Susuki outboards 2.5 owners experience

[Davil1]

Sitting on the fence between Honda 2 and Susuki 2.5

Both are excellent quality, like the Susuki mostly because has a Neutral vs the Honda.

However reading reviews seems the Susuki many? times starts in forward?

Is that true, a glitch? frequent?

thanks

 

[boomerang]

We had a Honda 2 on a previous dink and the centrifugal clutch took a tiny bit of getting used to but it wasn't a deal breaker. I liked the little motor ok and it ran like a top. I think I remember reading that if the clutch got wet it ruined it. I'm not sure if that is true or not. I do remember the air cooled motor being more noisy than other auxiliary motors that were water cooled.

 

[tiltrider1]

I have never seen an issue with the Suzuki’s gear box. It is common for users to hit the kill switch with the gearbox in forward. Later, they forget to place the gearbox in neutral before starting the engine. Then they write a review blaming Suzuki for their own incompetence.

There are several minor differences between Honda’s centrifugal clutch and Suzuki’s F/N gearbox but different people have different feelings on these differences. I prefer having a neutral so I can rev the engine but price is much more of decider.

 

[Davil1]

""I have never seen an issue with the Suzuki’s gear box. It is common for users to hit the kill switch with the gearbox in forward. Later, they forget to place the gearbox in neutral before starting the engine. Then they write a review blaming Suzuki for their own incompetence"

More likely

thank you

 

[Davil1]

I have never seen an issue with the Suzuki’s gear box. It is common for users to hit the kill switch with the gearbox in forward. Later, they forget to place the gearbox in neutral before starting the engine. Then they write a review blaming Suzuki for their own incompetence.

There are several minor differences between Honda’s centrifugal clutch and Suzuki’s F/N gearbox but different people have different feelings on these differences. I prefer having a neutral so I can rev the engine but price is much more of decider.

Thank you

 

[Martin610]

I have had a Suzuki 2.5 for years. Great engine, very light. Quieter than the Honda as the Honda is air cooled.

-martin610

 

[Delfin]

Two thumbs up for the Suzuki. Dropped our Porta Bote off the top deck when a line parted, and the Suzuki was submerged for 10 minutes or so before I could hoist the dink up. Rinsed it, removed the plugs and sprayed WD40, reinstalled and started it up. No problems.

 

[NWSeadog]

We use to have a Suzuki DF2.5. It was light weight and easy to move from the boat to the dinghy. The only issue I had was that it didn't have a reverse gear. To back up you rotated the engine.

 

[Marco Flamingo]

I really liked my Suzuki at first. After a couple of years I started having difficulty starting and it would run rough. I could pull the choke and start, but then it would stall when the choke was off. Took the carb off and found some tiny black dots in the bowl. Cleaned it out and then had the same problem a few months later even though I was filtering the gas (there isn't enough room under the cowling for an inline filter). Turns out that under the breather hole in the fill cap was a disc of open-cell foam filter material (for bugs?) that was disintegrating. Pulled that out but still couldn't clean out the jet on the carb. It is a tiny hole, smaller than anything on a welding tip cleaner. Took it to the Suzuki dealer and paid. Ran okay for another few months. I gave up and went electric with a lithium battery, which I really like. Less than half the cost. Starts every time. Quieter. Runs hours longer on a "fill." No strandings. No gasoline onboard. Downside is top speed is 4 knots instead of 9 knots. But I'm not in a hurry. Did I mention quiet? That's what I like best.

 

[Tjohn]

I have owned two little Suzukis. I rejected the Honda purely because of the clutch, which requires you rev the engine to move. I enjoy ghosting along in gear with the motor quietly idling, you cant do that with the Honda. BTW, switching to non-alcoholic gas solved all my small motor issues.

 

[gknoepfler]

I really liked my Suzuki at first. After a couple of years I started having difficulty starting and it would run rough. I could pull the choke and start, but then it would stall when the choke was off. Took the carb off and found some tiny black dots in the bowl. Cleaned it out and then had the same problem a few months later even though I was filtering the gas (there isn't enough room under the cowling for an inline filter). Turns out that under the breather hole in the fill cap was a disc of open-cell foam filter material (for bugs?) that was disintegrating. Pulled that out but still couldn't clean out the jet on the carb. It is a tiny hole, smaller than anything on a welding tip cleaner. Took it to the Suzuki dealer and paid. Ran okay for another few months. I gave up and went electric with a lithium battery, which I really like. Less than half the cost. Starts every time. Quieter. Runs hours longer on a "fill." No strandings. No gasoline onboard. Downside is top speed is 4 knots instead of 9 knots. But I'm not in a hurry. Did I mention quiet? That's what I like best.

Having the exact same problem. Just bought a ePropulsion electric. We’ll see how it turns out.

 

[ronobrien]

We use to have a Suzuki DF2.5. It was light weight and easy to move from the boat to the dinghy. The only issue I had was that it didn't have a reverse gear. To back up you rotated the engine.

I had an old Yamaha with F/N only. You get used to rotating the engine pretty quickly. Funny story I got on a friends dink which had F/N/R. He saw me trying to rotate the engine and said rather dryly "You might wanna try reverse instead."