I have a 13-year-old Honda; great motor. Had to do the first real work on it this summer (due to almost submerging it in the salt several years ago.) But I was talking to the dealer that I bought it from this fall. They carry Yamaha, Evinrude, and, Honda, (the big three). He said it's a toss-up between Yamaha and Evinrude for performance and technology in the current stuff, but the service is solidly in Evinrude's court. (Never overlook the service aspect.) I love my Honda with 1200-1500 hours on it, but they are really dropping the ball on service according to the dealer - who might drop the brand for that reason (and their motors are not keeping up with performance technology for the most part.)
Yamaha would be a good bet in hands off 4 stroke; Evinrude if you're savvy to keeping up with technology at all in two stroke.
