Plum_Crazy

The Seadoo supercharged 4-tec engine has had a lot of supercharger clutch failures since 2004 and they haven't bothered to fix the bad design. They use ceramic washers that disintigrate, clog up the oil pump, and take out the whole engine. Here's an account of a serious failure on an '07 RXP with only 5 hours!

http://www.greenhulk.net/forums/showthread.php?t=22169

There is a fix. You can get hardened metal clutch washers from the greenhulk.net site.

jdub

Pick up any PWC mag and see who is winning all the races...KAWI. The STX hull is the best handling in the rough hands down. I highly recommend it for his wife. Get the new supercharged one for himself!

ktron

Yamaha all the way!

www.PWCtoday.com is a great site for info.

jdub

YamaHAHA

phragle

its been a while since I played with pwc's but from the experiences I had, seatrial them! different skis do things completely different. My Kraze would handle anything you could throw at it offshore with ease., really comfortably too. slow on flat water and wouldnt turn worth a damn, but nothing could touch it in the ocean. I also had a seajet (kawi clone made by PJS) faster by far than the kraze, would turn like mad, but offshore you couldnt stay on it 10 seconds.
Take your time and ride as many different ones as possible in the conditions you will normally be using it in. fast means nothing if its to much work to ride. handeling is subjective, some like to carve turns around bouys, some like to go offshore, some like to jump them etc.. find one that does what you want it to do.

LapseofReason

I make my living fixing Motorcycle's and Jet Ski's. I am not playing with them or know a guy who has one. I make my living doing this. Jassman asked for honest info on skis. At the shop I am at we only sell Yam. and Seadont we service all brands, our sister shop 25 miles away we sell Yam, Kaw, Seadont. I havn't been to the other shop in a week but I would bet my Nortech that the Seadont's out number the others buy 10-1 and the bill's will be twice what the others will be. The pump's and ware rings are allways going bad. Now we have some customers that got good ones and never have problems but most are not happy with the product. We won't even take them in on trade anymore.

I am not on the sales side so I don't know exatly how many we sell of each brand but I would bet it's pretty equal.

Jassman

Thats exactly what he did today. He got the ultra 250x for himself and the Ultra LX for his wife. The other neighbor on the other side of me got 2 identicle FX HO Yamaha's. I had an oportunity to ride all 3 ski's. All of these are 3 seaters, as well as being 4 strokes, with the Yamaha's and Kawi Ultra having 160hp. The Yamaha weighs 772 vs 827 for the Kawasaki. 2 different rides, one was more of a Mercedes vs a BMW. The one I obviously liked was the Ultra 250, (250hp)clearly out of the hole was just amazing giving it's 904 pound mass. The true BMW M series of the bunch. The newly designed Kawasaki hulls are very nimble for a large machine, I liked them slightly over the Yamaha's, slightly softer ride. The other neighbor across the street now wants my Sea-doo's, so tomorrow I will go out and test the new Sea-Doo's RTX 215hp and the GTI-SE 155hp and let you know what I will be getting as well....... I REALLY APPRIECATE EVERYONE'S INPUT , THANKS JEFF

bluellama

Thanks LOR, the last part of your post is the reason that your first post needs to be looked at carefully.
I was never questioning your experience, or skill, I was just asking about the ratio of sales.
Up here Seadoo's outnumber other brands about 10-1, so seeing more of them in a shop wouldn't be a big thing
Given your shop's history, I'd have to take a look at something else if I was down there.

There doesn't seem to be a problem with the new supercharged models up here, I wonder if it is the shorter riding season, or the fresh water ?

jdub

Jassman, you won't like the Sea-DOO after riding the KAWI. The Sea-Doo has a top heavy feel like you are riding on it, where as the KAWI has the feel of riding in it. Also Sea-Doo places your elbows close to your body for a cramped feel with steering placement, Kawi placement is more extended and relaxed. Go for that ride and you will see.

Liquid Liability

EXACTLY

We have had Yamaha's, Kawasakis's, Honda's and SeaDoo's and we have taken all of them on an annual 600 MILE (yes I said 600 MILES) trip down the Tennessee River! The supercharged SeaDoo's have been bullet proof if they haven't been monkeyed with. They have the best over-all ride quality IMO, and they are pretty good on fuel. The Ultra 250 is without a doubt a rocket, but it is built for smooth water and short trips, so the real answer to the question of which ski to buy is "what are you going to do with it?".

If you are just going to play around the dock at the house or off of your houseboat, then the Ultra 250 is a really good choice. It is very manuverable and a lot of fun to ride for short trips. If you want to cruise around the lake/bay etc. then you should seriously consider a SeaDoo, as they generally weigh a bit more and ride better than a Yamaha. Also the SeaDoo seat is much more comfortable than the Yamaha (especially for the ladies). It is not a wide.

Anyone who is interested in taking a 5 day, 600 mile trip on ski's as a fundraiser for Children's Hospitals can check out the Tennessee River 600 at www.tennesseeriver600.com