On Thu, 09 Sep 2004 07:33:34 -0400, Harry Krause
wrote:

~~ snippity do da ~~

I had a Merc Opti 135 V6 for five seasons before buying our current
Parker with the Yamaha 225 four cycle. At the time we got the Parker, I
wanted to order it with two 150 Merc Optis, but the Parker factory
simply would not sell our model with anything but Yamahas.

That's another thing that annoys the hell out of me.

I have been looking at mid-range between the 20' Ranger and the 32'
Contender with an eye toward getting something a little larger with a
deeper V than the Ranger for use when the waves kick up larger than 2'
or so. I really don't need three boats, but there is always the
possibility that I might sell the Ranger (yeah - right).

Anyway, looking at manufacturers of boats in this range (say 23' to
25' trailerable), you can't get them to move out of the factory
pre-rig. I know, I've even offered cash for a boat pre-rigged with
Evinrude controls and the factory will not budge - Yamaha only -
nothing else. Oh, and if I sold the Yamaha and put an Evinrude on the
boat, the factory boat warranty is void.

I know that the Japanese outboard manufacturers are really aggressive
right now, but doesn't this seem like restraint of trade?

Later,

Tom
S. Woodstock, CT
-----------
"Angling may be said to be so
like the mathematics that it
can never be fully learnt..."

Izaak Walton "The Compleat Angler", 1653