Suzuki made Johnson Engines

[artherm]

Somewhere someone was talking about Suzuki supplying engines to BRP, that are being sold as Johnsons. Does anyone know anything about this?

 

[gss036]

Re: Suzuki made Johnson Engines

Suzuki has supplied all of Johnson 4 stroke engines for years , but I read somewhere that the relationship has ended.

 

[JB]

Re: Suzuki made Johnson Engines

During the mid-late 90s OMC built 8, 9.9 and 15hp 4 strokes that were sold as either Johnsons or Evinrudes.

In about 1997 the Suzi DF70 was sold as an Evinrude and later a Johnson, and later still a full line of Suzi built 4 strokes were labeled Johnson. I have heard second hand that Johnson (BRP) sold more "JohnnyZukis" than Suzi did and that the deal has ended.

Seems to me that it was a good deal for both BRP and Suzuki. BRP had a line of very good 4 strokes to complement the E-tec in their dealerships and Suzuki had the product loyalty (to the Johnson brand name) of a large portion of the market to help sell their engines.

I think BRP made a big mistake in choosing to market the E-tec by bad mouthing all 4 strokes and dropping the JohnnyZuki line. Some of us loyal long-time Johnson fans are really put off by all the anti-4 stroke stuff in the E-tec ads and consequently are more likely to buy a DF-whatever from Suzuki than an E-tec. Also, a lot of us who have owned a DF of either color are offended by that stuff.

I, for one, won't buy any Brunswick product because of their offensive marketing practices and I am made less likely to buy a BRP product for the same reasons.

 

[bassboy1]

Re: Suzuki made Johnson Engines

I, for one, won't buy any Brunswick product because of their offensive marketing practices and I am made less likely to buy a BRP product for the same reasons.

Ahhh, the joys of buying old broken boats, and restoring them to the specks of modern day boats. I for one, will still have my ancient OMCs, and not BRPs.

 

[Rancherlee]

Re: Suzuki made Johnson Engines

one thing to watch for is some dealers want alot more money for a used Johnson/Evinrude 4 stroke then the Suzuki version. Then again you can get lucky and find a 99' 70hp Johnzuki for 2700$ with 164 hours on it like me (boat/motor/trailer for 4500 and sold the boat/trailer for 1800$)

 

[artherm]

Re: Suzuki made Johnson Engines

Thank you for all the good information. Maybe the mind set of BRP is affected by the Canadian/French mindset? I love my old OMC's, 4 hp Rude, 9.9 Rude, 25 hp Rude, and a 3 hp Johnson. Today I probably wouldn't buy a NEW BRP for the issues noted, and for the other changes going on.

During the mid-late 90s OMC built 8, 9.9 and 15hp 4 strokes that were sold as either Johnsons or Evinrudes.

In about 1997 the Suzi DF70 was sold as an Evinrude and later a Johnson, and later still a full line of Suzi built 4 strokes were labeled Johnson. I have heard second hand that Johnson (BRP) sold more "JohnnyZukis" than Suzi did and that the deal has ended.

Seems to me that it was a good deal for both BRP and Suzuki. BRP had a line of very good 4 strokes to complement the E-tec in their dealerships and Suzuki had the product loyalty (to the Johnson brand name) of a large portion of the market to help sell their engines.

I think BRP made a big mistake in choosing to market the E-tec by bad mouthing all 4 strokes and dropping the JohnnyZuki line. Some of us loyal long-time Johnson fans are really put off by all the anti-4 stroke stuff in the E-tec ads and consequently are more likely to buy a DF-whatever from Suzuki than an E-tec. Also, a lot of us who have owned a DF of either color are offended by that stuff.

I, for one, won't buy any Brunswick product because of their offensive marketing practices and I am made less likely to buy a BRP product for the same reasons.

 

[jlwarrens]

I purchased a very low hour 2003 Sea Hunt with a 2003 Johnson DF90 4-stroke about 2 years ago. The boat ran flawlessly, the engine however was a different issue all together. The transmission linkage was only factory bradded into place and is not very durable and ridiculous to get to for any repair. Secondly the entire cylinder head appears to have been made of cheap alloy metal and offers no corrosion resistance. My cylinder head had to be replaced and the length of time it took to order a new one from Suzuki was over 4 months. My entire boating season last year was shot. The replacement seems to be made much better. The original was just junk.

 

[WIMUSKY]

Welcome to the forum jlwarrens.

Say, this thread is 10 years old. Please take a moment and review the forum's rules. Any Topic 90 days and older are considered dead and shouldn't be replied to except by the OP...... Thanks......

http://forums.iboats.com/forum/forum-rules-and-guidelines/407734-forum-rules