Jet ski advice

creepycrawly · Jul 1, 2017

I know they are like the rzr of the water and lots of people hate them, but I think they will fit my needs and wants for now. What should I be looking for in a used one? Any particularly good models or particularly bad ones? I know the late 90's early 2000's XP's are reasonably fast and have a good reputation. They are also priced accordingly. Lets hear it! Anyone know where there is a ski or a seadoo speedster jet boat for sale on the cheap?

sexxy · Jul 1, 2017

Last seadoo I had, bought it not running with trailer for $350-400. 97/98 seadoo xp, came with inner tube, and a few life jackets. Bought it late summer carried it out 1 time before winter storage. I made necessary repairs and didnt like the way it pulled so I sold just the pwc and trailer (early spring) for more than my investments and kept the accessories for the wifes boat.

I like the newer wider pwc's better but they cost way more. They handle 2 people way better than the older smaller styles. One person the old one is fine, 2 they get tippy real fast. It was hard for me to get my 10yr old son to understand he couldnt lean around my shoulder to see if we were sitting still on the old xp.

The-Boss · Jul 1, 2017

Unless it was almost new, the only used ski i would buy is a Yamaha waverunner. I have seen nothing but reliably issues with others. I am not that knowledgeable on the topic but live in Florida and have been around and owned them for about 15 plus years. I think there was a valve retainer swap needed on some gp1300s but most are factory solid for years of abuse.

creepycrawly · Jul 1, 2017

The-Boss said:
Unless it was almost new, the only used ski i would buy is a Yamaha waverunner. I have seen nothing but reliably issues with others. I am not that knowledgeable on the topic but live in Florida and have been around and owned them for about 15 plus years. I think there was a valve retainer swap needed on some gp1300s but most are factory solid for years of abuse.

Thanks for the input. I am actually on my way to look at. A 1200 Yamaha right now.

ole heep · Jul 1, 2017

creepycrawly said:
I know they are like the rzr of the water and lots of people hate them, but I think they will fit my needs and wants for now. What should I be looking for in a used one? Any particularly good models or particularly bad ones? I know the late 90's early 2000's XP's are reasonably fast and have a good reputation. They are also priced accordingly. Lets hear it! Anyone know where there is a ski or a seadoo speedster jet boat for sale on the cheap?

Spend the money on a Yamaha 4stroke PERIOD!!!!! They are absolutely the best watercraft. Outboard motors included.
I was a Powersports mechanic for 10 years and Yamaha by far had the least problems of any of the Waverunners, Jetskis or Seapoos! Kawasaki would be my second choice. The old Yamaha 700 or 1100 2stroke motors are the best if you want to go cheaper. Just get a 3 seater if you want stability. All the newer 4 stroke skis are even more stable too.

ole heep · Jul 1, 2017

Stay away from Seadoo unless you are buying a brand new ski.
I would try to find a used lower hour Yamaha VX110 4 stroke for around $3-4000 if u want a damn good all around ski

creepycrawly · Jul 1, 2017

ole heep said:
Spend the money on a Yamaha 4stroke PERIOD!!!!! They are absolutely the best watercraft. Outboard motors included.
I was a Powersports mechanic for 10 years and Yamaha by far had the least problems of any of the Waverunners, Jetskis or Seapoos! Kawasaki would be my second choice. The old Yamaha 700 or 1100 2stroke motors are the best if you want to go cheaper. Just get a 3 seater if you want stability. All the newer 4 stroke skis are even more stable too.

Definitely going cheap. The 1200 Yamaha that I looked at had more rattle than I am used to, but I am not sure it isn't just the 3 cylinder 2 stroke in a fiberglass hull making normal rattle more prominent.

Jon Piper · Jul 1, 2017

#jewlife

The-Boss · Jul 1, 2017

creepycrawly said:
Definitely going cheap. The 1200 Yamaha that I looked at had more rattle than I am used to, but I am not sure it isn't just the 3 cylinder 2 stroke in a fiberglass hull making normal rattle more prominent.

Ha, I just realized you live 10 or 15 min from me if you are in Milton. I live on Woodbine in Pace. If you do get a two stroke, replace the choke with a primer pump and I would remove the oiler and just mix.

creepycrawly · Jul 1, 2017

The-Boss said:
Ha, I just realized you live 10 or 15 min from me if you are in Milton. I live on Woodbine in Pace. If you do get a two stroke, replace the choke with a primer pump and I would remove the oiler and just mix.

Yep, right up the road actually. And yes, premix is an absolute must. I am still looking at options.

whiskeymakin · Jul 1, 2017

Part of the fun is falling off the older models lol. Buddy of mine had a yamaha wave blaster?? Won't float with 2 people on it haha. It was fun tho

RandysMJ · Jul 2, 2017

I had a 96 Polaris SL780 that we bought new. It was a blast never had a problem out of it. Except it would foul out plugs like once a year. We used it up until like 2007. Then it sat unused until 2016. I gave it to a friend of mine. It fired right up and he is still using it.

Rjhoward32006 · Jul 2, 2017

Was in the business for 7 years. Buy a seadoo or yamaha. Nothing but a 4 stroke. Anything with a turbo or supercharger of course has more maintenance and more money. If you do not maintenance them properly yes that means the turbo's and superchargers, you are screwed. They are not like cars and need it more often.

Elliott · Jul 2, 2017

If your looking at older cheaper ones, find a Yamaha waveraider 1100, they top out as fast as the new ones, and was always good skis. You can find them for 1,000-2,000

Ricky 79cj-7 · Jul 3, 2017

I have an 04 Yamaha 1300GP that I bought brand new. Haven't had any major issues with it. Top speed is close to 70mph, is small enough to do donuts, jump the waves, etc. but a little tippy with 2 people on it when you are just taking off or idling. Only downfall is that it uses a lot of gas.

My uncle has two vx110's and they are a lot more stable, are pretty quick, but max out top speed around 60, use about 1/2 the amount of gas mine uses. We also use the vx110's to pull the kids on tubes and they will pull 3 teenagers on a tube way better than his center console with a 90 HP Yamaha.

creepycrawly · Jul 3, 2017

I actually picked one up yesterday. 2000 Polaris 1200 SLX with 68 hours on it. Super clean and never seen salt water. It runs pretty good, but was a little hard to start. Definitely could use new plugs. Gonna throw them in it today. I am planning to convert it to premix immediately. Also want to drain the gas and make sure there is no trash in the tank. Evidently they are bad about leaning out and smoking a cylinder if the carbs get any trash in them.

Anybody know anything about them?

Rjhoward32006 · Jul 3, 2017

Do not convert to pre mix, as it has an oil pump for a reason. Pre-mix will work but does not always lubricate as well. Sometimes the oil lines get hard and shrink and come off but easy enough to buy some cheap oil lines, replace them amd rock on.

Rjhoward32006 · Jul 3, 2017

Also try and run non ethanol gas, this is usually the reason for the carbs gumming. The fuel hoses were not created to deal with ethanol so they start breaking down and gum everything up. Its a green looking slime.

creepycrawly · Jul 3, 2017

Rjhoward32006 said:
Also try and run non ethanol gas, this is usually the reason for the carbs gumming. The fuel hoses were not created to deal with ethanol so they start breaking down and gum everything up. Its a green looking slime.

Yeah, non ethanol is absolutely a must. And the previous owner claims to have been running it. My only concern right now is they've been running quicksilver synthetic oil in it. I know some of the older HO seadoos were very particular about the oil they needed. I am hoping I can drain that crappy oil out and get some decent oil in it and be ok. Like I said, it runs pretty good. I just picked up plugs for it this morning. Gonna pull the air filter and see what kinda shape it's in too.

The-Boss · Jul 3, 2017

Rjhoward32006 said:
Do not convert to pre mix, as it has an oil pump for a reason. Pre-mix will work but does not always lubricate as well. Sometimes the oil lines get hard and shrink and come off but easy enough to buy some cheap oil lines, replace them amd rock on.

I am sure there are many different views on mix. I can say for skis and two stroke boats, I know of quite a few that have been destroyed by oilers unexpectedly going out. I also know of many that have ran crazy hours on 40:1 mix. I have had good luck with them but would always recommend converting to mix with an older system. In my mind, one minute without oil has to be worse than years on mix.