Educate me on jetski's

[Fishman7]

Looking to buy a used one for occasional use, what is a good model and brand? What should I look out for? Any help appreciated!

[porsche4life]

How much are you going to use.... Better to rent....


Seriously, all the metaphors about boats, worse with Jetskis....

[Fishman7]

Summer use at our lake house, weekends mostly.

[Joe Bob]

The new 4 strokes are very complicated and REQUIRE shop service. The need double the displacment to make the HP that the smaller two strokes put out.

The older 2 strokes while banned in very small amount of lakes are idiot proof. Smaller lighter and cheaper. Lot's of parts....I'm partial to Seadoos.

[Tim Hancock]

I have two 750cc 2-strokes 2 seaters from the mid-late 90's. IMO, they plenty good for occasional inland lake/river use for family fun and will run about 45 mph.

OTOH, I once went riding on a rough chop day on Sandusky Bay and Lake Erie with my 60 year old uncle and one of his friends who had modern supercharged 4-strokes. We rode the length of Sandusky Bay (probably 10 miles) with 1-2' chop with me hanging on for dear life at maybe 35-40 mph. They were just comfortably cuising along on their big heavy machines while I was getting the god living crap beat out of me. We then cruised about 10 miles on a river which was calm... I had to run nearly wide open but could keep up with their normal "cruising" speed. We recrossed the bay then entered a very rough Lake Erie..... We all got pretty beat up on the Lake, but even the big machines could no longer keep up a fast pace.

I had to refuel twice with my smaller tank and thirsty 2-stroke.... They only fueled up once at Cedar Point near the end of our trip.

Family occasional inexpensive fun on a small relatively calm lake/river.... The old 2 seat 2-strokes are plenty good.

For hard core wave blasting or long open water trips, you will probably want the bigger heavy modern machines.

[Fishman7]

Any specific year and model Seadoo's?

[speeder]

Just be careful. Seems to be a lot of gnarly accidents with them every year in lake country. They do look fun, though.

[Tim Hancock]

Without digging out the registrations, I am pretty sure my Kawasaki ZXI 750 is a 1996 model and my SeaDoo GS is a 1997 model. The SeaDoo is a bit better riding on rougher water, but my wife and daughters have had fun on both of them. They both will get pretty close to 50mph on smooth water with one rider. I assume any of the Polaris, Yamaha, SeaDoo or Kawasakis of this vintage and motor size will perform similarly.

[Dantilla]

I've always prefered the original 1-person stand-up version with the hinged handlebars.

They are by far the most maneuverable, and allow lots of silly antics that the heavier models just can't do.

Their downside is that they require more skill, and are less stable for cruising in a straight line.

[Chocaholic]

I would strongly recommend a 4 stroke Yamaha Waverunner. Bought my 04 new and have about 200 hours on it with no issues what-so-ever, except one battery replacement. We live on a lake and our local shop is normally packed with Sea-do's waiting for service. Rarely any Yamaha's. Despite the post above about 4 strokers being hard to service, I've done my own oil changes and it's been bullet proof. Couldn't be easier. No oil to mix, no smell and 0-60 in like nothing flat.

[85eurocarrera]

I[QUOTE=Dantilla;611628
Their downside is that they require more skill, and are less stable for cruising in a straight line.[/QUOTE]

That makes them more fun, a steeper learning curve. Sit downsi get borring fast.

[Tim Hancock]

Originally Posted by 85eurocarrera

I

That makes them more fun, a steeper learning curve. Sit downsi get borring fast.

I agree about the sit dwn Jetskis getting boring fast. As an ex MX racer, when I bought my first JetSki (the Kaw ZXI above) from a guy at work who did not know how to fix it, I had fun for about the first 10 minutes on the local river and then it got boring real quick..... They are however fun on big spread out waves sometimes on the Great Lakes (jumping is always fun no matter what type of off road vehicle is involved ).

All that said..... my wife and daughters are not as adventurous as me and seem to have fun on them the few times a year we take them to the local river for a couple of hours.

[Esel Mann]

I've got two Kawasaki Ultra 150's. A 1999 and a 2000. They've run great and are very fast. I've pulled wakeboarders and water skiers with them no problem. Alone on the ski, all I can say is they go like a raped ape.

Now is a good time to buy used ski(s). There are plenty out there for sale so you can afford to be picky. Just like buying a Porsche, buy the newest one(s) you can budget/afford.

Some notes about skis in general:

-For sit-down skis, I've found that a ski rated for X people really only holds X-1 comfortably.

-Once you do pick-up a ski(s), be sure to get a solar charger for each to keep the battery charged.

-Do not store the skis in the water. If you don't have a boat-house or do not plan on pulling them out after each use, invest in an outside lift.

-Unless you are planning on driving them up to the gas station to fill them, invest in a gas caddy. If the gas caddy is too big to handle, simply pick up some smaller 5 gallon cans fill those up and transfer to the gas caddy at home.

-Once you are done for the day, be sure to fill-up the ski. The less airspace you leave, the less water you will have in the gas. Especially now with alcohol being in the gas. The less water, the easier it will be to start-up the next time you use it!

[VINMAN]

I have a '94 Polaris STL 750. Old tech by todays standards. but reliable, easy to work on. Love it.

[rattlsnak]

Same procedure as airplanes. Price your budget, and then find the best model in that price range.
SeaDoos are usually regarded as the best watercraft and they have changed a lot over the last few years. Do you want a short 2 seater, or the longer more stable 3 seater? I have had many and the GTX 3 seaters (with perfect room for 2!) and very nice. The early ( pre 95s) had a "slippery hull", which allow them to be spun quite easily, after that they went to the v-hull which are much more stable. @ 97 or so, while all still two strokes, you can also get a fuel injected model, and the 4 strokes came out. @ 2001 or so. My brother has two newer 2009 models and i can assure you, they are much faster than any two stoke ever was. They are Supercharged with @ 240hp each, will do 0-60 in 3 seconds and you WILL fly off the back if you are not holding on tight on a speed launch!

[patssle]

I got a hell of a deal when I bought 2 SeaDoos (1993 and 1994) for $3000 total, including trailer. That's 1/3 the price of ONE modern jet ski!

They are a complete blast. They go plenty fast, I rarely hit top speed except for ultra smooth water. Very easy to work on, 2 stroke. And most importantly, very light and small. New jet skis are monsters.

[Seahawk]

I have a 1991 two seat and a 1992 three seat Seadoo, which I have owned since new.

I only use them twice a year or so, so a good friend of mine, keeps and maintains them for me

He has young kids, uses them a lot and is meticulous about the routine maintenance, which is key, especially on the old 2 stokes.

If you can find a deal like patssle did, two are a lot more fun than one.

Originally Posted by patssle

I got a hell of a deal when I bought 2 SeaDoos (1993 and 1994) for $3000 total, including trailer. That's 1/3 the price of ONE modern jet ski!

They are a complete blast. They go plenty fast, I rarely hit top speed except for ultra smooth water. Very easy to work on, 2 stroke. And most importantly, very light and small. New jet skis are monsters.

[vash]

where are you located? i know a guy selling a hotrod pair with trailer, CHEAP!

[Fishman7]

Nys

[Fishman7]

Thanks for all the help, please keep it coming!