JeffR

I'm looking at purchasing a '90 650sx. I think the price is right, and I'm looking forward to doing some work on it, but want to make sure nothing's out of line. The price is around $500 (negotiating) and it supposedly only has a bad stator but is otherwise sound. What bothers me more is that there's a crack in the upper hull, right below the hood, all the way down to the bumper rail. It's right in the curve where it goes from "vertical" to "horizontal".

Not so much worried about the crack itself, as I can fix that, but whether this is part of a bigger issue. Are these hulls known to crack? Are there common fixes that can be done, such as glassing in some re-enforcement on the inside of the hull?

I'm new to the forum, and (oh boy, here we go) more of a boater than a jetskier, but want something to play on. Thanks for any and all help.

no fear here

I have been riding mine since 91. I don't have any cracks in my hull in any locations. And I have done some major jumping on it.
I had a buddie who cracked his hull but that was in the standing area under the ride mat. He weighs about 230lb and had jumped a 5' roller but landed really hard into the next wave, kinda pancaked it so to speak.
Another friend didn't strap down the handle pole while transporting and when it was bouncing up and down it caused some small hairline fractures on the inside of the hood near the rubber bumpers.
All in all I love my SX and have had a lot more fun than heartache.
$500 is a good price in the U.S. if it's a solid running machine. Replacement stators can be found online for a good price. Buy brand new, don't mess with used.
As well check the motor mounts the are a common failure for these machines and can be found for about $35.00 each, again go new.
I recently sold one of mine for $1500 but that"s up here in Canada.

Hope this helps in your decision.

JUST-IN-TIME

tht is a hull fracture
it will keep cracking unless you do it right

__________________

HUMAN BUILT = HUMAN FIXED

JeffR

Thanks for the feedback, guys. I thought about the abuse, too, but from the looks of the rest of the ski (all stock), and the "supposed" history of the previous owner I was a bit surprised to see the crack. As for the handle bouncing/dropping, the hood is not cracked. Instead, it's the upper portion of the hull (above the rub rail), below the hood. Regardless, my concern is more about whether it can be fixed rather easily, and is this a know issue that will come back.

Just-in-time,
I agree, it needs to be done right, and that's why I'm asking about it. You seem familiar with the issue. Can you please provide more details regarding fixing, etc?

Thanks again.

Bigsurf81

Glassing is pretty straight forward work. Prep will take you the longest. but it's simple to do other than the fact the you'll have to lay the ski on it's side to get to the inside of the hull. If you are able, dropping the motor out will give you plenty more room to work with and it'll be easier to maneuver the ski into postion.

Check on the inside of the hull for the full extent of the crack on the raw fiberglass (it could extend down into/below the bump rail, but probably not). If it's fairly small, the work will be very minimal. sand the external area surround ing the crack and clean thoroughly to remove all dust and glass particles (MAKE SURE YOU USE A FILTER BREATHING APPARATUS AND SAFETY GLASSES/GOGGLES!!!).

For the external part you can opt to just leave it alone as laying glass and keeping it pretty is quite tricky and putting gel-coat down really sucks if you've never tried it before, but you might want to add some resin along the crack and buff it out later to hide the scar (might not be the best option in the world, but it works!).

Back to the inside, soak some glass strips in resin and lay them from stem to stern appx. 4"-6" on either side of the crack (stacked similar like bacon in the package or you can use 4" wide stips with 2" overlapping on either side like grout in a brick wall [if any of this makes sense?****]), careful not to add too many layers on top of each other. Push the first layer down into the crack and remove all bubbles that may be present if possible (chances are the crack is very tiny, so use your best judgement). The purpose is to take up the extra space with resin/glass so it will become permanent and strong as new. Also, the layering adds extra friction between the layers of glass making it stronger without needing 5 layers to get the job done. Let the pieces sit for a couple days to harden and sand off any major excess resin without removing any of the glass.


***** here's an example of the layering I was talking about

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Reds' sx

650's are smc(sheet molded composite) ont fiberglass.