With the new show venues this year there were plenty of boats to discover, yet we had better odds of finding a snowball in Miami than actually seeing them all in just five days. As the show has grown, so has the presence of pontoon boats as we saw plenty inside and out of the Miami Beach Convention Center as well as on the water. Two of our favorite pontoon offerings at the show had a common connection: both were powered with the new Honda BF150 engine. Also worth noting, both pontoons were manufactured by Premier Marine.
We were teased back at IBEX 2021 last fall when the significant redesigns and upgrades made to the Honda BF115 and the BF150 outboards were first announced. It was great news to hear, but as journalists we like to put the throttle down ourselves first before we get too excited about new engines.
Luckily Honda Marine not only had the engines at the Miami show, but they had them in the water as well. We were so anxious to try out these new engines on the Premier pontoons we got caught waiting at the launch ramp for Honda’s Jim Loftus to arrive. We probably came off as a little too eager, but we’re not shy about showing our enthusiasm to try out new engines.
Jim was more than happy to hook us up and he even brought with him David Rothwell, a Premier Marine dealer from Georgia with whom we’ve worked in the past on other boat tests.
Carefree Boat Sales on Lake Lanier is the number one dealer for Premier and David was there to ensure his Premier 250 Solaris RL PTX with a Honda BF150 and the Premier Intrigue 230PTX with twin Honda BF150s were in the water the night before the Miami Show began.
“A couple years ago we realized we weren’t offering our customers a trailer that matches our premium product,” said David. “The other thing we saw is a need for better performance. We do a lot of twin engine boats and a lot of boats up to about 9,000 pounds and we weren’t getting the performance we needed out of our trailers.”
David went in search of a better-riding trailer and was excited to work with Boatmate Trailers.
“We partnered with Boatmate and we brought them one of the largest boats we offer, the Escalante, and we left it with them for three months. They built a trailer that is specifically for a 10-foot wide Premier pontoon.
After the 700-plus-mile journey to arrive at the Miami Show, David was even more impressed with Boatmate.
“We traveled on all sorts of road conditions and the biggest thing we see with these trailers is our confidence,” added David. “You just don’t get the flex like you do with other trailers and the ride was extremely smooth.”
“The smartphone app connects consumers to their boats 24/7, no matter where they are located,” explained Jim. “It puts the power of boating information into the palm of your hand.”
The new BF150 (as well as the BF115) includes an industry-leading True 5-year, non-declining factory warranty that is the same on the last day as it is on the first. The new models are available in two color options, Aquamarine Silver and Grand Prix White, and on the boats we were on we got to see both.
“The Honda BF150 high-power outboard marks the newest evolution in the company’s product line, integrating a host of class-leading features and benefits that eclipses competitive models,” added Jim, who is clearly excited about Honda’s latest offering. “It delivers enhanced operation, streamlined maintenance and sleek design.”
Prior to that, Honda Marine also updated the BF40/50 and BF75/90/100 models with a wide range of improvements such as thickening the anti-cavitation plates for durability and repositioning service access points for faster, easier maintenance.