Re: Yamaha 25 4 strk?
I don't think the yamaha 2 cyl compares to the 3 cyl honda on smoothness. They cost a lot less than the Honda though.<br /><br />25 is a strange class in 4 stroke. Yuu have the 2 cyl yamaha, and the Merc bigfoot with the same powerhead, but beefy lower end and geared for thrust. You have the suzuki/johnson 3 cly, but you can only get it with Power tilt and trim. It has the highest displacement, but it weighs 212 lbs. In my opinion, this is just to much for the average small boat. Honda is expensive, but you can get it with or with out elecric start, with manual, gas assist, or power tilt/trim.<br /><br />None of the above are available with EFI. DFI two stroke is not available in this class. Other 25 two strokes vary a lot too. Yamaha has high compression which can be a pain at trolling speed, merc has the forward/backward throttle shifter, and the Johnson 25 just is not all that great in terms of power. Suzuki made an awesome 25 2 stroke, but they killed it off. <br /><br />One of my buddies has a bigfoot 25, and it really is not that rough, but not nearly as smooth as the Honda.<br /><br />Of the 25 4 strokes I like the Honda. If you go down to 15, I would stay away from 4 stroke and get a johnson 15. Those things run great, have good power and they are around 80 lbs.<br /><br />I have learned that weight is a big concern when setting up smaller boats. If you have a 600 lb boat with a wider beam (70"+), you can do ok with a 4 stroke. If you have a basic bench style around 350 lbs, you are going to sit low in the stern. Have not tried smart tabs or talked to anyone running them on a small boat like this to see how much they help. This could really help, but you never know until you put them on.