tom: many recent reports of folks with Honda 2 motors on M17.  you may go a bit slower motoring into a sea/wind. as you have the moveable mount maybe the yamaha 2.5?  only available in a short shaft.  Rick & Debora Everett use a yamaha 2.5 on their M17. i never recommend trailering with the motor on the transom. the shock loads that our boats experience doing down the road are nothing like what they experience on the water. the motor is about 6' aft of the axle and when the boat hits a bump the 'pounce' moving up/down/sideways is amplified with a significant acceleration and change in vector. think of all those California potholes!! i know some people do trailer with the motor on the boat ... but i believe they are asking for trouble. i _may_ have one exception - a original design M17 (cutout transom) with the motor attached as jerry/lyle designed (ie, NOT on an aftermarket motor mount) is likely OK as the motor is more 'attached' to the boat than on the motor mounts we currently use. the other reason is think of how your are shocking the motor going through the acceleration loads and vector changes 'up there and back there' when you hit a bump at highway speed. this type of treatment isn't good for valves, camshaft and the 100 other small parts of the motor. :: Dave Scobie :: Sage Marine - www.sagemarine.com --- On Wed, 3/28/12, Tom Jenkins <tjenk@gte.net> wrote:

It seems as if my back no longer likes lifting a 50 lb Honda 5 from the car to the transom of my M17.  Has anyone out there used an air-cooled Honda 2 hp 4 stroke with success on such a boat?  If so, what kinds of speeds can you cruise a few miles at, and what is the approximate fuel consumption at speed?  I certainly don't want to run more motor than I have to.  (Dave Scobie, I think you ran a small motor on Air Born in the San Juans, but I can't remember the details.) Thanks a bunch,)

Tom Jenkins M17 Scintilla