Mercury or Yamaha main motor

One thing to consider is the displacement of the motors. The HP rating tells you something, but a 115 hp motor built on a small displacement block (maybe also used in a 90 hp motor) isn't going to perform the same way that a 115 built on a larger displacement block (maybe also used for a 150). However, it will probably be lighter and get better fuel economy, while the larger displacement engine will generally produce more torque and have the low end power needed to turn taller props/move heavier loads/accelerate quickly.

I would also consider resale value. Japanese brands tend to hold their resale better. Historically, Merc's have been a little cheaper to buy new.

More than anything, I'd check Ifish and elsehwere about the reputation of the dealer's service department and after-the-sale support. I'd happily go with my 2nd or 3rd choice motor brand with a dealer that strongly backs their customers vs. going with my 1st choice and a dealer who develops amnesia when you drive off the lot.

In this case, it is because the Coast Guard ran Honda 225's on their fast boats for 15 years, tried switching to Mercury Verados, then quickly switched back to due to boats being out of commission from motor failures. I am sure Mercury makes some excellent products as well, but in that specific application the Verado's were not reliable enough for Coast Guard use.

In my experience, corrosion issues on a Honda outboard = failure of anodes (especially the internal anodes). Problem is the internal anodes can be a bear to access/replace on some models (and most owners have no idea there is such a thing).

The Yamaha corrosion issues in their early 200-225-250 4 strokes as due to using a cheaper/incorrect alloy and coating for some critical components in the exaust system. They actually made retrofit kits to fix the problem, but never offered a recall on them.

Some early Suzuki 115/140's had severe dissimilar metal corrosion problems on the oil pans due to using a plain steel plug in an aluminum housing. And their NMEA 2000 networking implementation has long been a pain in the buttocks that requires specialized cables w/ the correct software to match a specific year/model of motor.

All that is to say... every brand has their quirks. Having owned both, and been around ton of boats running Honda's (even a few from the 1990's), and a ton of boats re-powered with Suzukis, I would not hesitate to buy either brand.

I bow to your vastly superior experience running small boats offshore out of exotic ports. I guess my crew was probably fishing Detroit Lake or something last week.