[jedgar]

I agree with the others, if the motor you have is in decent shape, run it until it blows or starts to really annoy you with problems.

If you do end up deciding you "need" a new motor (or motors), I don't think you could do any better than Suzuki 4 strokes based on my experience.

In Dec. 2000, I put a pair of brand new 2001 115HP 4 strokes on my 1985 23' Scepter. 900+ hours later and other than normal maintenance, they run as good as the first day I ran them, not a single problem. Really makes it fun to know you can pretty much just turn the key and go, no worries.

I fish out of Port Canaveral, Fl. and normally log 60 to as much as 100 miles on our offshore trips. We average 2 trips a month. I crank the motors when we leave the dock at 5AM and don't shut them down until we get back at 5/6PM. They never sputter. Troll as much as you want, idle speed (slow troll live bait) for half a day, not a problem. Oh, I do change the plugs every 400 hours, even though both times they've looked fine.

I was concerned that changing the oil would be alot of extra work. Not so, I change filters ($4 at NAPA) and oil on both motors in a little over an hour (need to do this every 100 hours), at much less cost than the 2 stroke oil you would burn in those same 100hours.

I think the new Suzuki 225 or 250 4 stroke would be a great motor for the 23', if you want to stick with a single. I've heard great things about them, from a couple of guys around here that are running them.

Good luck whatever you decide to do.