I'm getting a little excited to experience the results of my project so I'll share a few things about it for some feedback from some of you that may have been down this road already.
I bought a new '15 200 Yamaha SHO and a brand new take off 1.62 sportmaster gearcase. Both are on their way to HydroTec for Wayne to join the two together which sounds pretty straight forward and the two pieces look to be factory assembled as no adaptors have to be used for the process. He's also installing solid engine mounts while it's there. The ecu will be flashed to the off-shore programming. I think most of you know what that means. What I did not know until very recently was that the 200, 225 & 250 SHO's are exactly the same, mechanically. Sure is a big price swing when you compare them............
I've read about every SHO thread on here so I'm well aware of previous issues with the SHO and I know very well that "hey"! I just shot my warranty to hell but that's my decision and mine to live with. Also, I'll never fish a professional tourney that'll ever give a hoot about what's actually under the cowl of my engine unless Skewby has new rules for this year's Rally
I was excited to hear Wayne tell me a sportmaster gearcase was not that big of deal to install on the SHO as I've always liked the look of that gearcase and we all know it's a proven performer on the back of an Allison.
A goofy idea is to stick a 400R on my boat but in reality, that's just too much weight to hang off the rear of a bass boat. A naturally aspirated, quiet, lightweight and smooth running four stroke is the future sooner or later and I've always been a fan of the four stroke movement in off-road motorcycles. A 300 Mercury may be faster but that's not at all what my goal is for my boat even though there is a plan to have a very experienced driver hang it out just so I'll know.
I love to try new and different things from the norm so this should keep me busy for a while and if anyone cares, I'll post what works and what doesn't. See you all at the rally