Personal Watercraft

[Scaga]

How many here own some sort of personal watercraft?
If so, what type? How many seats, HP, ect?

I'm looking to buy one, but have only been on Sea-Doos.

Opinions?

[NewChief]

Three seater. It's pretty sweet:
http://www.btinternet.com/~poolclean/images/toy-Tracer-3-person-boat.jpg

[Irie James]

Buy the biggest/fastest one you can afford. Two months into owning it, you'll wish it was faster.

[ChiefsCountry]

Sweet a boat question.

Personally as someone who has been around boats all my life. Here is how I would rank them:

Kawaskai Jet Ski
Sea Doo
Yamaha Wave Runner

I have drove all three, Jet Ski is by far the best. Family owns a boat dealership, no PWC dealership though so no stake at this, but the ones we bought were the Jet Skis.

[dtebbe]

I was in the same position a while back, and I ended up buying a small jet boat instead. I bought a 97 Sea Ray SeaRayder F16XR. It's a 16' boat with a 175hp Mercury V6 jet drive. It would do 50mph with 3 people in there, and was every bit as fun as a jet ski, but you could actually bring along lunch, beers, and couple buddies.

Sugar Sand is actually the best you can get, see:
Sugar Sand on Ebay (http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Sugar-Sand-Tango-Xtreme_W0QQcmdZViewItemQQcategoryZ80653QQitemZ4610896998)

We loved our jet boat, nice if you have a small family too. Just as easy to get in/out of the water as the big jet skis now too.

DT

[farmerchief]

My family bought two off Ebay a few years ago, 2 yamahas from an older couple who lived in Hutchinson. After two years teenage sons wanted something faster, so we sold those two and bought 2 Kawasakis. One is a 900 the other an 1100, really like them both. Take them down to Kaw quite regularly.
Jim

[Kerberos]

I had a FAST Seadoo RX that I really had to sell once I found out my wife was pregnant. Long story but not making the $ I am now or I would have kept it.

This is a 2 stroke model that I tore down the engine sent off the head and the carbs to get worked over and gave my jet a HOLE shot that would jerk your arms off and a mid-range pull that would put a smile on your face. Top Speed was around 65-67 MPH depending on the rider. :)

IMO if you are looking at a NEW PWC I would definatly suggest a SuperCharged Seadoo 4stroke. A few modifications from a reputable builder like PPG in Florida (www.sea-doo.net) or (www.perryperformancegroup.com) and you can have a PWC that exceeds 70+ MPH on the water and do it RELIABLY. :D

BTW I sold it to a family friend which was a good thing cause I get to go and ride it anytime I want. :thumb:

[NewChief]

Do they even make the kinds that you have to stand up or ride on your knees on anymore? I personally liked those because they actually took a little skill to ride, and you could submarine them and do all sorts of "tricks" on them.

[Stinger]

Prepare to pick yourself off the floor after you hear how much it will be for insurance.

[Kerberos]

Nice pic of my motor after I reassembled it when I got my parts back from PPG. Started with stock 130HP and with Level 1 modification boosted it to around 150+

[Kerberos]

Prepare to pick yourself off the floor after you hear how much it will be for insurance.

Actually last I heard you can get $100K in coverage for about $300 year which for a luxery sports boat item is pretty cheap.

Do they even make the kinds that you have to stand up or ride on your knees on anymore? I personally liked those because they actually took a little skill to ride, and you could submarine them and do all sorts of "tricks" on them.

YES they do. Kawasaki, Yamaha and Polaris make nice stand ups.

Seadoo put out a little bigger style than the traditional stand up and it gives you 5 different riding positions.

go to this URL and you will see what they call the Seadoo 3D

http://www.perryperformancegroup.com/sea-doo.asp


.

[Demonpenz]

instant fun.

[dilligaf]

Buy the biggest/fastest one you can afford. Two months into owning it, you'll wish it was faster.
True.

[jjjayb]

How many here own some sort of personal watercraft?
If so, what type? How many seats, HP, ect?

I'm looking to buy one, but have only been on Sea-Doos.

Opinions?

The car dealership I work at is also a Seadoo dealer. Good thing about that, we take trade-ins. Got an old car laying around? ;)

[CoMoChief]

The new Honda's are supposed to be the best on the market.

[Kerberos]

The new Honda's are supposed to be the best on the market.

Unless by some miracle that things have changed in the past year the Honda's lacked allot in different catagories when tested head to head with other manufacturers and models of the same type. PWC Illustrated is a good source but you get abslutely no facts online, you gotta buy the mag to get'em. http://www.watercraft.com

If you want something that is OVERPRICED, slow in comparison but will have some decent reliability then I would agree that they (Honda) are a probably a good choice.

But be aware that most of the other PWC around you will be leaving you in thier wake.

Not everyone is all about SPEED and Hole Shot like I am.

"Honda" Best on the Market??? Depends on what you are looking for.

Personally I would rather have something that gets me from point A to point B so FAST that I leave you on your Honda coughing up the water I left in your face from my HOLE SHOT.

Don't get me wrong, Honda is a good PWC but you will pay for the name and get a machine that will leaving you wanting MORE within the first few rides.



:D


.

[Scaga]

With a wife and three kids, I'm wanting something reliable. I'm not in it for the speed, but I don't want something that is going to only do 40 MPH either.

[Demonpenz]

Whats the payments on one of these. Just to break it down for me

[CoMoChief]

I used to have a Kawasaki XLP 1100. Cruised around 55. Not bad for a 3 seater IMO. My stepmom's family had a Yamaha GP 900 one seater that went around 60mph. Its not too much fun when you wreck at that speed though. I seperated my right shoulder doing that.

[Kerberos]

Whats the payments on one of these. Just to break it down for me


Just like anything else it depends on how much you put down and how good of a JEW you are getting the sticker price down.

First Seadoo I bought was around $7500 sticker price brand new out of the box on the showroom floor less than 4 hours. 1999 GSX Limited.
Add trailer, custome wheels, case of 2 stroke oil and extra lanyard and we were up around $9000 after taxes and all that sh!t.

I got him to drop a grand off the price and gave them a $1000 downpayment. Went through Bombardier financing (manufacturer financing) and my payment was still around $300 monthly. Bad part about that is you are paying 12 months on something that you are only getting to ride about 6 months out of the year. Kinda like buying a motorcycle on credit. If you get a decent insurance company you can find one that will cover you for 6 months at a time so you arn't paying for that too while it is sitting under a cover in your yard or in the garage.

Second one I bought I paid cash for and never regreted it a bit. best purchase I ever made. Got most of it back when I sold it.

Just know this. If you have credit that is even just a LITTLE tarnished you will get scrutinized beyond belief just because it is a LUXURY purchase and NOT a necessity like a vehicle or a house. :shake:


Its not too much fun when you wreck at that speed though. I seperated my right shoulder doing that.

1999 GSX LTD I was cruising about 62MPH Ballstothewall and looked over at a chick that was juggling her boobs on the beach. Looked back up just in time to see TWO wakes the size of small Tsunami coming at me. The first one I flew over with so much air I thought I was going to get my wings for flying a PWC. The second was worse because as soon as I hit IT I was already out of control after landing from those heights. The GSX LDT was known for the nose of the watercraft hunting in big wake which means I was trying to go straight and it wated to go LEFT. Well the GSX won the battle because it went left and I went RIGHT.

I hit the water going 62+MPH and it was feet first going forward. When I hit the water I skipped about 20 yards before my feet went down and sent me downward into the water FAST FAST FAST. When I got to my arms they were straight out trying to balance myself and going that fast DOWNWARD caused my arms to go STRAIT up in the air and hyper extended my shoulders. I swear to GOD as my witness that my shoulders hurt for a YEAR after that everytime I stretched them straight up in the air.

I know exactly how you felt BSPimpDude.

Even after all the crashes I have had at high speeds it is still one of the biggest rushes I have had going Balltothewall fast across the water.


.