Honda 2.3 Outboard Review for River Use (Where It Wins, Where It Doesn't)

Lake Powell take-out, Cataract Canyon, July 2018. Big Drop was clean, the camps had been good, the trip was wrapping. We had 18 miles of reservoir between us and Hite. Headwind started picking up around noon — call it 10 mph out of the south. We'd brought a single Honda 2.3 to push the lead boat with a tow line out the back. The other two boats rowed. Within 90 minutes the 2.3 boat was pulling away. Within three hours the 2.3 boat was at Hite and the rowed boats were a mile back. The lead boat went back, ferried gear, then towed the second boat in. The third boat's crew rowed it in straight on.

Total time on Powell with one 2.3 motor: about 5 hours including the assists. Total estimated time without a motor: 8–10, possibly two days if the wind held. The 2.3 didn't win the trip. It saved us one camp on a reservoir nobody wanted to camp on.

That's the Honda 2.3 in two paragraphs. It is not a fast motor. It is not a powerful motor. It is the lightest serious motor in its class, the only major air-cooled small outboard, and the right tool for a specific set of river jobs. This article is what those jobs are and where the 2.3 falls short.

What the Honda 2.3 actually is

The Honda BF2.3DH is a 2.3 horsepower, single-cylinder, four-stroke, air-cooled outboard motor. Designed for tenders, dinghies, and small inflatables. Honda has built it on the same architecture for over a decade — a sign it's mature engineering, not a product chasing market trends.

Specs that matter:

• Weight: ~30 lbs (about 14 kg)
• Cooling: air-cooled (no impeller, no cooling-water intake)
• Fuel: internal 0.3-gallon tank, plus optional external connection
• Fuel burn: roughly 1 gallon/hour at full throttle, 0.5 gph at half
• Shift: F-N-R (forward-neutral-reverse)
• Throttle: twist-grip on the tiller
• Prop: small 3-blade aluminum, swappable for a folding prop on lake-only use

What it's not: it's not a touring motor, not a planing motor, not a load-carrier. The 2.3 is a push motor for a hull that's already moving with current or that needs to make slow, steady headway on flatwater.

Where the 2.3 wins

1. Weight. This is the single most important advantage. A 30-lb motor that one person can carry up a takeout ramp is a different category than a 60-lb motor that needs two people or a hand truck. On a raft transom, 30 lbs vs 60 lbs vs 80 lbs changes how the boat sits, how it tracks, and how it handles in wind.

A loaded 14-foot raft at 1,000 lbs of gear and crew already rides stern-heavy with a frame. Adding 30 lbs back there is fine. Adding 80 lbs back there is a steering problem. On a 16-foot raft running Big Drop with a passenger seat full, motor weight matters.

2. Air-cooled simplicity. Every other outboard in this class uses water cooling — an impeller pulls river water through the powerhead. That's two failure points: an impeller that grinds in silt, and a cooling intake that clogs in sediment. On the San Juan or Lake Powell, both of those are real risks.

The Honda 2.3 has neither. Air-cooled means the motor doesn't care about the water it's in. Silt, mud, weeds, shallow gravel, dry-running for 30 seconds during a transom check — none of these break the cooling system, because there isn't one.

3. Fuel efficiency. The internal 0.3-gallon tank runs the motor for about 45 minutes at half throttle. An optional external fuel-line kit lets you connect to a 1-gallon or 3-gallon Sunfish-style tank — best practice for any trip over 30 minutes of motor running. A typical Cataract take-out push to Hite or North Wash (depending on reservoir level) at half throttle uses 1.5–2 gallons. Carry double. Reservoir wind is unpredictable.

4. F-N-R shifting. The forward-neutral-reverse shift lever matters. Single-direction "cavitating" small motors require you to lift them out of the water to slow down. The 2.3's neutral lets you dock, hold position, and reverse for the inevitable docking-in-wind scenario at takeout.

5. Reliability. Honda's small-engine reputation isn't marketing. With basic maintenance — annual carb cleaning, fuel stabilizer between trips, fresh spark plug every 50 hours — the 2.3 starts on the first or second pull for years. I've run mine since 2013. Same motor.

Where the 2.3 doesn't win

1. Headwind and current. A 2.3 hp motor pushes a loaded raft at maybe 4–5 knots in calm flatwater. Drop into 15-mph headwind and that drops to 2–3. Drop into 20-mph and you're holding position, not making headway. On Lake Powell, sustained afternoon wind from the south can stop a 2.3-equipped raft cold.

For sustained upstream work, or for any trip where the motor is the primary propulsion (ferry shuttles, lake transit, supported overnight runs), a 5–8 hp motor is the right tool. The 2.3 is the assist, not the engine.

2. Multi-boat tow. A 2.3 can tow one raft. It cannot reasonably tow two. If your trip plans rely on motoring all three boats off Lake Powell as a tied train, you need more horsepower or a second motor.

3. Above 9,000 ft elevation. The 2.3 makes power on standard atmospheric conditions. At elevation, naturally-aspirated small engines lose power proportionally — call it 10% loss per 3,000 ft. On a Wyoming high-altitude lake float, the 2.3 is anemic. On a Utah desert river, this isn't a factor.

4. Range. The 0.3-gallon internal tank is a deal-breaker for trips longer than 45 minutes of running without external fuel. Buy the external tank kit. Don't try to run on the internal tank for serious work.

5. Charging. No alternator. The 2.3 doesn't generate electricity. If you're running a chartplotter or charging USB devices off the motor, you need a different motor.

Comparison to 8–10 hp motors

A typical Yamaha or Mercury 8 hp 4-stroke is the next category up. The comparison:

The 8 hp is a different tool. It pushes harder, holds against wind, and can serve as primary propulsion on motor-supported trips (Glen Canyon Dam-to-Lees, lake-based overnight runs). The cost is weight, complexity, fuel burn, and shuttle awkwardness.

For a Cataract trip where you're rowing the canyon and motoring the Narrow Canyon and reservoir miles to Hite or North Wash at the end, the 2.3 is the right call. For a Glen Canyon trip where the motor is the trip, the 8 hp is the right call.

See Best Lightweight Outboard for Raft Support for the full decision matrix.

Mounting and securing the 2.3

The 2.3 mounts to a transom plate or a side-mount bracket on a raft frame. Two real options:

1. Transom plate. A flat plywood or composite panel bolted to the rear frame bay, dimensioned to fit the motor's clamp screws. Standard for rear-mounted motor configurations. The motor sits behind the rower, prop in the water, tiller within reach.

2. Side-mount bracket. A pivoting bracket that holds the motor outboard of the frame on the side. Used when the rear of the frame is occupied by gear or when the rower wants to stay rear-position without the motor in the way.

For Cataract take-out work, the transom plate is the standard. For multi-day overlanding-river hybrid trips where the motor mounts and dismounts daily, the side bracket is faster.

Securement during transport — see Raft Trailer and Outboard Transport System. The 2.3 is light enough that it survives most trailer abuse, but the right transport setup is the difference between "the motor still works" and "the motor's tiller is loose now and the throttle cable's been chafed."

Maintenance reality

The Honda 2.3 is low-maintenance. Low-maintenance does not mean no-maintenance.

Per trip:

• Fresh, stabilized fuel.
• Visual inspection of the prop (rocks, sand abrasion, line wrap).
• Spark plug check at 50-hour intervals.
• Carb drain if storing more than 30 days.

Annual:

• Carburetor clean. Honda small-engine carbs are ethanol-sensitive. Stale fuel gums up the jets within a season.
• Spark plug replacement.
• Fuel filter inspection.
• Lower unit gear oil change. The lower-unit gearbox is the only fluid service the motor needs.

Don't:

• Don't store the motor with fuel in the carb. Drain or run dry.
• Don't run the motor dry for more than 30 seconds. Air-cooled doesn't mean cooling-immune — extended dry running heats the powerhead.
• Don't crank the throttle hard at startup. The 2.3 is a "warm up at idle for 30 seconds" motor. Treat it that way.

What I actually use it for

In practice, my Honda 2.3 does five jobs across the season:

• Cataract take-out push. The original use case. The Narrow Canyon and reservoir miles to Hite or North Wash (depending on Powell level) — call it 90 minutes of motor running on average, longer in headwind.
• Low-water Labyrinth/Stillwater assist. Below 4,000 cfs in summer the meander is slow. A 2.3 assist gets a long day done before dark.
• San Juan low-water transit. Below 2,000 cfs on the lower San Juan, the flatwater becomes work. A 2.3 cuts a 9-hour day to 6.
• Reservoir camp positioning. When camp is tucked into a side cove, a 2.3 lets you motor in without fighting wind on the oars.
• Take-out positioning at any ramp. Motoring the boat into the trailer is faster and more controllable than rowing it in.

What it does not do:

• Not the primary motor on Glen Canyon Dam-to-Lees Ferry. That's a 6-8 hp job.
• Not for sustained upstream work. The motor isn't powerful enough.
• Not for towing two loaded rafts in wind. The motor's geometry and torque are wrong for it.

Buying it

Pick: Honda BF2.3DH — short shaft for raft transoms, F-N-R shift, twist throttle. The standard configuration.

The long-shaft version (BF2.3DL) exists for sailboats and dinghies with a deep transom. Don't buy it for raft use unless your specific frame requires it.

The motor is sold by Honda Marine dealers, most marine shops, and online retailers. New street price runs around $1,200. I will add a TODO offer-link entity for the Honda 2.3 once I commit to a specific retailer for the Desert Maritime affiliate program.

Used market: a 2013-and-newer 2.3 in good condition runs $700–900. Don't buy a pre-2013. Honda updated the carburetor and the early models had ethanol-related fuel system issues.

The motor that makes the trip lighter

The Honda 2.3 doesn't make a Cataract trip faster. It makes a Cataract trip lighter — less stress on the take-out, less worry on a windy reservoir afternoon, less doubt that the trip ends on time when the shuttle window is tight.

That's the motor's actual job. Not propulsion. Confidence on the day the river gives up and the reservoir takes over.

For the broader decision frame — when to scale up to a 5–6 hp, when to skip a motor entirely — see Best Lightweight Outboard for Raft Support. For the trailer transport system that keeps the motor working between trips, see Raft Trailer and Outboard Transport System.