Last year I researched small outboards of 2-5 HP and it came down to Yamaha and Honda as "the best." It''s hard to find good evaluations of the engines, though, and people I spoke to ahd good and bad to say about almost all of them. I went with a Yamaha 3 HP, 2 cycle for my
dinghy and was very please with it last year. Light weight and plenty powerful.
I was impressed when I bought it, the mechanic who serviced it and showed me how to run it told me when I left that he probably would never see me again because the Yamaha''s are so reliable.