[elwesso]

Hey guys... Great forum you have here.. I'm new here but not new to the boating industry... MY family has owned a marina for about 70 years in Northern Indiana.. So I am not new to this realm of things..

I also have no problem wrenching myself, I do all my own work on my other boats, cars, snowmobile, etc.....

I'm thinking of picking up a PWC this summer.. I had toyed around with a few other ideas, but I think overall this is going to be my best route to go fast on the water..

What I'm looking for is PWC thats as fast as possible, acceleration and top speed... I want it to be small and light, I have no use for a 3 person ski.. I am not a very large person, and I would rarely take people with me and never pull anything behind me...

I did a bit of reading and it looks like the circa 1999 Kawasaki ultra 150 are about as good as it gets.. Especially for the price, it looks like these ski's are kind of under appreciated, I figured for something thats as good as that they'd be going for more than 4k or so...?

Like I said, I'm looking for small light and fast... Any other recommendations?? Thanks!

 

[Outlaw]

Hey guys... Great forum you have here.. I'm new here but not new to the boating industry... MY family has owned a marina for about 70 years in Northern Indiana.. So I am not new to this realm of things..

I also have no problem wrenching myself, I do all my own work on my other boats, cars, snowmobile, etc.....

I'm thinking of picking up a PWC this summer.. I had toyed around with a few other ideas, but I think overall this is going to be my best route to go fast on the water..

What I'm looking for is PWC thats as fast as possible, acceleration and top speed... I want it to be small and light, I have no use for a 3 person ski.. I am not a very large person, and I would rarely take people with me and never pull anything behind me...

I did a bit of reading and it looks like the circa 1999 Kawasaki ultra 150 are about as good as it gets.. Especially for the price, it looks like these ski's are kind of under appreciated, I figured for something thats as good as that they'd be going for more than 4k or so...?

Like I said, I'm looking for small light and fast... Any other recommendations?? Thanks!

Well if want to go fast you need to do mods to just about any thing you buy. As you can see I took a 3 seat 2006 RXT Seadoo from 215 HP to 295 HP with a $6000.00 RIVA STAGE III kit which resulted in a tremendous acceleration and top speed increase which will smoke any stock ski to date top speed is approx 75 MPH. Which makes a rare performer. The thru hull exhaust with the RIVA waterbox give off a distinctive sound that scares off most skis. It depends if you want a dependable 4 stroke or a high strung smoking 2 stroke. I have had plenty of 2 stroke in my life, but there is nothing like a 4 stroke. The reason I chose Seadoo is because of the good service I got from their snowmobiles since 1985. I have found that Austrian motors to be superior to Jap motors and with the problems in Japan who knows what parts availability be like. Seadoo is owned by Bombardier, a very stable and large Canadian company.

I would look at 2004 and up RXP Seadoos supercharged 1500's, they can be bought for the price range you indicated They took the performance crown since that date, top end 67-69 MPH stock, with the same upgrades I have 78 -80 MPH. The newer the the year the better. Another example is my stock 2008 GTX 215, same supercharged 1500 4 stroke doing 68 MPH completely stock.

But many people in this forum agree to stay away from Kawasaki for dependability reasons.

So there is my opinion :thumbsup:

 

[elwesso]

Thanks for the info, Outlaw.. I appreciate it.. Id like to stay below 4k if possible for something used.. Can the RXP be had for that? Seems like they are going for almost double that, in the 8-10k range? 75 MPH on a ski is crazy!!! Pushing 70 is pretty intense as it is.. I'm not looking to be the fastest one on the lake, but it wouldnt hurt, LOL..

When people are referring to "dependability" with other brands, what are people usually talking about? If its things like the carbs need cleaned regularly, and things need checked and adjusted thats OK.... or is there a lot of component failures, wether it be internal or external of the engine??

I've been "down that road" with many types of equipment, and the term "dependability" always comes up, and in nearly every world it has a slightly different meaning..

 

[YamaDoo]

Yes you can get an 04 RXP for $4 grand. Just have to keep your eyes open and strike when the iron is hot.

If you don't mind a 2 stroke you can get a Yamaha GP1200/1300r too. In fact there is a guy in NC selling a triple pipe 2000 GPR that does 82 mph. He is asking $6k. It would cost you ALOT more if you wanted to build one just like it. I can get the add if you're interested.

 

[Outlaw]

My friend is selling his 2004 RXP for $4500.00 with mods. In this economy there are some desperate sellers out there. Deals can be had so take your time, Dependability in the sense that I was saying is in regards to major component failures i.e. blown crankshafts, grenaded pistons and other engine related failures. Technology took a big turn for the better at the turn of the century. So, my opinion is to buy as new as you can afford.

 

[elwesso]

YamaDoo.. I'd be interested at looking at it..

shoot me an email at wes at Q45.org