# 2017 20AS2 suzuki on order



## scoobeb (Jan 6, 2017)

Well,after all this time I realized I should of originally kept my 20hp suzuki but I wanted more speed which I got. I just put things in perspective and weighed out the pros and cons of having my 25hp 2 stroke merc or a brand new 20hp suzuki. 

25hp merc pros
1. Fast ,fast,fast
2. Reliable, runs like a sewing machine 
3. Easy to work on.

Cons
1. Swallows fuel 
2. No warranty just in case
3. Carb VS efi
4. Mix gas all the time,oil and gas gets very expensive because I use ethanol free fuel and it's very pricey.
5. Just cost so much more to run than my 4 stroke suzuki.

20hp 

Pros
1. Uses very little fuel so my fuel savings will be huge over my merc.
2. Warranty
3. I log every minute from day one so I know how it's been maintained and cared for
4. Efi
5. Super quiet and state of the art technology 
6. Light weight

Cons

1. I lose a significant amount of speed,probably near 5+mph,but make up for it fuel savings wise in a huge way.


So after carefully weighing all the pros and cons it was a no brainer,the merc is up for sale and my new suzuki is coming today and this time I'm keeping it for good. I know what's been done to it,I'm putting every minute on it,I know how it's been taken care of from the get go. I love the power of the merc,it's i mean incredible,but most of the time the wind is howling on the water so it gets rough which means I do very little wot anyway so speed is not worth keeping the merc when I can save myself a ton of money on fuel and no mixing oil. Just a no brainer to me and I never really realized how much I would save in money till I saw all of it written on paper. The numbers were staggering after many yrs of use compared to one another. It was in the thousands on saving for many yrs down the line so that is my plan,new suzuki 4 stroke that I once originally owned and sold,it's coming back and I will keep it for a long time. I should get around 25-27mph and that's plenty fast for me.


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## Jim (Jan 6, 2017)

Awesome! 


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## gatorglenn (Jan 6, 2017)

Well you could of gotten a merc EFI. Had the fuel savings and the quite mean speed.


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## yankeegonesouthern64 (Jan 6, 2017)

What boat you putting it on? I am getting ready to buy a 25hp Suzuki that will go on a 1448 Polar Kraft. I went back and forth on if I want a 20 or 25 hp. lol, sometimes I still rethink it but always say the 25 hp at the end of the day.


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## scoobeb (Jan 6, 2017)

gatorglenn said:


> Well you could of gotten a merc EFI. Had the fuel savings and the quite mean speed.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


I had the 20hp merc,it's carbureted. The 25hp merc is efi and the original one was a dog due to the crapoy gear ratio of 1.92,they have since I believe a yr ago finally beefed up the gear ratio to I believe 2.17 which is night and day of a difference. If I went with any 25hp 4 stroke it would be a suzuki,hands down far ahead of any 25hp imo. The lightest on the market and the most reasonable priced 25hp. The 20hp suzuki imo and many others is far ahead in technology. All the 20hp outboards are all reliable and run great I just like the 97lbs,efi,and how sleek it looks and it has insane power for a little 20hp.


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## scoobeb (Jan 6, 2017)

I'm putting it on a 1648 alumacraft jon boat,it will hit near 25mph with near 1000lbs of total weight on the boat. My buddy has a 20hp tohatsu I sold him and he gets near 27mph with him and 2 kids on the same boat. The 25hp suzuki as I stated in the last post is the best 25hp for the money imo. Big difference in weight and money though. The 25hp is like $3400 and the 20hp is $2770. I got mine for a decent price. I know the guy at cumberlandwatersports.com. Call them and they will do better than $2770 I bet,they may take $100 or more off but I can't promise anything. Call them and negotiate, they are a bit flexible I bet. If you want speed,25hp,if you want to get to your fishing holes and have some fun,20hp. With the 25hp or the 20hp you need to step up to the next size prop. I owned both and they both will over Rev with the stock prop,trust me. You will need a 12 pitch on the 25hp and a 11 pitch on the 20hp. Also don't let the small size of the 20hp fool you,lol. It's a beast of a motor for it's size. Remember I'm replacing a 25hp 2 stroke merc with sick insane power that got me over 32mph with 1000lbs of weight for this 20hp suzuki, that will tell you how much I think of this motor and the faith I have in it's performance. Ok,any questions on either let me know as I owned and ran both.


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## yankeegonesouthern64 (Jan 6, 2017)

Thanks for the good info. I have been researching on and off for the last 10 months (that is how long I figured it would take to save the money to pay for it). So I think I have most of the info/knowledge on it that I need. Only thing I can think of at this time is how does/did the motor length line up with the transom height(assuming you have 15" on both)? My transom measures 16" so I am not sure if that will come into play or not. I thought of getting the 20 hp in 20" and using a jack plate of some sort but I really ain't feeling that. I have research that all to to death also. lol, researching helps kill the time when it's a slow night. I only live 45 miles from Cumberland Watersports so I am going to drive down there and talk to them when the time comes. Anyways...Thanks again, Dan


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## scoobeb (Jan 6, 2017)

My transom is 16 inches also,you want a short shaft.


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## scoobeb (Jan 6, 2017)

They say the short shaft is on 15 inches but it's more like 17 when measured. So get a short shaft and be done with it or you may run into a whole new set of problems.


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## scoobeb (Jan 7, 2017)

She came in today,man she's pretty. They changed it a little from the previous one I had,they replaced a few plastic parts with looks to be aluminum,the cowling is a hair different color and they put new sleeker decals on it. Plus now you get a full expensive maintenance kit,it has everything in it to my surprise. It has a full water pump kit with everything, all kinds of gaskets,water/fuel separator that is on the engine itself,2 new plugs,2 anodes,oil filter,etc,nice little kit for free.


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## scoobeb (Jan 7, 2017)

Sorry,the pic came out sideways.


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## yankeegonesouthern64 (Jan 7, 2017)

Short shaft it is. Congrats on the new outboard. Looks good.


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## jodyp (Jan 7, 2017)

Scoobeb, thanks for sharing. She is purdy!

In a few months I plan to get a flat alumacraft 1648 and I'm still undecided between a 20 and 25 Suzuki. The boat is rated for 1,010 lbs. You are 100% positive the 20 will get a 1648 up on plane at full load? I'd rather get a 20 due to weight and size if it will plane it out at full load. We are you located?


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## Jim (Jan 7, 2017)

Awesome! I'm jealous! Good luck with it!


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## scoobeb (Jan 7, 2017)

No questions asked. Trust me on this,you will be suprised how powerful the 20hp is. I weigh 300lbs,friend 200lbs,2 coolers,boat is 310lbs,motor near 100lbs,all my tackle,gas,etc is well over 1000 total lbs and it will do near mid 20s. It may be a hair less or more but I would say 23-26mph without one bit of doubt . I also use a 11 pitch prop instead of the stock 10 pitch because the motor has so much power that it over revs way to easy. You must go with an 11,trust me on that. I tell you what,I'm going to the lake weds or Thurs to test it out,so I can give you exact GPS numbers if you want. If you have the money to spare get the 25hp but these jon boats are so light and glide over the water,takes very minimal power to move them. Also word of advice and please do as you please with this,you do not want to baby a 4 stroke outboard out of the box,run it like normal,you must seat the rings and you can't by babying it,trust me on this. I have done extensive research on this. The break in recommendation is only that,it is recommended you do it the way they say. It will not break in correct. You have one chance to seat the rings and that is straight out of the box. I'm saying just don't be scared to open it up immediately after a good warm up. The most important thing is warming the engine up every time you go out for like 5 minutes or so. If you want the most power out of any engine just vary the rpms out of the box and you must go wot in spurts. I go hard straight from the get go,I don't abuse it just run like you normally would and don't do any trolling in the first 5hrs or so. My brand new outboards have all had tremendous power I believe by not babying it straght from the get go. The manual is for liability reasons only and no they can't and won't void your warranty if you break it in the way you want. If you want ever bit of power out of this engine then run it hard, a 4 stroke is a different animal then a 2 stroke. I am just telling you what many people are starting to realize,babying a 4 stroke is bad news and if you don't seat those rings your engine will make oil,that means gas is getting in your oil past the rings and it's bad news. In the end though it's your dime your spending so if you feel comfortable doing the way they recommend then go for it,I'm just trying to give you some excellent advice and some people may see it different but everyone is different. Even mercury had major issues with a bunch of 4 stroke outboards due to not running wot from the get go. Babying the engine according to mercury is the absolute worst thing you can do. There is a big article on the net explaining the issues they are having due to this. All they try to explain is don't be afraid to hammer the throttle down,it needs to be done to seat the hard rings. Like I said though,your outboard and your decision, good luck.


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## jodyp (Jan 7, 2017)

You may have persuaded me to got with the 20! Thanks for sharing your experience! Oh, did you get the 6 year warranty?


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## gatorglenn (Jan 7, 2017)

Sweet looking motor. And I totally agree with your break in also. One thing to remember on any 4S outboard is to WOT it a few minutes on every outing. At the end of your day, before loading at ramp. This is actually a cleaning. Doing this will keep that dreaded carbon buildup from happening. This is and was the biggest problem boaters had when 4S first hit the water. Especially if you're going to be trolling. It is essential that you do a few minutes of wide-open throttle before loading the boat up on the trailer.


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## Florida_Native (Jan 7, 2017)

Figured I'd chime in. I have a 1656ish polar kraft, it's one of the wide ones. 

I had a 96 Evinrude 25hp 2-stroke on it for years. Recently I considered getting a new 4-stroke for it and after a bolt broke off in the motor it was time. I ended up with a brand new Yamaha 25hp 4-stroke and went on a test run and it is amazing. It planes great, has good top end. Didn't go to crazy since I was still breaking it in. I often had trouble with cavitation when I ran my old motor so maybe what I needed was the extra weight. 

I didn't originally want the Yamaha because its the heaviest 25hp in its class but everyone I called locally wasn't really interested in ordering a motor other than the local Yamaha dealer. I did call bass pro and got a quote on a mercury, however they quoted me $3700 when I got the Yamaha for $3300. And in my opinion Yamahas are much better motors. 




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## scoobeb (Jan 9, 2017)

Yamaha are excellent outboards,but consider the difference and compare.
1. Reliability - They are both extremely reliable. 
2. Yamaha is extremely heavy,suzuki is the lightest 25hp available, period,we're talking 35 to 40lbs heavier,that is significant. 
3. Yamaha is carbureted which is fine but efi is much better and dummy proof because it doesn't need to be adjusted in different elements or higher elevations like you have to a carb,efi is easier to start.
4. You can get the suzuki much cheaper than the Yamaha overall.
5. 6yr warranty vs 3 unless Yamaha is running the 5yr deal.
While I agree the Yamaha is a great motor the suzuki is so far ahead in technology it's not funny.

I know you mentioned the Yamaha being better than mercury,in the past yrs I totally agree, but the new 25hp mercury/tohatsu (same outboards basically as tohatsu makes them for merc) has a way better gear ratio now,it is now a 2.17 compared to the original 1.92 which was a dog. I would love to see how much the torque improved from past yr models. I had a 25hp efi merc yrs ago and it was a slug,sold it in a week after trying everything with it. It ran great ,it just had no,it mean no torque for my J16 Carolina skiff. Sold the whole boat as a package to a guy who didn't care about going fast as I explained the issue,he still wanted it for just lake fishing. The new one with the new gear ratio looks promising. 

I love suzuki all the way over both just because it's far ahead of the pack,give it time though as I'm sure all outboards will be efi and the technology will catch up.


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## scoobeb (Jan 9, 2017)

jodyp said:


> You may have persuaded me to got with the 20! Thanks for sharing your experience! Oh, did you get the 6 year warranty?


6yr warranty is 25hp and up. Trust me,as long as you don't expect a rocket boat,lol,you won't be disappointed with the 20hp. I'm going to the lake this week I'm hoping so as soon as I get full wot speeds with a loaded boat I will let you know how she performs. Remember I took the original prop off as soon as I got it and went straight to the 11 pitch prop due to over revving reasons,tremendous power for this little outboard, especially for an aluminum jon boat. It has Smooth,crisp,deceiving power. Doesn't feel fast till you look at the GPS and your near the mid 20s and your like wow.


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## scoobeb (Jan 9, 2017)

gatorglenn said:


> Sweet looking motor. And I totally agree with your break in also. One thing to remember on any 4S outboard is to WOT it a few minutes on every outing. At the end of your day, before loading at ramp. This is actually a cleaning. Doing this will keep that dreaded carbon buildup from happening. This is and was the biggest problem boaters had when 4S first hit the water. Especially if you're going to be trolling. It is essential that you do a few minutes of wide-open throttle before loading the boat up on the trailer.
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk


Thanks ,it runs as good as it looks to. I run wot near 80% or more of the time. I just don't want people to think ok,get on the water and hammer it. I get to the ramp and warm up for 5 minutes every time, then I idle for like a few minutes it takes to get out of the channel,once I get past the resume as Normal from the no wake zone then I hammer it so the motor is 100% properly warmed up is thee most important thing to do before running it. I just know from reading and reading and I talk to lots of boaters and outboard techs and they say you have one time and one time only to seat those rings,the good part is today's technology and computers that help the workers put these engine blocks together, the tolerances are so close compared to the past that almost little to no break in is even needed anymore according to the article I have read on mercury marine actual website. Like I said people can do as they want,it's their dime and I understand,but the thing I see so much and it scares so many people is they think if they don't break in an engine the way the book says they can,void my warranty if I have an issue, that is so far from the truth. Again it is only a recommendation and nothing more. It does not say anywhere in my manual or any manual I've owned from new,if you don't break it in the way we recommend we will void your warranty. If an outboard is a lemon from the start whether it's ran hard or easy won't change anything,good part is as many as they produce your lucky if 1 to 2% are ever bad,so 1 out of 100 could possibly have an issue if that.

All that aside,lol,I can't wait to see how good this puppy runs on my new boat. I have ran my original one on a 1436 that was the heavyweight Lowe that is 205lbs, I had me at 325lbs at the time,friend at 220lbs,boat 205lbs,engine at 97lbs,coolers,tackle,etc....so it was 1000+ lbs on a 1436,not a good idea,lol,but it hit 27mph and I couldn't believe it. The wider the boat the better it planes so I expect near the same give or take a mph or so. As soon as I hit the water I will post the speeds for anyone looking to purchase this outboard. Sorry so long.


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## khanderton (Jan 9, 2017)

scoobeb said:


> jodyp said:
> 
> 
> > You may have persuaded me to got with the 20! Thanks for sharing your experience! Oh, did you get the 6 year warranty?
> ...



Congrats on the motor. I just ordered the Suzuki 25 hp as well. I'm curious, what is the measurement from the stern bracket to the a/v plate?

Thanks 


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## scoobeb (Jan 9, 2017)

17 inches. A short shaft is known as 15 inches but in reality it measures 17 usually. Most short shaft outboards will usually sit an inch to 2 below the bottom of the boat. You can raise it to even or just above to minimize drag but I did that with my outboard thinking I would gain some mph you know due to less drag,well it did absolutely nothing for me. Some people's boat's may be set up different and it may help them but it did nothing for mine as far as speed and performance on my original 14ft jon boat. So now I just clamp it down on the transom and the anti ventilation plate sits around 1 1/2 inches below the bottom of the boat and I still will get mid 20s or a bit better. I was told that on smaller outboards you won't see much performance difference from raising the motor,some swear by it but like I said I saw no difference. Maybe if I used like a jack plate were you can move the engine back a few inches and raise it,then I'm sure it would make a little difference. I'm happy with mid 20s or so,no reason to alter my transom for a measly mph or so,if any.


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## scoobeb (Jan 11, 2017)

Also I forgot to mention,the maintenance kit suzuki gives you in the box is phenomenal. It is I mean everything you can possibly want to change out on your outboard if you choose to do so. The kit alone is a $50-$100 value. They give you everything except oil which is very cheap to get. Some of the stuff in the box you may never even use but they threw it in for extra like certain gaskets,etc... You get 2 new plugs,new on engine fuel/water separator, new oil filter,anodes,gaskets,water pump kit,they give you alot.


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## Bushwhacker (Jan 18, 2017)

scoobeb, you will love the 20hp Zuk! I got one last year for my 1436 jon after the 77 Johnson 25 blew up on the water. Just hit 20 hours on it this past weekend.

Ordered mine from Cumberland too. Great people to deal with. Only thing I need to do is step up on the prop size for my boat. I am hitting the rev limiter every now and then.


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## nowgrn4 (Jan 18, 2017)

Congrats scoobeb on the new zuke. Where do you run your rig, lake Tarpon? I have this visual of you doing laps of Tarpon flat out hour after hour day after day weeks at a time with no end monitoring your mileage with a GPS and flow chart. :mrgreen:

I got a few quotes on a new rigged zuke 60HP 4 stroke. The new light weight one after my tilt and trim started acting up on my '03 Johnson J50PLSTD. Best deal was $7,400 rigged with new control, cables, wiring harness and mid grade tach. SS prop extra. I figured I could rebuild the [email protected] for around $100 in parts (I did) then sell the freshly painted 50 with controls, cables, harness, tach and choice of SS prop for around $2,500. Engine still blows 127 lbs compression in both jugs so it has lots of life left and runs like a scalded cat. It does suck fuel though, I figure I get around 4.4 MPG at cruise. I figure I could double my mileage with new zuke but it being 45 lbs heavier probably would net only 3-4 MPH WOT more than my 50 HP. That would be 37-38 MPH. A little over what I think is safe in a 18' long W/pods and 6' wide Jon boat. So I crunched the numbers. $5,000 out of pocket after selling the 50 HP equals 2,000 gals of fuel @ $2.50 per gal. 2,000 gals at 4.4 MPG equals 8,800 miles before break even not even considering I would have to buy fuel for the zuke. I decided I'll keep the 50.


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## teamluhnacy (Jan 24, 2017)

I owned the 20HP zuke last year and it was a great motor for the short time I got to run it. Lost the boat running lines and never found it. I just had the oil changed and maintenance done at the 20hr mark. Last time I'll ever own a boat without insurance. Expensive lesson even though my 1448 hull was ancient and needed to be replaced. I had the electric start model and it was only 106 lbs. That was the most impressive thing to me compared to other brands. Purchased from onlineoutboards.com (cumberland watersports) and couldn't have been happier. They even gave me a military discount and still included the maintenance kit.

I have since replaced my boat with a 1548 Alweld custom and powered it with the Suzuki DF30. The weight on the 25 and 30 were the same so price was the only difference. Only made one test run so far and it was getting around 25 with stock prop. My tach wasn't reading correctly so I'm not sure where I'm at on the rpm's. New tiny tach on the way. My last motor I had to go down one pitch from stock to get my rpms right and it made a huge difference in the way the boat ran.


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## tomme boy (Jan 28, 2017)

Hey scoobe. I still have my 4 blade SS 10" Powertech prop. It acts like a 11" because of so much blade area. I got rid of the 15 I had as it was the worst motor I ever had. It ended up still leaking oil after the techs from Suzuki came and rebuilt the powerhead. 

Anyway make me a offer if you or anyone else might want it. I also have a Solas 9" 3 blade SS


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## scoobeb (Feb 2, 2017)

This is my 3rd 20hp suzuki. I should of never sold the first one I had. I bought and sold my second one because it was on a older but nice 1436 Crestline boat and just having the motor on it brought me way more money then I thought I cold get so I sold it as a package. Now I have this one,the last one I'm going to buy,when I get enough money I'm going to sell it and buy either the brand new 25hp efi suzuki or the new 25hp efi yamaha that just came out. That is some yrs down the line though. I wait a few yrs for yamaha to get all the kinks and bugs out of the outboard because there is usually something they find that needs to be refined on the new outboard. For now I will just enjoy my 20hp. Who knows I may just keep it forever.


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## bassin0331 (Feb 15, 2017)

Will the 20 HP Suzuki be enough for my 550 lb grizzly 1448? Been looking at them


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## Duramacr (Feb 19, 2017)

Bahahahahahahahhahah , who the hell cares about 
10 bucks in fuel when you go fishing . Hell I spend
23 bucks just to get into the lake. Then another 80 bucks
Everytime I go In beer, food , and bait . I'm not rich but to 
pick a slower engine because of gas mileage on a little boat 
You use twice a month . Come on man. I wish I could buy an
old 2 stroke and use them in California at any lake . 5mph is 
A lot . That's a huge difference . Sorry , but I ever understood
10 bucks of gas vs having a fast fun boat.


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## scoobeb (Feb 19, 2017)

Duramacr said:


> Bahahahahahahahhahah , who the hell cares about
> 10 bucks in fuel when you go fishing . Hell I spend
> 23 bucks just to get into the lake. Then another 80 bucks
> Everytime I go In beer, food , and bait . I'm not rich but to
> ...



First off,this is not just about saving gas money.I actually put thought into this for a while and if i want to go back to a merc or yamaha 25hp 2 stroke i can get them all day long even know this one was a merc of it's own.Speed isn't everything especially when it's windy all the time out in the gulf and you can only do near 25mph or less without getting soaked with water or just to rough to run over 3 foot swells.

Second,if you know anything about motors like i do,an older 2 stroke can blow up real easy as being a premix,now i never said mine would but it can happen from ethanol gas if not taken care of right.You get water from the ethanol in the gas tank it sucks from the bottom of the gas tank,say goodbye to your engine.So you say water/fuel separator,but a lot of people neglect to use them.That will and cannot happen with a 4 stroke due to the engine not being pre mix and worst case is the engine won't start till fresh gas is in it.I go to start my suzuki and one to 2 pulls every time,even if she sat for weeks.The merc i have never had an issue with but 2 strokes with carbs in the past i have and my hand was bleeding after 15 to 20 pulls.

Third,the savings between the suzuki and the merc is astronomical in gas savings if you add up what your saving over the yrs.Add up your estimate which was way off of just $10 a trip times say 52 trips which is a yrs worth once a week,that is $520 minimum in one yr times say 10yrs=$5200.I fish alot so that is putting the bar low.I can also use straight ethanol fuel in my new suzuki will ill effects because everything on this engine is up to code unlike a 25yr old engine.I have full confidence in the 25hp merc i just sold to a gentlemen last week,but some people don't take care of their engines like i do.It will look the same 5yrs from now as when i bought it.

4th,if my merc got stolen my insurance would give me no more than $500 no matter what the condition unlike my suzuki gets stolen and i get a $3750 check even know i paid only $650 for it.I sold the 25yr merc for $1800 and bought my suzuki for only $2450,a deal no one in their right mind would pass up.

5th,if i want a 25hp i will buy the new yamaha efi or the suzuki efi that will be my next outboard when i'm ready to step up.My suzuki does near 26mph with over 1000 lbs of total weight so i'm completely satisfied with it.

So there was alot more then just gas savings put into this.I fish at least once to 5 times a week so your twice a month theory is dead.


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