I am going to be buying a new Tiller outboard in the next while here. It's either going to be a Yamaha or a Honda. I originally had my mine set on a 20 Horse 4 stroke as both of these manufactures carry them and they're extremely light weight, based on the 15 horse block & weight (same platform - both weigh in the 105-120 pound range the Honda being the lighter of the two).
I originally was set on the Yamaha 20 HP 4 stroke but I have kept an open mind and have also explored the Honda 20 4 stroke. They're both fairly comparable in features. Theres not much difference between the two other than the Yamaha weighs slightly more, and has slighty (ever so slightly) more displacement. They both have very simlar bores versus strokes, and they're both fairly quiet I'm told. The Honda comes with a 4 blade prop, the Yamaha a 3 blade. The Honda 15/20 horse 4 strokes and their platform have been out since 2003 I believe, where as the Yamaha 15/20 have been out since 2007.
Keeping an open mind I checked out a local Honda centre and talked with their Marine salesmen. He said he had 15's in stock but could get 20's in 3 days, and he didn't say this in a rush so I have reason to believe he was being honest with me. But what he said was that the 15's and the 20's only differ by the Computer/ignition. If you look at all the spec's, they are exactly the same - same weigh, same engine block, parts, cowl, you name it these engines (like the Yamaha 15/20's) are exactly the same. The spec's show the Honda 15 making 15 HP @ 5000 RPM's where as the 20 makes 20 HP @ 5500 RPM's. But he says one thing they don't tell you is that the Honda 15 HP actually makes 19 HP @ 5500 RPM's. And again I want to emphasize he isn't in a rush type of tone and he was very non chalant and seemed or appeared honest with me. The price difference is about $500 according to the prices he quoted me.
The other thing is I have a 14 foot Cope boat and it's not THAT wide (about 62") nor that heavy so I think the 15 HP,even if it's just 15, would probably move it pretty good. But I've been set on the 20 for so long, that I found this interesting I guess. The other thing he said is from the various platforms - many of you know that most outboard engine manufactures have "platforms" where they will build one engine block that produces 2 engine HP's - the 15 and 20 as an example are on one platform, the 25 & 30, the 40 and 50 (for Honda anyways), as examples. He says a lot of commercial customers prefer to go with the lower HP on the platform, because lots of them save $$ this way with the lower HP rating, yet they figure there is very little performance difference between the lower and higher HP engine on a certain platform. In fact I would imagine if one engine is tuend to get Higher HP probably doesn't see the torque the lesser HP would on the platform.
Thoughts? For those who have 15's or 20's I'm also curious what your thoughts are especially.
I originally was set on the Yamaha 20 HP 4 stroke but I have kept an open mind and have also explored the Honda 20 4 stroke. They're both fairly comparable in features. Theres not much difference between the two other than the Yamaha weighs slightly more, and has slighty (ever so slightly) more displacement. They both have very simlar bores versus strokes, and they're both fairly quiet I'm told. The Honda comes with a 4 blade prop, the Yamaha a 3 blade. The Honda 15/20 horse 4 strokes and their platform have been out since 2003 I believe, where as the Yamaha 15/20 have been out since 2007.
Keeping an open mind I checked out a local Honda centre and talked with their Marine salesmen. He said he had 15's in stock but could get 20's in 3 days, and he didn't say this in a rush so I have reason to believe he was being honest with me. But what he said was that the 15's and the 20's only differ by the Computer/ignition. If you look at all the spec's, they are exactly the same - same weigh, same engine block, parts, cowl, you name it these engines (like the Yamaha 15/20's) are exactly the same. The spec's show the Honda 15 making 15 HP @ 5000 RPM's where as the 20 makes 20 HP @ 5500 RPM's. But he says one thing they don't tell you is that the Honda 15 HP actually makes 19 HP @ 5500 RPM's. And again I want to emphasize he isn't in a rush type of tone and he was very non chalant and seemed or appeared honest with me. The price difference is about $500 according to the prices he quoted me.
The other thing is I have a 14 foot Cope boat and it's not THAT wide (about 62") nor that heavy so I think the 15 HP,even if it's just 15, would probably move it pretty good. But I've been set on the 20 for so long, that I found this interesting I guess. The other thing he said is from the various platforms - many of you know that most outboard engine manufactures have "platforms" where they will build one engine block that produces 2 engine HP's - the 15 and 20 as an example are on one platform, the 25 & 30, the 40 and 50 (for Honda anyways), as examples. He says a lot of commercial customers prefer to go with the lower HP on the platform, because lots of them save $$ this way with the lower HP rating, yet they figure there is very little performance difference between the lower and higher HP engine on a certain platform. In fact I would imagine if one engine is tuend to get Higher HP probably doesn't see the torque the lesser HP would on the platform.
Thoughts? For those who have 15's or 20's I'm also curious what your thoughts are especially.
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