'03 Honda 8 horse 4-stroke or '95 9.9 4-stroke

Group,<br />I have a chance to purchase either of the above both in very good shape with low hours. Both priced at 1k. Are these reliable motors and are they fairly priced? Use is on a 12 foot inflatable. Good match? Which one would you choose? thanxs, Harry

Re: '03 Honda 8 horse 4-stroke or '95 9.9 4-stroke

2003 or 1995? same price? why even bother asking.

Re: '03 Honda 8 horse 4-stroke or '95 9.9 4-stroke

C'mon, thats not fair. How often do you see a newer version or model of something not be as good as the previous/older one? In my experience a lot. I don't have any experience with these motors and thought it a fair question as they both have about the same amount of hours. regards, Harry

Re: '03 Honda 8 horse 4-stroke or '95 9.9 4-stroke

I think its a reasonable question. I owned a 94 9.9 and have rented an equal boat with a late model 8 horse. I was suprized by how less powerful the 8 was compaired to the 9.9. The one I had was on a 14' Gregor with floors set up like a bass boat and it would fly.<br />The condition of an outboard is more important than the year so if both were in the same shape I would go for the 9.9 and never look back.<br />Greg

Re: '03 Honda 8 horse 4-stroke or '95 9.9 4-stroke

As far as the prices go, I think $1k for the '03 8hp is good, but $1K for a '95 9.9 is too much. If you need more than 8 hp, I'd either try getting a better price on the 9.9 or look elsewhere.

Re: '03 Honda 8 horse 4-stroke or '95 9.9 4-stroke

Thanxs GWUISTER and MJBRUECK. Your answers are terrific in helping me decide. This iboat forum is great. regards, Harry

Re: '03 Honda 8 horse 4-stroke or '95 9.9 4-stroke

I have a 92 8HP 4 cycle and it is a fantastic, bullet proof motor. Excellent reliability. However I fully admit that compared to a 9.9 2 cycle it is a bit of a slug. My buddy has an older 9.9 Johnson (late 70's early 80's) on a 12 foot aluminum and he can run circles around me with my 8 HP Honda on a 14 foot aluminum. Even allowing for the length difference his motor kicks ***. All that said they are still great motors. No 4 cycle is going to be as fast as the same 2 cycle engine. In Canad (Ontario) I would have no problem selling my motor for around 900-1000$ with gas cans and lines. If I had to do it over I probably would opt for the 9.9 just to get a little extra oomph when travelling. The cost new at the time was about 250$ (1992$). Didn't seem worth it back then. Now....hmmmm. If you will be trolling or just putting around though you will really like either one. They don't load up and they are very conservative on gas. Hope this helps<br />Mike

Re: '03 Honda 8 horse 4-stroke or '95 9.9 4-stroke

Thanxs for you excellent input Mike. Very helpful.<br />regards, Harry

Re: '03 Honda 8 horse 4-stroke or '95 9.9 4-stroke

How much of a weight difference is there between them? Shoping around, Ive found that many new motors are heavier than older ones. If the 9.9 is a downsized 15, it might be far heavier than the 8 and not that much more powerful to make up the difference. On the other hand the 8 may be a downsized 9.9 and be heavier per horsepower. I'd like to test them. Too bad you can't test them both out on the same boat on the same day with a GPS. If there isn't much difference between them weight-wise I'd buy the 9.9.