Re-power Choice for 19, Honda or Suzuki

A

Aurelia

New member
We are keeping our precious Ari for at least 5 more years and decided to up the enjoyment factor with a new outboard for less weight, fuel injection, and more charging amps.

We have a couple of deals lined up down in Portland and up in Tacoma.

The pricing is very close and the specs are quite close as well.

Any input on a new Honda 90 vs and new Suzuki 90?

We are not into top speed and will be happy to prop down at least a bit for our heavy 19 and preferred 14-18 knot cruising speeds.

Thoughts and experience welcome,

Greg
 
I loved my twin Suzuki's on Still C-razy. But I don't think you can go wrong with either brand. If I was re-powering I'd definitely go with the E-tech. I've had one for 7 years on another boat and have never been happier. The hole shot power is terrific. It is very quiet and lighter weight per HP than the 4 strokes. Pollution is at or better than the 4 strokers. I haven't price compared.
 
I too like the Evinrude E-Tec engines. But for now the smallest Gen 2 E-Tec that you can buy is 150 hp. It will take a year or two before they develop a smaller one. The Gen 2s have better fuel economy than the 4 strokes, better low end torque and easier maintenance. Until they do I think that the Honda is the best of the three. Rock solid block.

And don't over prop any O/B even if you run well below wot. Prop it to reach rated wot hp and it will last longer.

David
 
We err toward propping down in pitch for a relatively higher RPM and less loading of the engine. Not going for top speed on this boat but effortless planing for heavy loads and midgrade cruising speeds.

Etec motors are not in consideration at this time and I do have some running experience with 3 different models of Etec. I love two strokes, just not for this boat.

Noise is one consideration we would be especially interested in hearing about. We keep the back doors open on the cabin and less noise is really great.

Greg
 
Between Honda and Suzuki would be my two choices as well. There had been some issues in the past with galvanic corrosion of a plug on the exhaust housing, leading to the early death on a number of the suzukis. I'm not sure if they've worked that out yet but you'd probably be happy with either choice.

I'd go with the Honda, but I'm stubborn as a mule. Honda has always got me home at the end of the day. They're usually the last to update their products,. ie fuel injection, weight, etc., but they have always been and still are the gold standard of reliability.

Down here where we live now, nearly every recreational boater has a Yamaha or Suzuki. But check out the commercial fleet of crabbers and oyster growers and commercial fisherman using their boats every day. Every single one of them I've seen has a Honda on the back. Its weird because mechanics and dealers are few and far between compared to the other brands.
 
If spending 5-8k for a stronger motor, and you stated that your 19 was heavy, why not sell the 19 as is and move up to a 22? You'll get the motor you want and extra load-carrying capacity not to mention the enjoyment of a complete enclosure cabin and extra room.
 
We love the 19 and it fits in our storage shed with no length to spare. We do have a set of custom hard doors on the back of the cabin, but rarely use them with the current semi-permanent camperback enclosure in place. We did consider the 22, and owned a 25 previously, but the 19 is really the boat for us, and we prefer it over the other models for how we use it.

Greg
 
Just looked at your album and your back door enclosure is very nice it actually looks factory made. I also noticed your porta-potti stern-mounted (sb side) addition in one of the pics. What are the specs for this? I could really use a similar set up on my other boat, the Flounder Barge, for the ladies. It would give me the ability to advertise a head on the boat and the groups would likely opt for a longer charter. Thanks!
 
Hi Greg- would the new Honda 90 be compatible with your existing controls and gauges? If so that might save several hundred in parts and labor. Are there any advantages of the BF100 over the BF90 for your boat?

Will you be doing all your own service, or relying on the local dealer for some work? For example, where my boat is kept, I might be inclined to go with Honda because there is an onsite Honda dealer/tech available within golf-cart distance.

At the same time, for pushing heavy loads the Suzuki looks appealing - lower gear ratio, swinging larger prop. I really love that big prop on my Command Thrust 90...seems to make no fuss whether pushing just me or 4 people, and lots of instant thrust maneuvering in winds around the marina. The Suzuki may be similar in that regard. Peter seemed to like his new Suzuki 90. It would also match your 2.5 kicker, if you are still using that.

I know you've already considered all those points and more...either way, you can't go wrong, and glad to hear you are looking to repower and staying with the C-Dory for a while longer!

-Mike
 
The stern Mounted Porta-potti was really a nice idea. Great views!

http://www.c-brats.com/modules.php?set_ ... _photo.php

Seriously though, We are looking for new controls and NMEA 2000 data to new instruments/chartplotter as the existing controls are really basic.

The BF100 only makes more power with premium fuel and is otherwise a tuned up version of the 90. The dealers didn't even recommend it for this boat and actually tried to push a new 75 just to be realistic. I think a 90 has more resale appeal for when that day comes and would be worth it for that reason.

We do basic service with a dealer service roughly every 2 years based on our use. We have both Suzuki and Honda service in our area so that is a wash. The Suzuki gear ratio is a good point and that does fit our boat pretty well. We do still have the 2.5 suzuki and love it. Just ran it a week ago for fun out on an area lake with the Sorensen 12 which we are also re-powering this spring.

The Torqeedo is neat but the 24k does not include batteries and they are recommending BMW I3 and I8 units which can't be cheap. I have heard rumors of 50k to get running and have a bit of range. That is a ton of fuel and maintenance.

Greg
 
I'm partial to the Honda motors though I had a previous C-Dory 22' (Blue Manatee) 2003 model with a Suzuki 90, fuel-injected, that ran flawlessly. My current C-Dory 22 Cruiser, River Horse, has two Honda (carbureted) 45 hp motors that have always run perfectly albeit they have very low hours. I also have a 2000 Honda bf90a on my other boat, the Flounder Barge, also a carbureted motor, that has well over 3,000 hours and is a definite testament to the longevity of the Honda outboards. I'm big on maintenance, do minor tune ups myself including replacement of fluids, all on a regular basis.
Cdory%20back3.jpg
 
Yep, 32k per battery at 560lbs each plus the 24k for the motor and controls and they only provide 35 minutes of full throttle runtime each so we would want more than one.

Two batteries plus motor = 88k and a big no way for our boating style
 
I have owned both the Honda 90 (older carbureted version) and several Suzuki 115/140 (same block). The Honda and Suzuki are almost identical in weight, and displacement. The Honda has 44 amps charging, with 35 available. The Suzuki has 27 amps total..and I suspect a little less charging.

Although I have loved my Suzuki outboards and I do believe that they are slightly quieter than the Hondas, and also slightly more corrosion resistant; in this case, I would go with the Hondas because of the higher alternator output.

The Suzuki plug corrosion was fixed some years ago. But Hondas tend to have more corrosion issues in general than Suzuki. Both will swing 14" diameter props, but the Suzuki will have a higher pitch because of a lower gear ratio. Although Suzuki claims a quicker hole shot, I would want to see equivalent props.

I would also look at price--I have found Suzuki for a little less than Honda....But that is variable.
 
Aurelia":2bicv0lh said:
Yep, 32k per battery at 560lbs each plus the 24k for the motor and controls and they only provide 35 minutes of full throttle runtime each so we would want more than one.

Two batteries plus motor = 88k and a big no way for our boating style
Click to expand...

Oh, wow! I was way off! Ill shut up then and go back to my corner. Carry on. Lol!
 
Mike is right Greg, I really liked the 2016 Suzuki we bought. The biggest reason being the much lighter weight than the previous versions (75 lbs!) not to mention the fact that the dissimilar metal plug issue was corrected long ago, 2009 I believe. The lower weight was due to the fact that the block on the 90hp is now smaller than the previous models. It would probably be perfect for your CD19. I can't speak to the Honda but I'm sure that would work well too. Mike makes a good point about the controls. Good luck in your decision.

Peter
 
We are headed down to Sportcraft tomorrow to work out the details but I have still not decided which motor. They have both in stock so we will talk it out down there.

I am leaning toward the Suzuki because of various "quieter" comments in reviews, a bit less weight, offset crankshaft moves that weight a bit more forward, and gear ratio is more favorable to our relatively heavy/short load.

The Honda has more charging amps and that is tempting on it's own. And it is likely as quiet as what we are used to and still lighter than what we have.

But I did just build a 100watt solar flex panel for portable use with charge controller and flexible connection methods so maybe the added charging of the Honda is a little less of a draw. We plan to use the added panel for trips where we move little but stay long.

On our battery monitor, we only see about 6-8 amps of charge coming from our current motor and it actually puts out amps a little better from 1-2k RPM than it does at higher revs. It will be nice to see 3-5 times that amount of charge coming out of a future motor.

We did two slow and long cruising days last summer solely for more charging time in the remote areas we traveled and the warm temps that caused the freezer to run pretty steady. 9 days and no shore power used.

Thanks for all the guidance folks and please add more if you have any.

Greg
 
Back
Top