Honda 2.3 4 stroke outboard

Does anyone own(or has owned)one of these, for use on a dinghy?
Weight 12kg. Air cooled, no water pumping issues. Centrifugal clutch. Rotate motor 180 for reverse.Integral fuel tank, 55 mins fuel at WOT.
I`m not expecting to ski behind the dinghy. Light weight is an attraction.
Any experiences?

We have a 2hp 2-cycle Mariner (Yamaha, really). Super light - 22 lb - because no gear shift. No centrifugal clutch either - always in gear. Can't get lighter or simpler, but it is a 2-cycle. 30 years old, works great. Have replaced the water pump impeller once.

Honda air-cooled = Noisy!

I'd be looking at Suzuki 2.5hp, only 30lb.

I have the older 2.0 Honda. Runs smooth and being air cooled makes for low maintance. Draining the carb at season end is a good idea. We use it on an 8 foot inflatable.

I have 2hp Honda, all good with it, other than being noisy.

We see them all the time in anchorages. A little louder than other small OBs. They seem to push the typical 9 ft dinghy ok. Beats rowing.

Have one on my inflatable. Starts first pull every time. Once the idle spot is nailed it won't start in gear but if idle is too fast it will. I find all outboards noisy, Honda is average if you run it at half throttle.Biggest advantage is weight. I can mount/unmount it without a struggle.

I'm thinking of putting it on my rigid hull instead of my Tohatsu 9. I'm willing to sacrifice speed for ease of mounting. I don't go long distances, typically use it for short trips to shore. If we do use it for touring a harbor we're at idle so speed isn't a major concern.

We've had our Honda 2.3 for two years now, pushin' an 8' dinghy. Works fine but I wish I still had my two stroke Mariner. Yeah, there's no mixin' with the gas, but the Honda weighs much more than the Mariner did. Gettin' the Honda down from the sun deck to the swim step is a PIA, due to the weight and the bulkiness.

I've owned a 2HP Honda for 8-10 years now and it's been great. As mentioned, low maintenance and easy to start and handle. I agree that it's noisy at full throttle but bearable at half throttle. The kids and ladies love it b/c of the easy pull start and centrifugal clutch.

I always run the carb empty before storing it aboard. It always amazes me how long it runs with the fuel turned off! Very efficient motor with a qt/liter of fuel lasting about an hour of normal run time.

I've got the 2.3. Don't have too many hours on it, but great so far. Reports say its noisier than others, but frankly, I don't notice it.

Thank you all.
Looking online,saw a review which commented on the visible bolts underneath the engine, the heads were rusted, so much there was a problem getting a socket onto one,to dismantle in order to replace the snapped off head of the plastic "Stop" button. Early model of the series, I think.
On the whole,I think it would be a good motor, not as quick as my near bulletproof 6hp 2 stroke Tohatsu, but 1/3 lighter to handle, and Honda reliable.

Bruce, I also have a Merc 15hp 2-stroke. TBH, the Merc is quieter at idle than the Honda and a whole lot more fun, but I'll never get rid of the Honda b/c it's so simple and reliable. Plus, often it's all I need to go from boat to boat or boat to shore. It does 4-5 kts in my 9.6 Achilles just fine.

BruceK said:

Does anyone own(or has owned)one of these, for use on a dinghy?
Weight 12kg. Air cooled, no water pumping issues. Centrifugal clutch. Rotate motor 180 for reverse.Integral fuel tank, 55 mins fuel at WOT.
I`m not expecting to ski behind the dinghy. Light weight is an attraction.
Any experiences?

Click to expand...

I have one Bruce. Love it. Sure, it won't plane your dinghy, but it gets you there in comfort and with ease, and the real benefit of the 4 stroke thing is no oil fuel mix, so much more reliable starting, even with quite old fuel in the tank. Also being air-cooled, no flushing needed, and even better, because of that, you can do a test start while its on the cockpit mount to make sure it'll go first pull once on the dink. I always try mine out while mounted on this thing, which rotates out of the way under the rail when not in use.

We have one also - very happy with it - came with the boat. Another plus is that I have a 4 stroke mower so I can bring the fuel can home and use it in the mower to keep the fuel fresh. The disadvantage of this though is forgetting to take the can along next boat outing- cost me a six pack of VB to top up the outboard tank when I did

Brisyboy said:

We have one also - very happy with it - came with the boat. Another plus is that I have a 4 stroke mower so I can bring the fuel can home and use it in the mower to keep the fuel fresh. The disadvantage of this though is forgetting to take the can along next boat outing- cost me a six pack of VB to top up the outboard tank when I did

Click to expand...

Ha ha. Yes, I nearly forgot I'd done that one time. However, the other plus is it uses the same fuel a Honda Genny would use, and as many also have those, and with the benefit of hind sight, I'd have gone that way, instead of the wind generator, because so often when out, especially in sheltered anchorages, there is insufficient wind. However, no-oil, high octane (lasts longer), fuel kills two birds with one stone in that situation. The next owner might as well add in a Honda genny as well, so once on the pick and off shore power charger source, he/she'd have 4 charging options. Engine, solar, wind and 4 stroke genny.

I`m impressed,they are popular! Getting the 18/20kg Tohatsu 6 on/off the dinghy transom is not fun.
2Litres of VB for 1L of unleaded? Fair enough,everyone happy.

Well my new Torqeedo 12 month old died last week some strange control system failed so now considering doing a insurance job on it .
I'm back to my 2hp Suzuki 4 stroke from memory it was the lightest 2hp on the market at idle its very quite.

The dirt cheap trolling motors used by lots of fishing folks (so available used) should push a small row boat at the same speed as a 2hp OB.

The good news is the electric units always start , so your bride need have no fear on a trip to town,alone.

25 years on my old Honda 2 Hp. One impellor replacement...Still starts first pull and runs great. The old water cooled models were quieter too. 27 lbs. What's not to like?...

I had one for years but switched to the Suzuki 2.5 HP.
The Honda was noisy and my son hated the centrifugal clutch.
My new Suzuki is about the same weight, quiet and has a gearbox, neutral forward.

High Wire said:

We see them all the time in anchorages. A little louder than other small OBs. They seem to push the typical 9 ft dinghy ok. Beats rowing.

Click to expand...

When one has a real boat rowing is a pleasure.

RCook said:

We have a 2hp 2-cycle Mariner (Yamaha, really). Super light - 22 lb - because no gear shift. No centrifugal clutch either - always in gear. Can't get lighter or simpler, but it is a 2-cycle. 30 years old, works great. Have replaced the water pump impeller once.

Honda air-cooled = Noisy!

I'd be looking at Suzuki 2.5hp, only 30lb.

Click to expand...

I agree big time ...
I have a 2hp Yamaha also and it’s noisy too but mostly at high rpm.

I have a favorite dinghy engine .. an old OMC 2 cyl. 35lbs w no gear shift or clutch. So when I start mine on the canoe (on a side bracket) I gotta make sure the throttle is set low because the engine is sideways when cranking. But it’s very smooth compared to the the 4 strokes especially the single cylinder engines. These are hard to find engines that aren’t salted up. CL is a good place to look especially those living in lake country.
They started out in the early 50’s as a 3hp (I think they were 33lbs then) w metal cowling. They were considerably noisier than the later engines w a FG top cover. My engine is probably from the late 70’s .. 4hp. Most of these were 3 1/2hp.
Oh by the way being a two stroke AND a twin they are very easy to crank/start.

FF said:

The dirt cheap trolling motors used by lots of fishing folks (so available used) should push a small row boat at the same speed as a 2hp OB.

The good news is the electric units always start , so your bride need have no fear on a trip to town,alone.

Click to expand...

I wish

my Torqeedo has stopped dead its so cleaver it came up with the word ERROR on the smart panel to tell me it wouldn't go the smart box with GPS the size of a match box is replace only they are sealed units and cost 1/2 the price of the motor $1500 AU .

"I wish my Torqeedo"

These are not trolling motors that fisher guys use , they are big buck items for the yacht set.

A google search will find fish motors starting at under $100, the Mini Kota is more but have been in service for decades.

$250 will get a fine unit.