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I'm a fan of that 140 as well. It's main shortcoming compared to the 150's is that it has much less torque, due to being a 2.0 litre compared to 2.6-2.9 for the various 150's. This translates to higher RPM for a given speed when compared to a 150, but owners still praise the DF140 as being very economical to operate. I suspect it would perform similarly to your old engine, while being much quieter and easier on fuel.

Note some markets have an updated DF140a this year, which is 15# lighter than the previous generation (407# for the 25" shaft version). I've yet to find proof of the DF140a being available in North America.
EDIT: DF140A now listed in US website: http://www.suzukimarine.com/Product%2...F140A.aspx
full details on the updates here: http://www.suzuki.is/2013/OBM/Product...44-041.pdf

The Johnsuki story is an old one, no longer relevant. Johnson re-branded Suzukis while they perfected their e-tecs for market. I believe this was for just a few years, and ended around 2005.