Last year I bought a Yamaha 9.9 for use on my Alumacraft T12V 12 foot aluminum boat. I had researched a variety of brands, including Honda, and I settled on the Yamaha partly because of the highly reputable Yamaha dealer in my area who gave me a very fair price on the motor. Also, the Yamaha 9.9, being smaller and lighter than the Honda 9.9, better fit my use on small to medium size lakes and my practice of installing and removing the motor after each trip. I keep it in the garage. But I have often wondered how the Yamaha 9.9 compares operationally to the Honda 9.9. Fortunately, I got the unique opportunity to find out when my brother was re-assigned to Europe for a year and asked me to "please" run his Honda 9.9 while he is away.
I highly respect Honda engineering and I was eager to see how the two motors compared. Physically, the Honda 9.9 is massive compared to the Yamaha. It's taller, thicker, heavier, and even though it looks like a tackle next to a wide receiver, its listed dry weight is only about 4.5 pounds more. It has some great features: a 12 volt battery charger, an always on green oil indicator which looks like the tuning eye from a 1940's radio, and a four-blade propeller, probably needed to push its massive bulk through the water. It's also a very cool looking motor.
The Yamaha is more streamlined with a longer tiller, handle shifter, lower profile, a nice hose attachment for non-running flushing, and a substantially smaller lower unit which almost looks like a racing gearcase when compared to the Honda.
Very interestingly, the performance of each motor is virtually identical on my boat. While the recoil starter on the Honda requires less effort to pull than does the Yamaha, both motors start right up, idle smoothly and quietly, seem to accelerate at essentially the same rate, achieve about the same top end speed (measured unscientifically and unprofessionally on my handheld GPS), operate at a seemingly similar noise level, and produce very similar boat handling characteristics, such as bow rise onto a plane, turning, and slowing down off the plane. I have grown to prefer the Yamaha's handle shifter, and I also like how the Yamaha gurgles and putters at slow speeds, making the noises that an outboard should make. The Honda sounds more like a sewing machine at slow speed.
I see a lot of posts by people asking what motor they should buy in the portable outboard classification, as well as the typical Honda vs. Yamaha discussions. Many of the experienced responses emphasize dealers, locations, cost, repair, maintenance, warranties, and also recommendations for other brands in the same horsepower catagory. They all make very valid points. My point here, though, is that if someone narrows their field to either a Yamaha or a Honda portable, the difference really is, as a dealer once told me, individual preference, not performance, because both these motors are wonderful. I had the fortunate opportunity to experience that for myself.
I highly respect Honda engineering and I was eager to see how the two motors compared. Physically, the Honda 9.9 is massive compared to the Yamaha. It's taller, thicker, heavier, and even though it looks like a tackle next to a wide receiver, its listed dry weight is only about 4.5 pounds more. It has some great features: a 12 volt battery charger, an always on green oil indicator which looks like the tuning eye from a 1940's radio, and a four-blade propeller, probably needed to push its massive bulk through the water. It's also a very cool looking motor.
The Yamaha is more streamlined with a longer tiller, handle shifter, lower profile, a nice hose attachment for non-running flushing, and a substantially smaller lower unit which almost looks like a racing gearcase when compared to the Honda.
Very interestingly, the performance of each motor is virtually identical on my boat. While the recoil starter on the Honda requires less effort to pull than does the Yamaha, both motors start right up, idle smoothly and quietly, seem to accelerate at essentially the same rate, achieve about the same top end speed (measured unscientifically and unprofessionally on my handheld GPS), operate at a seemingly similar noise level, and produce very similar boat handling characteristics, such as bow rise onto a plane, turning, and slowing down off the plane. I have grown to prefer the Yamaha's handle shifter, and I also like how the Yamaha gurgles and putters at slow speeds, making the noises that an outboard should make. The Honda sounds more like a sewing machine at slow speed.
I see a lot of posts by people asking what motor they should buy in the portable outboard classification, as well as the typical Honda vs. Yamaha discussions. Many of the experienced responses emphasize dealers, locations, cost, repair, maintenance, warranties, and also recommendations for other brands in the same horsepower catagory. They all make very valid points. My point here, though, is that if someone narrows their field to either a Yamaha or a Honda portable, the difference really is, as a dealer once told me, individual preference, not performance, because both these motors are wonderful. I had the fortunate opportunity to experience that for myself.
