Anybody jetski?

[Joe_Black]

2nd for the WaveRunner. I did IJSBA racing for a couple years and ran an original WaveRunner which never had a failure of any sort. My decision to purchase it was based on input from a friend who was a service manager for two large powersports shops. We have over 100 local lakes, not to mention both the Atlantic and the Gulf of Mexico within a 100 miles each. So these shops carried all the major brands (Bombardier, Kawasaki, Polaris, Yamaha) and did quite a bit of volume and service. Of each, Yamaha had the lowest incidence of service while Bombardier had the highest. Keep in mind that that's not necessarily because Bombarider was bad (although they have had service issues) but that the Rotax engines they use were tuned to a much higher level to achieve the performance they did. That in itself equals more maintenance. The Yamahas run well, are very robust and can be serviced almost anywhere very inexpensively. My personal second choice would be Kawaski for the same reasons.

Whatever you get, just take a look out there to see how much service there is available in your area.

[Tone]

I raced IJSBA for 10 yrs and walked away with overall 1st in Stock and Modified in TX running a Kawasaki. I have 2 Ultra150s and love them. Most rental places use Yamaha as they seem to be the most durable. 4 strokes are replacing 2 strokes for environmental reasons but I have no experience with them. I've ridden SeaDoos as well and had no problems but they were harder to work on - Kawa seems to be the easiest IMHO.

[AndyC]

I too have had them for years. Never competed in the IJSBA but had my Yamaha shipped out to Lake Havasu a few times with Big Red Racing
What a blast those years were. My last time out was 2000 and I had my HX there. -- Copper Canyon, Sand bar, Mud Shark, Cocomos, Fish's desert party -- some good times Tone & Joe you guys ever race or go to the Finals? I got to know alot of people there and might have meet you if you were there

As for choices I have no idea now adays - almost all of them are 4 stokers. But in my case I never had any probems with the Yamahas.(Raider 1100 & GP800) My HX was modified and the motor blew, but I was able to get SeaDoo to chip in on the repairs through their Customer Relations Department. it was only a few days out of warranty - piston ring went and took out everything.
Well the Yamaha's are gone, the HX is in the garage sitting - just to fun of a ski to sell and I now have a SeaDoo Speedster Jet boat with the Mercury 240 EFI motor that I use alot So I've converted alittle

Either way you'll have fun with what every brand you get.

[Joe_Black]

I just ran whatever was in reasonable driving distance from me, never got that competitive. It was just a blast to run a sanctioned event. The first year, 1991, I ran bone-stock then upgraded the exhaust, impeller and intake grate for the second year. Then I got into coastal stuff like wave-punching which was awesome in the lighter 'ski like I had. Talk about getting air! I had a bad habit of getting about a mile off shore and running swells, but by that time had a lot (probably too much!) confidence that the Yamaha would get me back in.

[Bulldoggie]

I am a Jetski GOD! I have a 650 kawasaki stand-up model, and I have more tricks than the freestylers on ESPN.

But for overall fun I recommend a polaris sit down model. some days it's fun to cruise and not get immersed in cold water. A dry suit will extend your season by many months.

[Joe_Black]

LOL! All bow down!

Tried the uprights for a while then took a friends hopped-up 600 Kaw out for a spin. Dumped it at 60MPH+ and got bruised up pretty good through a wetsuit. No more uprights for me!

[thedutchguy]

Well I bought one this week.
Its a 2006 seadoo RXP.
Why I bought this one?............
The dealer's nearby,
Its super fast, because it has 215 HP comming from a supercharged engine!
Which means My VX and ski have the same output.