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Viking17

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  1. Viking17

    Members Boats.

    1989 Seafarer Viking "Stormtrooper". Recently restored and now powered with Mercury 135 four stroke.
  2. I've just been through the same decision process repowering the same hull - 1989 viking 17 - hope this helps. My hull has been restored, including a new transom built to 25" Max hp is 150 and weight 225kg following recent hull survey. You will find earlier Vikings were rated to 175hp - when the National standard was adopted later hulls were rated to 140hp - mine is the 140hp rated version. Lucky for me, before I started looking for a new motor I didn't have any real brand preference. From my experience you can't compare simply based on labelled HP. For repower my preference was to go up to manufacturers max horsepower (140) for best cruise economy, grunt and to tow a skier. I was quite attracted to the suzuki 140 - lots of good reports on economy and reliability - wasn't convinced on the torque aspect. Etec - attractive option but from my perspective not so good if ever considering resale (my opinion only!), I had the same view of the Merc 2 strokes. Honda - too heavy and restricted service options locally. Yamaha 115 - reliable I'm sure but the comparative displacement of the engine and overall cost didnt work for me either. Should also mention the Yamaha 130 - came on the market late in the piece - pricing wasn't clear (apart from expensive) and the displacement was too small for my liking. So I was left with Mercuryin the mix with their new 115 CT fourstroke - looked good for weight and displacement. All the reports looked good too but I still couldn't split it from the Suzuki 140. About the same time I was about to flip a coin between the Merc 115 CT and Suzuki 140 along came the Merc 135 four stroke.........that complicated things more. Merc 135 is a derated 150 - 3 litre displacement but on the upper end of the transom weight (212kg). Back to the calculations - My old V4 140 hp looper was about 170 kg plus the oil tank at 7 kg full, plus 60 litres of fuel under the motor well. With my fuel tank now foward and underfloor I figured the balance of the boat would be the same as before or maybe a bit better. Decision time - Merc 135 four stroke with 18p Inertia prop. Fitted by Brisbane Marine and I am impressed by their service. The 115 CT was my next pick. This motor would have been adequate for most situations - may have been a bit under powered for skiing. Balance - boats sits on water same as before - rides at waterline on transom. Motor does look big on the boat but most four strokes do compared to the old flatter yet fatter V4s. Performance - I am converted to the saying there is no replacement for displacement. I have 10 hours on the Mercury and can only say "hang on" because it is a beast and it thumps. It has buckets and buckets of torque and I am so far thoroughly impressed. Hole-shot is awesome with time onto plane less than 2 seconds with 3 adults on board - better than the old motor. Mid and top range acceleration are impressive - 'hang on". No on and off the throttle in chop - the torque of the motor just keeps pushing the boat along. More importantly..........Comfortable cruise speed can range between 21 and 28 knots = 2.4 to 2.6 km/litre (15 - 17 Lph). If I run at 30 knots (yesterday on Moreton Bay) I was returning 2.1 km/litre. WIth 120 litres of fuel on board I now have the range I need. Top speed - 44 knots (so far and there is a bit more to go) - I haven't had the conditions to stretch right out. Other comments I have are that the more traditional looking smart craft gauges work well and fitted nicely into the boat. I added a trim gauge - only because I like original and there was a hole in the dash to fill. Trim can still be presented on the smart craft gauge. Now for some fishing and skiing.
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