North Australian FISH FINDER TM forums

G'day all, I'm after a bit of advice on a motor I have sourced. It sounded like a great deal at first. Honda 135HP with only 28 hrs on it. $13,000.

Heres the kicker, its a 2008 model. I got offered a years full warranty with it, so if something is wrong with it, I would know before the years up I would think. I'm also wondering how much the technology has changed on the Hondas since then? Better fuel economy etc?

Another thing to consider is the weight of it I suppose. I've got three batteries mounted just in front of the transom and my boat is a heavy pr..k of a thing (TABS 535 Territory Pro). It struggles to get on the plane when loaded up for big trips. Currently running a 115 Merc 4stroke.

I,ve seen the computer readout and its legit, hardly been used, still got most of the paint on the prop. Anyone who has any info on this particular motor can PM me. Cheers in advance for any advice you guys would like to throw my way! Scotty.

scottmac wrote:G'day all, I'm after a bit of advice on a motor I have sourced. It sounded like a great deal at first. Honda 135HP with only 28 hrs on it. $13,000.

Heres the kicker, its a 2008 model. I got offered a years full warranty with it, so if something is wrong with it, I would know before the years up I would think. I'm also wondering how much the technology has changed on the Hondas since then? Better fuel economy etc?

Another thing to consider is the weight of it I suppose. I've got three batteries mounted just in front of the transom and my boat is a heavy pr..k of a thing (TABS 535 Territory Pro). It struggles to get on the plane when loaded up for big trips. Currently running a 115 Merc 4stroke.

I,ve seen the computer readout and its legit, hardly been used, still got most of the paint on the prop. Anyone who has any info on this particular motor can PM me. Cheers in advance for any advice you guys would like to throw my way! Scotty.

Is that all up fitted etc Scott. Did you ever get the number on the 140 Suzuki back when the last deal of the century was on offer, that would be 5 year warranty and 50 or so less kgs on the transom probably 3 k more in your pocket though and its hard to fault the Hondas. I would be guided by the new pricing and then try to put a dollar value on the pluses and minuses in your own head really.

AM wrote:

scottmac wrote:G'day all, I'm after a bit of advice on a motor I have sourced. It sounded like a great deal at first. Honda 135HP with only 28 hrs on it. $13,000.

Heres the kicker, its a 2008 model. I got offered a years full warranty with it, so if something is wrong with it, I would know before the years up I would think. I'm also wondering how much the technology has changed on the Hondas since then? Better fuel economy etc?

Another thing to consider is the weight of it I suppose. I've got three batteries mounted just in front of the transom and my boat is a heavy pr..k of a thing (TABS 535 Territory Pro). It struggles to get on the plane when loaded up for big trips. Currently running a 115 Merc 4stroke.

I,ve seen the computer readout and its legit, hardly been used, still got most of the paint on the prop. Anyone who has any info on this particular motor can PM me. Cheers in advance for any advice you guys would like to throw my way! Scotty.

Is that all up fitted etc Scott. Did you ever get the number on the 140 Suzuki back when the last deal of the century was on offer, that would be 5 year warranty and 50 or so less kgs on the transom probably 3 k more in your pocket though and its hard to fault the Hondas. I would be guided by the new pricing and then try to put a dollar value on the pluses and minuses in your own head really.

Unfortunately didn't have the cash when the Suzis were going cheaper. Heard a few bad reports on here RE: Suzis cooling system clogging badly from shallow water use, which is where I spend most of my time fishing. If you ask the dealers, they've never heard of it though. Haha!

Got quoted $18,000 inc GST today for a Suzi plus fitting. Another grand on the Honda for fitting.

135 Honda hasn't really changed since release early 2000's
later ones have nmea 2000 interface
its the same as 150 without the vvt
will go better than 115 merc as Honda is 2.4lt & has V6 gearbox
as long as its serviced, the fuel system is clean & been checked
dealer warranty is handy, probably have to cop the grand fit up though
haggle

Keep in mind that the relationship between mass, speed and power is an exponential one. That means for the same mass to go twice as fast you need four times the power! So if there is only a 17% increase in power and if the weight of it is the same as your Merc you probably won't see as earth shattering change in performance and top speed. Assuming that the boat is already planning well then potentially you'll only see a 5% to 10% increase in top speed. If the Honda weighs more than the Merc these gains will be eroded.

The Suzuki is only 4% more powerful so in real terms the power difference between a 135 and a 140 will be almost unnoticeable. However the lighter load would help yield you a better result, especially out of the hole.

Of course the torque profiles of the three engines is likely to be different and unless you're always banging away at full throttle this is potentially where the biggest difference might be noticed. As a general rule the larger the displacement the more torque an engine will make, which will mean it can turn a bigger prop which will give you either more launch or more top end speed depending on the diameter and pitch of the prop.

Dan

Cheers Dannett, some good info there. I cant seem to find how much the Merc weighs anywhere. Doesn't mention it in the specs page of my owners manual. Googles no help either. I'll keep looking.

Id try find out if the ecu unit has been changed somehow too, as a new one wipes the old hours...just had a 800 hour service done on a 225 honda and it came back saying 400 engine hours...it had an ecu done about three years back...and the best bit was the service cost $1797.00, a joke.

Seastorm wrote:Id try find out if the ecu unit has been changed somehow too, as a new one wipes the old hours...just had a 800 hour service done on a 225 honda and it came back saying 400 engine hours...it had an ecu done about three years back...and the best bit was the service cost $1797.00, a joke.

Ok, cheers, but I'm not sure how I could find that out? The motor looks brand new inside the cowling and outside its near new looking, so it seems legit. You can never be sure though I suppose. The 12 month warranty gives a bit of piece of mind I suppose.

scottmac wrote:Cheers Dannett, some good info there. I cant seem to find how much the Merc weighs anywhere. Doesn't mention it in the specs page of my owners manual. Googles no help either. I'll keep looking.

No problem. All things said more power will help but if your expectations are to go from say 45 km/h to 70 km/h they are probably too high and you'd likely need to be going up around 175 hp to see those sorts of gains.

Dan

dannett wrote:

scottmac wrote:Cheers Dannett, some good info there. I cant seem to find how much the Merc weighs anywhere. Doesn't mention it in the specs page of my owners manual. Googles no help either. I'll keep looking.

No problem. All things said more power will help but if your expectations are to go from say 45 km/h to 70 km/h they are probably too high and you'd likely need to be going up around 175 hp to see those sorts of gains.

Dan

Yeah, not out to break records. Boats only rated to 140HP, but I could get it rerated. I can't afford to go bigger at the moment anyway.
I get about 57kph at WOT, I would like a bit more, the faster the better obviously. I'm mainly after getting out of the hole better when fully loaded, as when I go on the three or four day trips, loaded with extra fuel (and beer!) I really struggle to get on the plane.

scottmac wrote: Yeah, not out to break records. Boats only rated to 140HP, but I could get it rerated. I can't afford to go bigger at the moment anyway.
I get about 57kph at WOT, I would like a bit more, the faster the better obviously. I'm mainly after getting out of the hole better when fully loaded, as when I go on the three or four day trips, loaded with extra fuel (and beer!) I really struggle to get on the plane.

That's not a bad WOT speed. Wouldn't it be nice to turn that into your cruising speed?

Don't under estimate how much difference weight distribution can make to a tinny, even a larger one. I found with my boat that moving weight forward improved both hole shot and top end speed significantly and allowed me to trim the outboard up more. Along with raising the outboard 2 inches I was able to go to a bigger prop and gain about 10 km/h in total.

You mentioned that you have the three batteries towards the transom which is a fair bit of weight in itself. You could try experimenting with moving them and your decky forward so there is more weight up front. Also a second smaller prop for long trips may help though it may reduce economy (but so will a bigger outboard). And dare I say it on here but.... maybe a hydrofoil for the long loaded up trips may be of use.

Personally I think the engines displacement and torque is more important than engine's weight. I reckon the theory of diminishing return on performance due to outboard weight is largely dependent on displacement and HP. The Honda 135 has a substantially larger displacement than the DF140. I would have thought the Honda's holeshot would be better than the DF140. Also the DF140 would be working harder to keep up with the Honda 135. Having said that there are mobs of DF140's out there and they have proven reliable as far as a know. If I had ~$18K to spend I would buy new, get a good warranty and go the DF140. Should you get the Honda and should unexpected failures occur it could prove to be a very disappointing decision. Generally, age not run hours is more important. If both motors where to be purchased new, I would probably go the Honda 135 for the larger displacement and gear box.

I would recommend you make the decision that you will are most likely to regret least - whatever that be - only you can decide.

Honda 135 will pull a suzi 140 backwards. More torque.
What do you want a small displacement motor which makes it a bees dick lighter which has to work harder or a slightly detuned larger displacement engine with more torque and a stronger gearbox.
Fuel economy of the honda is riduculous too.
Seen certain commercial motors with 4000hrs return good compression results and run mint
Cant beat a honda IMO

Is this motor able to be connected to my lowrance, or is it to older a model?

Edit: found out it can't.

I've just worked out the Honda is thirty kgs heavier than my Merc. Food for thought.