Jet Skis- What should I know

[Wheelin98TJ]

Go vintage, Go weird. Be the talk of the lake. Always a couple of these floating on Craigslist/EBay and well within your price range.

I want one of these:

[Rocketboy]

I maybe a little bad to ask on this since I own a dealership for Sea Doo. If I understand correct you want to spend $6k for the package? If that is the case the spark is out. You are going to end up with a couple old 2 strokes. If you manage to find a 4 stroke don't get an older one with a super charger as you are going to have to get it rebuilt at some point and that is going to run you $1000.

You can find some older stand ups for $2k, a trailer for $1000-1500 and that is going to leave you about $2500 for a 2 seater. For that you are going to end up with a early 2000's 2 stroke.

**** ton of fun to be had, but is it going to come with some work owning units that old.

Where are you located?

[Fullpass]

Buy a fuel injected 4 stroke machine…2 stoke cost 3 times the money in gas, you can easily spend 100 dollars a day with two machines that are two stoke engines. Fuel injected motors so much easier to maintain and less of a headache. Deals are out there for the 2 machines that are fuel injected and four stroke with low hours.

[Bartnich]

Thanks all. I'm located in Utah but they will primarily be used on a lake in northern Wisconsin during the summer. The budget is my sisters so it is what it is, although I will likely end up doing the wrenching which doesn't bother me too much as I've owned many motorcycles both 2 and four stroke over the years. I would also much rather deal with the reliability and ease of a nice four-stroke. Maybe we will luck into a good fall/winter deal on a couple of nice four strokes and I can chip in a bit to make it work..... We will see.

[zsqure]

Our first pair of Sea Doos, ( 30hp 80's models) came in a box full of "some assembly required" parts. A buddy of mine and I rebuilt the rotax engines, pumps and assembled them. We had a blast with those things and eventually traded them of on a pair of new '93 XP models. I had a JS550 from 81, or 82 for 10 years and never touched the engine.

[73blue]

My standard answer is always, I would buy a seadoo hull with a yamaha motor, since they don't make that......Seadoo! I own 3.

I agree with the first sentiment, but disagree with the conclusion, particularly when buying used. SeaDoos make a great machine, but Yamahas have always been more bulletproof. I usually compare it to a luxury car vs a Toyota. The luxury car (SeaDoo) rides and handles better but it is harder to maintain and more expensive to fix. The yamaha just runs, no matter what you throw at it. I would feel much more confident buying a used yamaha, particularly when you are talking 10 yrs old or more.

Dont even consider other brands than those 2, imho.

[allzway]

I have owned a few over the years. I think Kawasaki is the only thing I would consider for a standup, but we enjoyed our Sea Doo's more than our Kawasaki sit down types.

My brother-in-law had a Yamaha and it was less fun than either the Kawasaki's or Sea Doo's we owned.

The Kawasaki was much more reliable. Of course these were owned probably 15 years ago and may have no comparison to newer models today.

[jafo9]

I've owned several sit downs (couches) and several stand ups. Currently have 3 stand ups and and 1 couch in the inventory. As was mentioned above, 6K including trailer won't go that far. From a stand up stand point, you will definitely be getting a 2 stroke. If you try and stay between 2-3K, i'd look for a square nose super jet. The round nose is a newer upper deck but the hull is the same up to 2008. My guess is that a decent round nose will push you above 3K. Don't be tempted by some of the older kawasaki's as they will require a fair amount of work to make them fun. I have an 89 kawasaki 650sx and even with a performance exhaust, upgraded intake/carb, ride plate and scoop grate, it still doesn't hold a candle to my superjet or my SXR. It's great for small kids but not so much for full size adults. For the remainder of the budget, I'd look for a non supercharged yamaha or kawasaki 4 stroke. the kawasaki STX-15 hull is based on the old STX 2 stroke hull from the late 90's. this means that it is a small 3 seater with a pretty fun hull and a super reliable motor. The FX line from yamaha is a great hull, though not as playful. I've seen mid 2000's FX HO's in the 3-4K range. Super reliable motor as well. I can't recommend Sea Doo as I've only had bad experience with them.

As far as what to look for, not much different than buying a used boat. Always water test as the motor can run great on the hose and awful on the water. Especially on the 2 stroke, do a compression test. The number itself isn't as important as each jug being within 10% of each other.

Hope this helps.