125 force, any good?

[PIP]

Got access to a 1987, i think, 125 force. Is this any good? How does it compare to 140 crossflow, or an old inline 6 merc performance wise?

Thanks

[capnzee]

125 Force was a Chrysler, which was a West Bend and they didn't change much. I don't think you could compare them to either a V-4 or the inline 6.In the 80's they were heavy engines, didn't have a lot of smack, really, not much of a comparison. If it is running and you are getting it real cheap and you are looking for an engine for a pontoon boat, well then maybe??? The Force was bought out by Mercury as a place to get rid of a lot of their old parts and they did get better into the 90's. I think Merc may have just wanted to get rid of the growing competition and wanted a cheaper engine for their retail line. I'll bet there are a lot of guys with other opinions, this is just mine. I worked for a West Bend dealer in the 50's and we tried racing them with out a lot of luck. The 100 horse was a big disappointment when we put it on a 14 foot hydro. The two cylinders did better, in fact the 40-45 hp became the engine to run in the 36 class. They got well into the 40 mph range on small run-a-bouts. RD

[JohnsonM50]

I know little of the 125 but rode spotter for a couple pals water skiing. Their 125 force would smoke my 85 OMC. I thought it pretty good, of course you would expect that from 40 more ponies on a similar boat.

[Fastjeff57]

To their credit, the West Bend/ Chryslers at had a decent reed setup at least! Their huge, external reeds are a vast improvement over Merc's air-strangling arrangement.

Jeff

[PIP]

are they hard to find for this motor? i thinik it needs one or the other. thanks how much?

[capnzee]

Is that a 4 or a 5 cylinder engine. There used to be a 5 cyl parts motor around the corner from me. Rod

[chrysler_joe]

I didn't know west bend made a 100hp outboard Was this a test motor?

[Mark75H]

Not 100hp, 100 cubic inches or less. All of the 4's are less than 100 cubic inches.