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Jet skis

I've had a couple stand ups and a couple sit down's. Sit downs are fun for bombing around and getting wet on a super hot day. Otherwise, gets boring quickly. I enjoyed my stand ups after work. It was a great way to come home from work on a hot day and burn off some frustration and get a little exercise. Go out for a 20 minute ride, spin some circles, jump some wakes, fall over and repeat. Park it and have dinner.

If they were my only form of boating - nah........
 
I started on Kawi 550 standups, but even those didn't have enough balls to do tricks with my 210lb on board, then I got to ride a pro-mod, now that was a blast. FF to 1998 and I picked up a Kawi 900zxi for my wife and a SeaDoo XP for myself. That Kawi was bullet proof, never did anything but gas and oil. I did eventually put a new longblock in the XP, but don't remember at how many hours, and I rode that thing hard with a stuffer grate it would just hit 60 if I got into a tuck. Lots of fun on the Colorado below Hoover dam, especially before 911 when you could ride right up to the discharge tunnels.

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Cheap is relative. I was just on the phone with a buddy talking about how I wanna buy another stand up. I had a 550sx. It was awesome, super fun, super reliable. IIRC it was a 1993.
 
There was some guy on pirate who discovered cheap jet skis including trailers listed on C-list(?) for a steal, took advantage & made it his passion. Anybody remember?
 
Seadoo with the 717, built late 90s to early 00s. The model varies depending on year, single carb are stupid simple and reliable. Dual carb is more complexity and problems with no real advantage.

10+ years ago I was big into them, because I was poor, wanted to be on the water, and you could buy them for <$500 with trailer and title. I dabbled in other makes/models but the 717 seadoo was by far the simplest, reliable, and easy to get parts for.

I outfitted a couple of my favorite ones with an ice chest, rod holders, and converted the front storage into a live well. Went fishing all over the texas intracoastal till I could afford a boat.

Do a compression test, during that will also tell you if the crank seal is bad. If either comp is low, or cylinder full of oil, run away.
 
The market changes slightly based on where you're located, but here in AL $4k will get you in a good ready to run mid 2000ish 4 stroke and a trailer. $2500 will get a late 90s 2 stroke. Both can be had for cheap if not running. Buy between October and March during the off season. Avoid salt water machines like the plague. I've had 35 skis in the last 13 years from most all manufacturers, with most of my experience being with 2 stroke Seadoos and 4 stroke Yamahas. All manufacturers have their duds, but as a whole:

the older 2 strokes are very reliable if you spend some time doing thorough maintenance and updates BEFORE you put it in service. Rebuild the carbs with genuine Mikuni (probably) parts, replace fuel and oil lines and rock out. I've had close to 30 of these and have had great service out of them.

4 strokes are the 'easy button' when it comes to operation and maintenance. Stick with the NA engines for reliability and maintenance. Turbos and superchargers are cool, but are one more moving part to maintain or go wrong.

TLDR: if you're on a budget and like to tinker a little bit, look at a late 90s 2 stroke. If you have a little more money to spend and just want to add gas and go, get a 4 stroke (without the wutang whistle).
 
Only losers own jet skis:flipoff2:

I don't work on them, and I get calls all the time asking. They will always say that they can't find anyone who will.
 
bgaidan said:
I got a souped up Polaris for sale in NC. :laughing:


Amazing how much faster a 700 twin gets when you swap in a 1200 triple. :dustin:

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My buddy stuffed a 1200 into a superjet. Other than the fact that it barely floated, it was stupid fast. Then it would submarine when you left off. :laughing:


He never did get to stand up for more than a minute or two before he found a 700 2t to put back in it :lmao:
 
I currently have (2) 2001 Seadoo RXDI, (2) 1997 yamaha wave blasters, an 1100 swapped 89 kawasaki X2, and (2) 2012 yamaha VX jetskis. The yamaha's are hands down the most reliable ski's on the water, stay with the 97 and newer hull designs. both the 2 stroke and 4 stroke are extremely reliable. Both my Yamaha VX were former rentl units and have over 1500 hrs ea on them. On the 2 stroke models you may wanna check the compression. IMO the seadoo are the best performing, but the 2 strokes are complicated and unreliable. Early 2000's or newer 4 stroke and stay away from the supercharged models would be my choice with them. I loved my 04 GTX. If I was buying new, a 2up seadoo spark would be my choice since they are super cheap
 
Fl-Krawler said:
I currently have (2) 2001 Seadoo RXDI, (2) 1997 yamaha wave blasters, an 1100 swapped 89 kawasaki X2, and (2) 2012 yamaha VX jetskis. The yamaha's are hands down the most reliable ski's on the water, stay with the 97 and newer hull designs. both the 2 stroke and 4 stroke are extremely reliable. Both my Yamaha VX were former rentl units and have over 1500 hrs ea on them. On the 2 stroke models you may wanna check the compression. IMO the seadoo are the best performing, but the 2 strokes are complicated and unreliable. Early 2000's or newer 4 stroke and stay away from the supercharged models would be my choice with them. I loved my 04 GTX. If I was buying new, a 2up seadoo spark would be my choice since they are super cheap
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:confused:
 
Fl-Krawler said:
Have you not been around the direct injected sea doo skis?between the electronics, the oil injection, air pump and fuel injection they are extremely complicated. Lots of things that can go wrong on them
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nope
Mikuni carbs all the way at our house


now your post makes since
 
Fl-Krawler said:
Have you not been around the direct injected sea doo skis?between the electronics, the oil injection, air pump and fuel injection they are extremely complicated. Lots of things that can go wrong on them
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And on top of that they hate ethanol gas more than the 4-strokes.
 
I kinda want one to screw around on and use my boat as a mother ship. but not enough people want to go boat party anymore. So I'll let somebody else buy one.

When I was looking. The Sea Doo's were easy as hell to find parts for and cheap. My uncle had a Yamaha wave Raider 1100 that was badass, wanted another one of those and they could be had for about 1500-3k depending on condition
 
I figured I'd resurrect this thread vs making a new one.

Not sure how many on here are familiar with newerish wave runners, but just wanting to see if anyone has experience with any of the units I'm about to post below.

I'm in the market for (2) wave runners with trailer in the $15k range, hoping to buy between now and mid June. Looking for 3 person, easy to ride cruisers that are comfortable to sit on all day. I've been looking for the last 2 weeks and found a shit ton of options. I'm looking for stable units that way my wife can ride with atleast 1 or 2 kids on the back of it. 90% of the riding will be on a fresh water lake, but will probably once or twice a year take them down to the ocean and ride them in the bay. What I am hoping for is some in put on the units I post below-

I like the seadoo models for the contained cooling system and I am familiar with the BRP engines. I have ridden more Yamaha PWC (mostly VX models) than any others. I'm trying to stay naturally aspirated, but I've had a few pop up that are tempting. If you are familiar with the ones listed below, please feel free to share your thoughts. NO SPARK, I've ridden them, they are fun but not something you cruise on all day...

2019-2020 yamaha EX deluxe- I've found a few that are low hours under 50 hours and in really good shape, like new condition. However they look kind of small for a 3 seater.
2008-2011- Yamaha VX models (deluxe, limited, cruiser)- I've found a bunch of these with around 50-100 hours. I've heard they are pretty reliable. I also know first hand that they are pretty comfortable and stable.
2011-2014- Seadoo GTI 130- This is probably the most common I've found in that price range with anywhere from 50-100 hours. I like the contained cooling system, but I've read these are little small for 3 riders.
2011-2012 Seadoo GTI 155 limited- These are honestly what I want to get over all others, but I have a feeling there is a reason the 155 was discontinued. But DAMN these are nice wave runners.
2008-2011 Seadoo wake pro- These are bad ass, but it's a 15 year old supercharged engine... which is concerning. Most of them I have found have around or over 100 hours.
2014ish Yamaa FX- Haven't found much info on these, other than they are fast.
 
Thr guys I rent my shop from ran a jet ski rental business. The newer 4 stroke skis are very nice. Generally they are bigger and more stable than the older 2 strokes. If you're going to raw hide it, cut up, do stupid shit. Get a good two stroke. If you're going to ride around and just enjoy the water Get a 4 stroke. The Yamaha 4 cylinders were their go to in the rental fleet. They would get 3-4000 hours out of them before they were so neat up they'd scrap them. The newer 3 cylinder 4 stroke yamahas would only last about 30 days in the rental fleet before kicking a rod. They changed their business model and went with seadoo. They put 100 hours on each ski them sell them off before they get a chance to get abused. Due to some issues with the marina/town they used to run out of, they are getting out of the business. They have several of the seadoo 130s for sale. I borrowed a 230 last season,got 62 put of it two up, before I ran out of smooth water. Borrowed a 170 explorer and put about 8 hours of time up and down the Cooper River.
 
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