Chinese Clone Motors. Any good??

[chipko]

Well, reckon the only way to find out is to get one and run it. So that’s what we did!

Despite being critical of these in the past and advising anyone interested to steer well clear we ordered one and it landed November last year.

Arrived boxed and well packaged complete with 24l tank, fuel line, basic toolkit and user manual etc. Just like a real motor in fact.

Unashamedly a straight Yamaha 15 clone and first impressions better than expected, although finish nowhere near Yamaha standards. Castings and plastics mouldings perhaps a bit rougher round the edges and general paint finish not up there with the big six manufacturers. Wouldn’t bet on a primer coat!Having said that all linkages and prop shaft were fully greased, grease in steerer/tilt tubes, oil in gearbox and a few visible bolts torque checked and ok. Fitted a cheapo induction tach/hour meter, so good to go.














User manual a word for word copy (well nearly) of the Yamaha so running in procedure the same except the more common 50:1 mix generally, with 25:1 mix for the first 10 hours. First 10 mins at tickover so in the bucket it went. Fired up after a few pulls and quickly settled to a regular tickover and pumping water well. Noisier with the hood off but sounded just like a Yam.

https://youtube.com/shorts/9xDYBnBJ0...O8Sd7b7y4rvq5u

[chipko]

Carefully run in on the local river last November on our little Ocean Runner 340. Perhaps a tad smoky it ran fine with no fouling even at low revs on the 25:1 mix. Running on the stock 9” pitch it felt slightly underpropped, but no bad thing whilst breaking in, and motor felt strong throughout the rev range. In the final few hours of running in a few full throttle bursts saw the motor easily spin right through to 5950 revs/19knots…way over the 5500 max.



https://youtu.be/-xzW9IkbBiA?si=M7rt0RA6RwqUM8iC

[chipko]

Since running in this motor has been used exclusively in saltwater at the coast mainly on the back of our Elling KB350 tunnel hull sib and briefly on a 330 catamaran sib.
Looked after and always flushed and washed after use but no special treatment beyond that. Gear oil changed at 20 odd hours and that’s about it. Now running an 11” pitch prop it pulls 5600rpm and tops out at just over 22 knots solo. Hole shot still impressive with effortless cruising at 4000/4500 revs at 16/17 knots solo. Good hole shot even 2 up and able to pull 5250rpm at over 19 knots.








https://youtu.be/FD0I9qNAsdo?si=CRckFm3qrN4YEiJO

[chipko]

Drawing close to a full seasons use now with over 70 hours on the clock. How’s it done?

Appreciate still early doors but it’s not been half bad at all thus far. Starts first pull and lazy half pull warm, not missed a beat, sounds just like a Yam and pulls well throughout the rev range. No smokier than other two strokes and performance well up there with the Yamaha 15. The mediocre paint finish is holding up better than expected with absolutely no corrosion or flaking evident. There is however a light oxidation bloom evident on the leg presumably due to hot exhaust gases. It will clean off with a WD40/GT85 soaked cloth but returns after a few outings. All good under the hood as well. There’s also the annoying little rattle at tickover/low revs from tilt mechanism stays just like the Yams….soon quelled with a light smear of grease!










In all honesty no real negatives yet to be fair although appreciate early days. However, longer term would need to consider unknown build quality, poor materials and finish, dubious reliability, lack of spare parts, limited warranty, no dealer back up, poor resale value etc. etc. the list seems endless. The only positive being low initial purchase cost which is around a third the cost of a new mainstream model and still less than a used 20 year old motor.

In the meantime it’s been interesting running this motor as an experiment and which hopefully will be continued next season. Of course it may just fall apart at any moment, internals change to cheese, paint peels off and electrics melt down. Who knows!

[Fenlander]

A really interesting read. It actually sounds nice and smooth at speed. It's odd though seeing that shape in black.

After the Johnson episode Mrs F and I have been pondering more on the new vs used philosophy. I mean this clone, which "one" might look down on, has lasted you some 68.5hrs more than the 2003 Johnson did us.

Have they managed to keep the weight to 36kg?

[chipko]

Originally Posted by Fenlander

Have they managed to keep the weight to 36kg?

That’s a good question. Claimed weight is 36kg and it feels about right but must admit haven’t physically measured it. I’ll get it on the scales when we bring it back home over winter.

[Iankristy]

Interesting stuff. How much cheaper was it actually?

[Easedalenovice]

Yes I was wondering what the actual price paid was and where you bought it. I have searched but can’t find one. Not sure what to put in the search to be honest

[User name]

Great writeup. It looks a very interesting motor if the price is right. I wonder if its compatible with Yam bores/pistons etc?

I'd sticker it up with this for the giggles too.

[Pikey Dave]

Food for thought. It all comes down to numbers (£) and how they stack up, I.e. clone v OEM.

[chipko]

Liking the ‘Yamahaha’ stickers User name…cracking suggestion. [emoji106]

Price wise anything from just below to just over a grand for a no name import and around £1600 for a branded job like Parsun from a UK dealer. At least the latter will have some warranty, zilch with the former.

To be honest running this as a bit of a fun test and have written off the capital cost. If it breaks, and a simple fix with either Yam or third party parts all well and good, if terminal then so be it. Even working it’ll be worth bugger all on the secondhand market.

I’m certainly not recommending one of these full stop.

[User name]

Where did you buy it from, if you don't mind me asking?

[beamishken]

Whats the legal position regarding these? Presumably they are illegal to buy & use in the uk & therefore only available from shady sellers under the counter. Zero warranty etc?

[Blankton]

It looks nice, I think it will come down to how it holds up longer term, like you say. I have a 27 year old version of the yamaha one and the paint is in better condition than yours already 😂

I used to work for a big engine manufacturer assessing the quality of Chinese knock-off parts. It wasn't all bad news, often they used older technology when it came to materials, which is often better, or at least more robust. The bearings were often lead rather than more modern (and environmentally friendly) tin and the shafts and gears were often quenched and tempered en8 type steel, whereas a lot of big automotive have moved to air cooled steel, as it removes a manufacturing step and reduces the chance of distortion.

I always think the biggest issue with these things is that they don't understand the original design intent. For instance, if a piece of tooling is getting worn and the bearing sizes they produce are getting smaller or larger, they don't know when this becomes an issue, as they have likely just reverse engineered the drawings from 1 or 2 oem motors they have disassembled. Whilst that tells them the nominal dimensions of those engines, they don't know the tolerance range they need to be working to, which I would imagine makes quality control very difficult.

[chipko]

Originally Posted by beamishken

Whats the legal position regarding these?

The same as any new two stroke offered for sale in the UK post 2006. A typical disclaimer;

Disclaimer: 2 stroke outboards are for sale to non-pleasure users only. This comprises, but is not exclusive to: Racing, Safety boats, commercial applications – for businesses, rescue etc. You will be required to sign a disclaimer to this effect before the engine can be delivered to you.

[Easedalenovice]

Originally Posted by beamishken

Whats the legal position regarding these? Presumably they are illegal to buy & use in the uk & therefore only available from shady sellers under the counter.

You mean Ebay

[Easedalenovice]

Some bloke did a similar thing a few years ago. Got shot to pieces on this forum as I remember. Now all seem keen to find out more

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ddNUBYEeRDY

[Easedalenovice]

There you go chaps

https://www.alibaba.com/product-deta...3ac63ad7Hta7bT

[beamishken]

Originally Posted by Easedalenovice

Some bloke did a similar thing a few years ago. Got shot to pieces on this forum as I remember. Now all seem keen to find out more

At least the yam copy looks like an outboard & not a strimmer with a toy propeller grafted on [emoji1787][emoji1787][emoji1787]

Still wouldnt spend my money on either, rather have a 30 year old yam

[Fenlander]

I think at 75% of a mainstream motor cost I'd swerve one of these... but at 50% or less then I'd have an open mind.

Chipko's so far trouble free test has been far more rigorous than most. 70hrs could be 7yrs use for some portables on SIBs.