New to 4 strokes - help with break-in please

[tj309]

I just bought the wife a pontoon boat because she does'nt like my Venom. I am picking it up Saturday. It has a new Merc 90 4 stroke. How do I break it in? I know it is in the owner's manual but sometimes there are better ways to do things than what the factory says (like changing the oil in your car more often than 7500 miles). Any other things I should watch out for on a 4 stroke?

Thanks, TJ

[olmo40]

off topic but maybe my wife can go with your wife in the toon ? Mine wont even get in our Venom any more unless i promise to go under 45mph.

[tj309]

off topic but maybe my wife can go with your wife in the toon ? Mine wont even get in our Venom any more unless i promise to go under 45mph.

Ha Ha - that's exactly what my wife said. What is the power and how fast does your Venom go?

[olmo40]

It had a worked 280 and did about 107mph ,my son now uses it so it has a stock 06 200 Merc does 86mph with a labbed and cupped up 30 Chopper 2 at 6200 which is right near the limiter .

[tj309]

Mine has a pure stock 225XS with a 28" trophy and will do 82 with my 1.75 torquemaster. I have a 1.62 sporty which I have not put on yet. I have a hydraulic jack and with a couple of thousand dollars should be able to break that 100mph barrier.

[tj309]

The dealer cannot deliver a 90 anytime soon. So I asked the logical question of what an upgrade to a 115 would cost. The answer was $800 which was exactly the number I wanted to hear after my research on this forum. You can never have too much power and since the boat is rated for 115 why not? If I bought it with a 90 knowing for only $800 more could have given me another 25HP I would have kicked myself forever or as long as I owned the boat. I should be able to pick it up next weekend.