Re: Yamaha or Mercury 25 HP
Hey, wait a minute PaulP, alegator wasn't even thinking about a Suzuki and so I think your gratuituous shot at Suzukis is a bit cheap. Those recent posts deal with Suzuki 4 strokes, and he's looking for two strokes in which case the Suzukis are tried and true. Four complaints about admitted unbelievably slow responses on repairs on a new technology does not in my mind completely trash a manufacturer that has made good motors for 25 years. Do you stay away from all Evinrudes & Johnsons because of the Fichts? Before two weeks ago you'd be hard pressed to find anything but positive comments about Suzukis on this site, including (maybe even especially) the 4 strokes. Nobody on this site knows why the sudden problem with Suzuki 4 stroke repairs but at least 4 possible explanations exist: (1) they have a manufacturing back order problem with 4 stroke parts because somebody screwed up or because the 4 strokes sold better than expected, (2) they have deliberately cut back on U.S. inventory because of financial (cash flow) problems caused by the recent economic downturn (inventory is first to go when a company is tight for cash), (3) they have multiple design defects with the 4 strokes (the problems reported on this site are not all the same) causing a parts shortage; (4) Suzuki USA staff have suddenly turned into idiots who don't care what happens to their business reputation and intend to run a good brand into the ground with horrible service (in which case Japan will fire them soon enough). <br /><br />I make the suggested explanations in order of what I suspect is their likelihood. Since I have heard that their 4 strokes have sold like gangbusters and Suzuki has traditionally been small potatoes in the outboard market, I strongly suspect explanation #1 over 2, 3 or 4. I think we should give the company more than two weeks grace before we trash it completely. I wouldn't buy a new 4 stroke until I knew the answer but I think the 2 strokes are fair game provided you can find a good dealer (there's no question you want a local established dealer before you buy Suzuki)<br /><br />As a disclaimer, in spite of my login title, I have nothing to do with Suzuki. Apart from my 89 DT55, the only Suzuki products I've ever owned are a couple of dirt bikes twenty years ago (which were great). I just like my outboard and want to protect it's resale value!
<br /><br />By the way Alegator, I own a 55 2 cylinder and I would go two cylinder unless you want to be able to troll. You have less weight and one less of everything to replace adjust and worry about. The 3 will run better at low revs.
