "U.S. Navy" so I just have not had the luxury to run it as much as I would like to have over the past year.

Thanks for all the help,

Kevin
 
yep, it's a big one, and after several thousand hours running the 90 carb Honda I wouldn't upgrade to a 115 of any breed. Gain very little. After 37 years in the USN I'm careful not to part with the green unless I can get value. Said before YMMV.

Dusty. At 92 guess I'm a little opinionated!
 
Dusty,

Thank you very much and I have been convinced to stick with the Honda 90. Now I just need to find my way to Whidbey where I started my career and I'll be good.

Thanks again,
 
The 25" shaft is too long for a C-Dory 22. There was a lot of conversation on this recently in another thread on repowering. Sounds like your Honda is like new.

Kev
 
Yes, the guy I purchased the C Dory from bought it thinking that he was going to be able to start doing a lot of fishing and shortly after he purchased it he got injured and wasn't able to use it like he intended. He sold it to me with just a few hours on the engine plus an 8 HP kicker and trailer for 27,000.00 At the time I didn't know much about C Dory's but shortly after realized how good of a deal it was. To be exactly honest, I have never taken the boat in to get the engine looked at to check the hours, I just took his word for it since it seemed extremely new and was in mint condition. Any thoughts on how to check the hours would be helpful though.

Kevin
 
Great price. A steel. If he had it serviced the dealer should have a reasonable guess. Total hours are not very important if the motor has had regular maintenance. Lots of 90's over 5,000 hours.

We love Whidbey Island, but halibut like the slab in your photos are rare. Our resident nerd Bill knows where they are, but he probably won't tell you. :lol:

Dusty
 
Dusty,

You will have to let Bill know if it is any conciliation I'll put him on my Christmas list for a good location. ha ha ha That Halibut in my photo was caught out of Newport, Oregon roughly about 20 miles out at a place called Rock Point. Was definitely good eating just a beating to get there. What was your last squadron up there? I did a couple tours in VAQ-141 and VA-128. Spent most of my career with Intruders and Prowlers.


Kevin
 
Sawdust":w78c0t48 said:
Our resident nerd Bill knows where they are, but he probably won't tell you. :lol:
Click to expand...

You've got a lot of faith in me, ol' pal... :mrgreen:

Unfortunately, when it comes to any kind of fishing - I'm all hat, no cattle. I live in the right place, have all the right equipment, and get tips from the best...but don't think for a second, my freezer is full. I've not sunk to the level of store bought fish, but that's just because I'm quite adept at shmoozing with all the local pros...they toss a filet or three my way routinely, most likely out of pity.
 
Nerdy one,

You have a pretty neighbor lady who speaks halibut!

Hope to get over for a visit and lie-exchange soon.

A wonderful Merry Christmas to you and Lady Dana

Dusty
 
back to the Honda 115. Why would Honda detune a 150, and why would anyone buy it, just to say they have a 115/ Why not build a real 115 or up tune the fi90 Honda? seems lazy to me. I just don't understand why a person would have a 115 that weights the same as a 150 and not just get the 150? makes no sense to me at all. Love my Honda 225 but it came with the boat. I think that Honda marine is really falling behind.
 
starcrafttom":fizo6nlu said:
Why would Honda detune a 150...?
Click to expand...

Mebby it's intended for commercial or serious pleasure craft owners that want an improved duty cycle and longevity. Or possibly it's just marketing, or both.
 
Don't knock it until you run it :wink:

The 115 Honda is sweet, and if you don't already have a good one it is certainly an option. On the Marinaut 215 it is great. Unbelievably economical (do you get 5 NMPG at cruise speed?)
Great torque at low rpm so very smooth and quiet at 20-25 knot cruise. On the 22 C-Dory it might be a little heavy, but moving batteries forward, and using a light weight kicker should work. Of course a 90 Honda is great or the 22 -- I've had five -- and unless you have a fat Marine Corps wallet no reason to swap out.

Have a great Merry Christmas -- and keep your bait in the water!!

Dusty
 
Thomas --
To answer your question -- if the manufacturer took a 90 HP, and tuned it up to achieve 115 HP, for example, it would be the same (small) displacement engine, and they would most probably have to increase engine RPM's to achieve greater horsepower. In other words, the engine would have to work a lot harder to achieve the desired level of horsepower. The whole point with Honda detuning a 150 HP engine block is to make a low-rpm, high-displacement and high-torque engine that essentially blows away its competitors in economy and smooth operation. Actually, we got around 5 statute miles per gallon on our Marinaut, but that is still phenomenal. On the Marinaut 215, the transom easily took the added weight of the Honda BF115 and Tohatsu 9.8 HP electric start, long shaft kicker without adversely affecting trim.

As for getting the Marinaut out of the hole to go on plane, the high-torque BF115 causes the boat to leap out of the hole. I don't think the BF150 would do any better at getting us out of the hole. The top-end RPM's of a BF150 would allow the boat to travel faster, but for what constructive purpose? My wife and I took the Marinaut to 31 Knots, and we did not feel comfortable at that speed. We prefer around 19 to 21 Knots, because this gives us an excellent balance between stability, safety, speed and fuel economy.

Finally, the Honda BF115 is an engineering marvel. I think that Honda may be losing ground in this bad economy not because of its technology, but because their engines cost a little bit more to manufacture. I learned my lesson year's ago on pinching pennies with a decision between buying a new 1994 Ford Taurus or a Honda Accord. I chose the former, because it was $1,500 cheaper than a Honda. Big mistake -- it was cheaper. My superbly maintained Ford lasted 9 year's before it had to be scrapped due to a bad transmission. The transmission could have been fixed for two or three thousand dollars, but the car had too low of a book value to make it worthwhile. On the other hand, my mother had a 1991 Honda Accord, sold it 13 year's later for $3,000, and it's probably still running today. We get what we pay for. Honda's engineers are brilliant, and they make proven, technologically superior products that stand the tests of time.

Thanks,

Rich
 
You both hit the engine scam on the head. Honda can not build the honda 90 to be a 115, Well they could but they choose to come down from the 150 to a 115. much cheaper. My problem is why would anyone buy a heavy detuned 115? these is no benefit over just buying a 150. and I bet you could get a last years model 150 for cheaper ( pure speculation on my part) . If you are only going to use the lower to mid range of the 115/150 and not the upper rpm range then you will get longevity out of both engines. I have a 225 on my 27 and hardly every run above 4200rpm. That will cruise me at 25 to 27mph. I get good mpg for that boat, its much heavier then the extra 5 ft. I could do the same with a 175 or 200 but the 175 would be running harder and the 200 is the same motor and weight.

My point is unless their is a benefit why not the lightest 115 you could get? I think yamaha is a better motor in that size. It just seem it me that honda is scamming you with a detuned motor in order to compete in the 115 class without doing the work of engineering a new 115. with the bad rep of the fi 90 honda I would have thought that they could have used this chance to recoup their honor with a new better engine , just disappointed in a other wise great company.
 
Thomas --
I don’t view Honda’s detuning as a scam. Firstly, with Honda’s B.L.A.S.T. technology, the motor was dyno tested at yielding 126 horspower according to a Feb 2011 article by Leisure Boating (see below link.) The article went on to state its technological benefits, such as NMEA 2000 compliance, very quiet operation, and 19 percent greater efficiency (as stated by Honda) over previous models.

Secondly, the cost of a Honda BF115 is approximately 25 percent less expensive than for a BF150. So that said, how can anyone say that we are being ripped off? I view this as a great bargain. We get all the benefits of Honda’s advanced technology, 11 horsepower more than its stated rating, and the same high-torque ability to get the boat quickly onto plane -- all for a price that is 25 percent cheaper. What a bargain! It can't be overemphasized that one of the main benefits of having a detuned 150 is that we still get its high-torque benefits!

Thirdly, your BF225 is a beautiful engine, which like the 115/150, is of a large displacement, so one would expect your engine to have low RPM’s. I'm sure your boat is quite efficient with Honda Technology.

Lastly, I think you are correct about the weight issue in that the BF115 may be too big an engine for some boats. If an engine is too heavy on the stern, it can adversely affect performance and fuel economy. Les Lampman and I had many discussions about this, and his thought from the beginning was that the Marinaut 215 could handle the weight of the BF115 and a kicker without adversely impacting performance. Les was proven right by the results.

Thanks!

Rich

http://www.hondamarineknysna.co.za/boat/BOAT TEST - Review of BF115.pdf
 
Without getting myself into the virtues of the specific issues with the Honda 115 (which is said to produce 126 hp, above), or the newer Honda EFI 90 (which is said to produce 106 hp), I'd like to ask how many of us are old enough to remember the Mercury 10 engine from the post WWII years that was produced up into at least somewhere in the 1950s, as I remember.

This Merc 10 actually produced 16 hp, and was a demon compared to the OMC (Johnson & Evinrude), Elgin, Wizard, Sea King (also made by OMC), and a lot of other brands that I've forgotten. I had one when I was 14, in the mid-1950's, and it was a screamer compared to the rest of the 10 hp motors.

The generally understood thinking was that Mercury made a 16 hp motor and advertised it as a 10 to make the competitors look weak by comparison.

Now the new Hondas don't have 160% of their advertised horsepower, but there are some extra horses available under those cowlings!

The agency that regulates the ratings of outboard engines allows a + or - variation of 10% in the actual hp produced as compared to advertised hp, so the Hondas are thus (if the numbers are accurate):

Honda 115 = 126/115 = 109.6%, or + 9.6%, and

Honda 90 = 106/90 = 117.8% = + 17.8% = (TILT!) = Game On?

It would be interesting to see if this trend persists in the other models, or at least is a trend in their newer introductions.

Just some food for thought, and worth the 2¢ you didn't pay for it.

Joe. :teeth :thup
 
Back
Top