In the mid range motors Honda is pretty easy to eliminate. It's a 121 pounds or 34% heavier than the Mercury. It's got to have a huge advantage to overcome that additional weight.
It really comes down a Ford vs Chevy question. Both Mercury (Tohatsu) and Yamaha are excellent motors. When I repowered several years ago it came down to a few factors: availability and price. At the time the decision was easy as Yamaha was over a grand more and nine months out on availability. I've been very happy with my Mercury.
If you do go with Mercury it's worth upgrading to the CT (command thrust) model. It's the 150 lower end on the 115 motor which has a bigger gear case and better gearing. This lets you run a bigger prop which will give you a much better hole shot when you're fully loaded. It was a $300 upgrade when I bought my motor.
You are right, Honda is heavier in that hp range, but I buy a Honda for it's reliability and take the loss in weight.
Tohatsu then stands in it's own, with 5 year warranty. Believe up to 115 tohatsu is in house I think the bft Honda comes in at 150hp for tohatsu
That leaves the merc yammie suzy with their 3 year warranty. Find what's available and who can service it closesest to u.
