Who's doing it right?

[the beard]

My memories of outboards from (quite) a few years ago, is that the vast majority were from the Mercury/Mariner and Evinrude/Johnson stable. Plus there were quite a few who are no longer with us, such as Force and Chrysler, not to mention British Seagul. Lately, however, the Japanese seem to be making quite a few inroads into the outboard market. In fact it may be fair to say that they're not far off dominating it. We visited Venice in June and there were a lot of Hondas and quite a few Yamahas knocking about. In August in Nice you couldn't move for Yamahas. Mercurys seemed to be very much in the minority and modern Evinrudes seemed to be equalled in numbers by old models and Johnsons.

In the UK, with the exception of Mercury/Mariner, and they own most of the boat brands their outboards are seen on, Honda, Suzuki and Yamaha seem to be on the transoms of more boats than the other makers.

So, my question would be: Does the panel think (you've got to be of a certain age to remember that one) that the Japanese are out-marketing the Yanks, or are they just making better engines that appeal to more people? And as a supplementary question, is Evinrude putting itself at a disadvantage by not having any 4 strokes in their range and only offering a 3 year warranty?

[wavelength]

ah but there's an awful lot of incest in the outboard world. Force were chrysler powerheads after chrysler did the honourable thing and gave up in the uk. Evenrude four strokes are suzukis in white paint. Mariners whilst being mercs now were at one time yamaha up to the 55 which is why everybody in our club at that time wanted one -but a smaller one, not a merc one in the bigger sizes. Our Merc 90 four stroke was a yamaha powerhead-with a faulty oil pump which resulted in ours seizing and them all being recalled allegedly but a fisherman we did a course for had exacly the same problem with a 75 mariner (same powerhead). Seagulls were never going to reach the emissions requirements. Oh and Volvo Pentas were the same as Crescent except they had White hoods instead of the more impressive volvo blue ones.

[the beard]

Somewhere at the back of my mind the Force/Chrysler connection was made and if you look at some big old Johnson 4 strokes there is a visible similarity to Suzukis, but the Yamaha/Mercury relationship was one I didn't know about. Thanks for your reply, but that still leaves me wondering about the future of Evinrude, especially considering they are part of BRP the group that also includes Rotax, a maker of a very large number of (albeit largely single cylilnder) 4 stroke motorcycle engines, not to mention those for snowmobiles and jet-skis.

Which reminds me, there is an amusing song somewhere called "Big Old Johnson", if I find it is it OK to post it on here?

[Cap'n Jack]

Which reminds me, there is an amusing song somewhere called "Big Old Johnson", if I find it is it OK to post it on here?

Depends....might be better to post it in the Mariners Tavern, if you look in Crews Quarters you'll find all sorts of amusing things.

[kwil]

Hi Beard

I seem to be compelled to answer your questions this morning, this time Evinrude eTec. I must first own up to having an interest, I own one. There are lots of the new Evinrudes arround, but not as many as there would be if they had a good dealer network, I think this is the main problem. They also tend not to have the big stands at the the boat shows that the Japanesse do.
The engine I cannot fault, just as economical as a 4T, only slightly noisier, less emissions, less servicing and no oil to get rid of every 12 months or 100 hours service.
If they get their dealers and marketing sorted they could sell lots more. There are only 3 in Scotland and 2 in the North of England.

Keith

[wavelength]

big old Johnson 4 strokes

they are no so old. We used a 10m rib with twin 250 (or may have been 225s) on a windfarm when they were new about 4 years ago. Suzukis but stunning bits of kit - so quiet all we heard when they were started was the starter motor-then we had to check the rev counters to see if they were actually running.Very economical as well. We did a boat course in Turkey two years back with a 115hp evenrude 4stroke and it was identical to our own suzi-cept the paint job. Etecs-The twin 300 etecs on the 10m humber show boat this year and last were simply awesome and the engine note-absolute bliss, nothing else like it!
Good Suzi dealers are just as hard to find round here Keith! I've given up with 'em and use Jim our local legend of an outboard mechanic-amazing service just costs a fortune in cuppas while he chats and works!

[kwil]

I suppose what it boils down to is all modern outboards are good, you need to select on other criteria, availability, dealers and power/weight that best suits your transom.

The twin 300 etecs on the 10m humber show boat this year and last were simply awesome and the engine note-absolute bliss, nothing else like it!

Second that.

Dave, I could be using Jim now that mine is out of warranty but you know I can'nt resist getting the spanners out and having a go.
By the way Beard ETECs now have a 5 year warranty.

Keith

[the beard]

Which reminds me, there is an amusing song somewhere called "Big Old Johnson", if I find it is it OK to post it on here?

Depends....might be better to post it in the Mariners Tavern, if you look in Crews Quarters you'll find all sorts of amusing things.

Thanks for all your replies chaps. Good to hear that Evinrude now have a 5 year warranty, they're going to have to in order to keep up. I'll have a go tomorrow at posting the song. It's a little suggestive so it might be better there. Having said that, it'll seem a bit tame to your average teenager.