I know this is probably a dumb question but I am considering buying a bay boat to fish Texoma and local DFW lakes to replace my aluminum Lowe FM165. Some of the boats I have looked at specifically say salt water on the outboard. I know this means they can handle salt water better but is there any downside to running one in fresh water?

none at all.. 'bout only thing different is it may have a garden hose flush port.

Thanks I appreciate the feedback.

On a motor rated for saltwater, which just about all of them now, will have the steering arm and tilt tube made of stainless. Also, I think the anodes were different at one time, but now they are probably the same on just about all brands, the material choice being aluminum and magnesium.

One thing the domestic outboard builders finally caught on to, due to the Japanese builders calling their engines "saltwater rated", was to put stainless fasteners anywhere on the exterior of the engine. I bought a small Evinrude for a dinghy in 1983, and in about six months, none of the bolts on the engine exterior could be removed, because the points of the hex bolts had rusted away!. Honda and Yamaha were already using all stainless bolts. What a no-brainer! But it took losing a huge market share to the Japs to get their attention. Now, they pay attention to corrosion issues. Thank goodness.
If you buy an old OMC or Merc, go home and make a list of the fasteners, and place an order for all stainless fasteners. It'll be worth it in the long run. Stainless bolts aren't as strong as Grade 5(or 3) steel bolts, but most things on an outboard exterior don't require super strong bolts. IslandJim