Saving Old Seagulls

Hello All,

Nothing to do with seagulls but I am in need of a little advise, I am about to purchase a new 40hp outboard to replace my current 8 year old Yamaha 40 which has been trouble free and 1000 hours on the clock. The problem is that the yamaha dealer is at best very difficult to deal with if any problems occur hence after 25 years of using Yamaha I am now looking at a new Honda 40hp. The Honda incidentally is £650 cheaper.

Do any of you have any knowledge or experience on these two brands of motors, I have always been very happy with Yamaha but with the dealer and the price the balance could be tipped with Honda. In Jersey there are far far more Yamaha's than Honda's Why??? Am I missing something.

Sorry this is not a seagull question but who better to ask.

Many Thanks,

Rene

A friend of mine is using a 25hp Honda for some years now, about 5-10. Trouble free use and he is very fond of this brand. I haven't heard anything bad about them and they usually are lighter than most 4strokes. But since your engine is OK why go to a new one? Unless it's a matter of the value of selling second hand etc.

Hi Rene, I've no experience of either, but have always rated Honda products highly. If the dealer is giving you a poor experience why not feed back both to the dealer and the UK importer why you are not happy? Then go and buy the Honda. It will at least make you feel happy!

Can you get your outboard serviced anywhere else? Surely another place can service your engine?

Yamahas and Hondas are good as we all know/ But have you looked into Suzuki or Tohatsu yet. Compare them as well. Tohatsu are a great motor with a long life span as well. They have never changed much either, So 20 years down the track and parts and service should be no problem I would reckon. Nissan Outboard motors are stickered Tohatsus Mercury marine have some Rebaged Tohatsu motors in there line up as well. So it might be worth a look.

Thanks for views, the problem being that there is no Tohatsu over here and the suzuki dealer is a really small operation, loads of Yamaha's quite a few Honda's even less Mercs, Mariners, Evinrudes and Johnsons and only one nut who uses Seagull's

The problem with living on a Rock

It looks like it's between Yam's and Honda's