John, The bottom line is that the Hidea brand of outboard motors, regardless of their place of origin, has not fared well in public opinion for reliability or serviceability. Common problems appear to be related to corrosion of components, especially in salt water environments along with problems with the pull starter mechanism. It is not uncommon for Chinese manufacturers to reverse engineer established products by using existing parts and designs to create tooling for similar looking products. Using less expensive alloys, a "knock off" or splashed product is made at a significantly lower price with a similar appearance to the original. Chinese copyright laws offer little protection to the manufacturer of the genuine item. So it may visibly look like a Yamaha engine, but chances are that corners were cut in the production cycle. Given the lack of a widespread dealer network, I would be suspect of being able to find replacement bits and pieces along with a knowledgeable service support staff. One thing that the more well known brands tend to offer is a well coordinated training process for dealers and service techs. And usually the dealership must have at least one trained technician on hand to perform Pre Delivery Inspections and warranty services. I've worked in Honda, Yamaha, and Suzuki franchises and know this to be a fact. If you or your fellow club members wish to take a chance buying a less expensive outboard engine, I would temper your expectations of longevity. At the very least, purchase a Service and Parts manual to keep on hand along with a few common parts that have a reputation for breakage such as the starter pull rope. If your motivation is to buy engines with thoughts to "the environment", you may want to make sure that what you purchase meets the CARB (California Air Resources Board) 3 star rating for emissions and the Federal EPA clean air standards. Nowhere on the Hidea website does it address either of those two standards being met by their products. Good luck and good sailing! Chuck Gilchrest S/V Half Magic 1983 Landfall 35 Padanaram, MA
Sent from my iPad > On Mar 13, 2017, at 1:51 PM, Bill Bina - gmail via CnC-List > <cnc-list@cnc-list.com> wrote: > > Yamaha outboard motors are manufactured at four production bases: the Fukuroi > South Factory (Fukuroi City, Shizuoka Prefecture) and group company Yamaha > Kumamoto Products Co., Ltd. (Yatsushiro City, Kumamoto Prefecture) in Japan, > MBK Industrie in France and Yamaha Motor da Amazonia Ltda. (YMDA) in Brazil. > > All Honda outboards are manufactured in Japan. > > Smaller Tohatsu outboards (also sold as various "American" brands) are > manufactured in Japan, and larger ones are built for Tohatsu by Honda in > Japan. > Bill Bina > >> On 3/13/2017 1:39 PM, johnr via CnC-List wrote: >> I see this has degenerated into a useless conversation. I was hoping some of >> you had experience with this engine or knew of some who have. No help >> there. BTW - most of American outboard engines are now being made in Asia - >> largely China. >> >> As for two strokes, you can make nasty remarks about California all you >> want. The universal opinion in boat clubs up and down the Hudson is that we >> are moving away from them and with good reason. We have cleaned up one of >> America's great rivers and we intend to keep it that way. >> >> John McLaughlin >> C&C 29-2 >> Falcon >> >> > All Contributions are greatly appreciated!
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