http://www.pdbmagazine.com Pontoon & Deck Boat July (^201749)
The definition of “refresh” is to give new strength or
energy, to reinvigorate. That’s exactly what Honda Marine
has done to the heart of its 2017 lineup. The move to refresh
its engines kicked off at the
Miami International Boat Show
in February when the BF40
and BF50 four-stroke outboards
were released with the BF75,
BF90 and BF100 following
next, which will be available
starting in August.
The biggest improvements
coming from the refreshed
lineup focus on service and
maintenance to help make it
easier for both the user as well
as the dealer.
“The BF40/50 models now come with a standard flush
hose and the BF40-BF100 models are designed with
corrosion-resistant materials,” said Honda Marine Assistant
Vice President Will Walton. “Besides the refresh, during
the past 24 months there has been a lot of activity at Honda
Marine including the BF100 coming to the U.S. market, the
release of the BF200, BF225 and BF250 white engines and
the iST Intelligent Shift and
Throttle system integrated into
the BF200 and BF225. Our
all-new BF4, BF5 and BF6
were also released in 2016 with
the BF6 receiving many awards
including the Innovation Award
at IBEX.”
Award-Winning
This was the second
Innovation Award for Honda
Marine with the BF6 portable
engine being awarded the 2016
International Boat Builder’s
Exhibition (IBEX) Innovation
Award for outboard engine
technology. The Innovation
Award is the industry’s highest
honor for innovative and
technological advancement. The
first Innovation Award came in
2011 when Honda released its
BF250.
Speaking of awards,
Honda Marine also received the prestigious 2016 Customer
Satisfaction Index (CSI) Award for Excellence in Customer
Satisfaction for outboard engines for the thirteenth
consecutive year, which is a streak we don’t see ending
anytime soon.
Got You Covered
The full Honda Marine lineup ranges from its 2hp
portable outboard to its high-power 250hp with a great
selection of mid-range four-
strokes in between.
“With the current Honda
lineup we can satisfy 93
percent of the total market,”
added Walton. “We see the
300hp and greater market
growing that is currently at
7.2 percent today, up from 4.7
percent four years ago.”
While confirming nothing
about future plans of releasing
a 300hp outboard, Honda does
appear to be working in that direction and evidence of this
could be found at the Miami Boat Show this year.
BF300?
At arguably the biggest boat show in the U.S. each year,
it can be hard to attract attention to your booth when so
much is going on, yet Honda Marine figured it out back in
February. Its bold concept engine—that wasn’t designed for
any specific engine size—gave
attendees a glimpse of what the
future of boating might look
like.
With inspiration from
across Honda’s lineup—
including automotive, marine
and aeronautical—the design
concept engine attracted a lot
of attention in Miami.
Designers at Honda’s
Advanced Design Group were
given a “clean sheet of paper”
opportunity to design a concept
motor that could be applied
to a variety of engines. For
exceptional aerodynamics,
the concept engine included a
sculpted center channel inlaid
with a honeycomb mesh trim.
The heat ducts featured an
interwoven design with black
honeycomb mesh reminiscent
of the intakes on the 2017
Acura NSX. Of course also
attracting attention in the booth was an Acura NSX parked
next to the concept engine.
“The design concept was a big success for Honda Marine
because it brought a lot of new eyes to our booth and to our
existing product lineup,” said Walton. “Having the Acura
Honda concept engine.
sean pound
(Sean Pound)
#1