any one know jet skis?

[PhiAlpha44]

Dude. c'mon. You know the answer to this. You want reliable. Even if it's used? Stick to the laws of NSX... Get a HONDA!

I've got a 2004 Honda Aquatrax 1200x Turbo. It's baller status. I love it. Had 20 hours on it when I got it. Never a problem. Starts everytime. Fuel injection is flawless, never even a hint of not running anything but spectacular. I've ridden my friends 2 stroke Sea Doo's. They feel like junk to me. Yeah, they're more manuverable... whatever the hell that means. I guess if you wanna keep spinning around in circles in the water, the sea doo's will spin faster... . But if you want to RIDE, Get on that Honda. It's a no brainer. Plus the 2 strokes never seem to feel like they're running that well. Feels like I'm floating on a Weed wacker. All the Honda's are 4 strokes. I just change the oil once a year like my motorcycles. No gas and oil to mix, no oil to add to a special tank. It's fire and forget fun.
On calm water I've gotten up to 68 mph on it. It rips. And the acceleration is GREAT!

 

[CKS Papa]

We have 2006 Honda Aquatrax F12 bought new in 2007 for a pretty good price. Honda just came out with the new F15 model. Maybe now you can find great deals on F12s. Check out this site http://www.pwctoday.com/forums.php
(steveny turned me in to this site and it has been very helpful)
good luck and have fun.
Just spent last weekend at the lake, had a blast !

 

[Ryanmcd2]

Dude. c'mon. You know the answer to this. You want reliable. Even if it's used? Stick to the laws of NSX... Get a HONDA!

I've got a 2004 Honda Aquatrax 1200x Turbo. It's baller status. I love it. Had 20 hours on it when I got it. Never a problem. Starts everytime. Fuel injection is flawless, never even a hint of not running anything but spectacular. I've ridden my friends 2 stroke Sea Doo's. They feel like junk to me. Yeah, they're more manuverable... whatever the hell that means. I guess if you wanna keep spinning around in circles in the water, the sea doo's will spin faster... . But if you want to RIDE, Get on that Honda. It's a no brainer. Plus the 2 strokes never seem to feel like they're running that well. Feels like I'm floating on a Weed wacker. All the Honda's are 4 strokes. I just change the oil once a year like my motorcycles. No gas and oil to mix, no oil to add to a special tank. It's fire and forget fun.
On calm water I've gotten up to 68 mph on it. It rips. And the acceleration is GREAT!

No way the Honda does 68 stock, It has 165 HP! My Sea-Doo has 255 and does 70. And it's like any other Honda, Slow and not exciting


Radar Gun test PWI Mag June 05 ... R-12X topspeed = 61.73mph.

 

[steveny]

That Honda ski is slow guys. Honda had a ton and I mean a TON of those left over because they couldn't sell them. First city Honda in St. Augustine Florida, right down the road from my home in Florida was doing a buy one get one free for a while just so they could get rid of inventory. On the other hand I bet you could buy the Honda and keep it for years without a single problem.

On the 2 or 4 stroke issue. The 2 strokes are a lot of fun but if you keep the ski on a lift or in the water and you have to add oil to it you need to be very careful about spilling oil in the water. One drop and you think the Exxon Valdez has run into the dock and blown it's load. I hated my 2 stroke for that reason alone. Well that and the fact it wasn't FI.

 

[NSX-Files]

I've ridden my friends 2 stroke Sea Doo's. They feel like junk to me. Yeah, they're more manuverable... whatever the hell that means. I guess if you wanna keep spinning around in circles in the water, the sea doo's will spin faster... . But if you want to RIDE, Get on that Honda. It's a no brainer. Plus the 2 strokes never seem to feel like they're running that well. Feels like I'm floating on a Weed wacker. All the Honda's are 4 strokes. I just change the oil once a year like my motorcycles. No gas and oil to mix, no oil to add to a special tank. It's fire and forget fun.
On calm water I've gotten up to 68 mph on it. It rips. And the acceleration is GREAT!

A two stroke has a much higher power-to-weight ratio than a 4 stroke. The reason 4 strokes are now the only game in town is lower emissions and fuel economy.

My Sea Doo XP is a 951cc twin with 130 HP stock and only weighs about 560 lbs. With the simple mods I've done, it probably has close to 145 HP and has NEVER had a mechanical problem (knock on wood :smile: ). The weight and design of the hull make it very maneuverable unlike the big heavy PWCs (they call them "couches"). It's like comparing a motocross bike to a big fat Harley, or an NSX to a Cadillac Limo. My XP has brilliant straight line speed and acceleration but also can carve turns, jump ocean surf, etc.

IMO, an 800+ lb. couch running in a straight line is only fun for a limited time. With all that size and weight, they just don't handle turns or ocean waves very well. And unless you have the 255 HP SD RXP, the acceleration isn't going to blow you away either. You may as well just get a boat so you can take more people along.

I guess it all depends on where you'll ride and what you want to do on the water.

 

[steveny]

A two stroke has a much higher power-to-weight ratio than a 4 stroke. The reason 4 strokes are now the only game in town is lower emissions and fuel economy.

My Sea Doo XP is a 951cc twin with 130 HP stock and only weighs about 560 lbs. With the simple mods I've done, it probably has close to 145 HP and has NEVER had a mechanical problem (knock on wood :smile: ). The weight and design of the hull make it very maneuverable unlike the big heavy PWCs (they call them "couches"). It's like comparing a motocross bike to a big fat Harley, or an NSX to a Cadillac Limo. My XP has brilliant straight line speed and acceleration but also can carve turns, jump ocean surf, etc.

IMO, an 800+ lb. couch running in a straight line is only fun for a limited time. With all that size and weight, they just don't handle turns or ocean waves very well. And unless you have the 255 HP SD RXP, the acceleration isn't going to blow you away either. You may as well just get a boat so you can take more people along.

I guess it all depends on where you'll ride and what you want to do on the water.

I had an RXP and a RXT. I can see both of those skis being VERY boring if you lived/rode them on a lake. But on the intercoastal where there are waterways that take you anywhere and more to explore than you have time for the RXP is an awesome ski.

As for the weight of the two-strokes I can tell you this... with my gp1200 on the bigfoot and trying to get it over the sea wall at the house at high tide I would have sworn that thing weighed 10,000 pounds.

 

[NSX-Files]

I had an RXP and a RXT. I can see both of those skis being VERY boring if you lived/rode them on a lake. But on the intercoastal where there are waterways that take you anywhere and more to explore than you have time for the RXP is an awesome ski.

As for the weight of the two-strokes I can tell you this... with my gp1200 on the bigfoot and trying to get it over the sea wall at the house at high tide I would have sworn that thing weighed 10,000 pounds.

Steveny,
I agree with you 100%. I live in the Avondale/Riverside area near downtown Jacksonville. Riding the St. Johns River in downtown Jax is an absolute snorefest, especially when the wind picks up and makes it choppy. I would say it equates to riding on a lake - really nothing much to do. But like you said, the intercoastal further south is always fun. It's fairly protected from the wind, so it's usually smooth, it's fun to explore, and there are hardly any slow speed zones.

I have some vacant oceanfront/intracoastal front property in Summer Haven (southern most part of St. Augustine) and I always prefer to ride on the intercoastal down there and jump waves at Matanzas inlet. I'm seriously considering building a dock there and leaving the 'Doos down there full-time.

 

[Ryanmcd2]

A two stroke has a much higher power-to-weight ratio than a 4 stroke. The reason 4 strokes are now the only game in town is lower emissions and fuel economy.

My Sea Doo XP is a 951cc twin with 130 HP stock and only weighs about 560 lbs. With the simple mods I've done, it probably has close to 145 HP and has NEVER had a mechanical problem (knock on wood :smile: ). The weight and design of the hull make it very maneuverable unlike the big heavy PWCs (they call them "couches"). It's like comparing a motocross bike to a big fat Harley, or an NSX to a Cadillac Limo. My XP has brilliant straight line speed and acceleration but also can carve turns, jump ocean surf, etc.

IMO, an 800+ lb. couch running in a straight line is only fun for a limited time. With all that size and weight, they just don't handle turns or ocean waves very well. And unless you have the 255 HP SD RXP, the acceleration isn't going to blow you away either. You may as well just get a boat so you can take more people along.

I guess it all depends on where you'll ride and what you want to do on the water.

True about the size and I have the RXT-X 255HP one, I am also looking at the Yamaha stand up 2 stroke for scrwing around on. I will prob pick that up next year as well. I will say I love going out and just driving around on the RXT-X, we have some huge boats in my lake so I have some nice waves to jump.

 

[steveny]

Steveny,
I agree with you 100%. I live in the Avondale/Riverside area near downtown Jacksonville. Riding the St. Johns River in downtown Jax is an absolute snorefest, especially when the wind picks up and makes it choppy. I would say it equates to riding on a lake - really nothing much to do. But like you said, the intercoastal further south is always fun. It's fairly protected from the wind, so it's usually smooth, it's fun to explore, and there are hardly any slow speed zones.

I have some vacant oceanfront/intracoastal front property in Summer Haven (southern most part of St. Augustine) and I always prefer to ride on the intercoastal down there and jump waves at Matanzas inlet. I'm seriously considering building a dock there and leaving the 'Doos down there full-time.

I was on Roscoe BVD.

You want to check out a kick ass trail,

30°14'39.75"N 81°25'43.17"W

This is right down the water from the place I lived in Ponte Vedra. About 3/4's the way down the gators appear.

This tug boat use to come down the intercoastal and he would put up these friggen swells so tall for what seemed like a mile behind him. :biggrin:

 

[queenlives]

hey guys... looking on craig's slit

uh sorry, was that in the missed connection or the casual encounters section?

 

[PhiAlpha44]

That Honda ski is slow guys. Honda had a ton and I mean a TON of those left over because they couldn't sell them. First city Honda in St. Augustine Florida, right down the road from my home in Florida was doing a buy one get one free for a while just so they could get rid of inventory. On the other hand I bet you could buy the Honda and keep it for years without a single problem.

STEVE! SLOW!? I had it going almost 70. How the hell is that slow? Don't all the manufacturers have something going on where none of them go OVER 70 anyway? Regardless of how many horsepower they have they don't go over 70. Are you saying it's slow like people say the NSX is slow compared to a Z06 or something? I think slow is in the eye of the beholder. I've got a few crotch rockets and there will always be someone that says.. "oh those 1000RR's are slow. The new Gixxer is 3 mph faster!" And I'm there thinking. 175..... 178.... who gives a $hit? And yeah, I don't plan on ever having problems with my Honda. That's why I bought it. I'll ride my "slow" aquatrax and be worry free for years to come. :wink:
And I think the reason that Honda had them left over wasn't because they were "slow". But because Honda was new to the PWC game. Names like Jet Ski, Wave Runner & Sea Doo have become synonymous with Personal Water Craft like calling a tissue a Kleenex.

A two stroke has a much higher power-to-weight ratio than a 4 stroke. The reason 4 strokes are now the only game in town is lower emissions and fuel economy.

My Sea Doo XP is a 951cc twin with 130 HP stock and only weighs about 560 lbs. With the simple mods I've done, it probably has close to 145 HP and has NEVER had a mechanical problem (knock on wood :smile: ). The weight and design of the hull make it very maneuverable unlike the big heavy PWCs (they call them "couches"). It's like comparing a motocross bike to a big fat Harley, or an NSX to a Cadillac Limo. My XP has brilliant straight line speed and acceleration but also can carve turns, jump ocean surf, etc.

IMO, an 800+ lb. couch running in a straight line is only fun for a limited time. With all that size and weight, they just don't handle turns or ocean waves very well. And unless you have the 255 HP SD RXP, the acceleration isn't going to blow you away either. You may as well just get a boat so you can take more people along.

I guess it all depends on where you'll ride and what you want to do on the water.

With this I agree and disagree. Personally I'd rather have a 4 stroke because it's easily maintainable. No oil in the gas, no smoke, no fouled spark plugs or any of that crap. It's literally a motorcycle for the water. But see I don't ride in the ocean. I'm on lakes or on rivers... so I don't have surf to jump or anything like that. I jump the wakes of cabin cruisers and barges and the Honda does that just fine. As far as the "couch" comment goes. I'm not entering into the X Games anytime soon. I've ridden the smaller, 2 stroke ski's. Yes they're more flickable, yes they turn faster and you can stand them up easier and spin around in circles... but I guess in my opinion, when you say "running in a straight line is only fun for a limited time".... I think to myself.. spinning around in circles and jumping waves is only fun for a limited time as well... and eventually you'll want to actually get somewhere. Difference being, when I have to get somewhere, it doesn't beat the snot out of me because I can actually cut through a few waves without bouncing off the top of everyone like a little sea doo. But yeah, it has to do with your riding style. I do plenty of 360's and jumping on my Aquatrax. No it doesn't spin as fast as the sea doo's. I guess I just don't care about that aspect as much. I've never gotten anything but compliments from the people that have ridden it, and both people that own 2 stroke, smaller sea doo's thought mine was faster than theirs. It's all about what you want... but don't $hit on the Hondas by saying their "slow couches" because they're not.

 

[PhiAlpha44]

No way the Honda does 68 stock, It has 165 HP! My Sea-Doo has 255 and does 70. And it's like any other Honda, Slow and not exciting


Radar Gun test PWI Mag June 05 ... R-12X topspeed = 61.73mph.

That's just not true. I had it at 68, 2 weekends ago. We all know horsepower doesn't always = top speed. Plus, if that's not fast enough for you, there is a company that has after market turbos and inter coolers that really kick it up a notch. Either way. My STOCK aquatrax does 68mph on a glass still lake at 7:30 in the morning. So your 90 extra horsepower is getting you 2 miles per hour more than me. Of course you could probably pull John Candy out of the water on skis, where maybe mine can't do that. :biggrin:

 

[PhiAlpha44]

St. Augustine Florida, right down the road from my home in Florida was doing a buy one get one free for a while just so they could get rid of inventory.

Steve, if that was true... then that was the deal of the century and the dealership was losing their a$$ on them. We all know the mark up on stuff like that isn't THAT high.

 

[steveny]

STEVE! SLOW!? I had it going almost 70. How the hell is that slow? Don't all the manufacturers have something going on where none of them go OVER 70 anyway? Regardless of how many horsepower they have they don't go over 70. Are you saying it's slow like people say the NSX is slow compared to a Z06 or something? I think slow is in the eye of the beholder. I've got a few crotch rockets and there will always be someone that says.. "oh those 1000RR's are slow. The new Gixxer is 3 mph faster!" And I'm there thinking. 175..... 178.... who gives a $hit? And yeah, I don't plan on ever having problems with my Honda. That's why I bought it. I'll ride my "slow" aquatrax and be worry free for years to come. :wink:
And I think the reason that Honda had them left over wasn't because they were "slow". But because Honda was new to the PWC game. Names like Jet Ski, Wave Runner & Sea Doo have become synonymous with Personal Water Craft like calling a tissue a Kleenex.

I think all speedo's stop at 70 MPH or something like that. I know for sure my RXP was faster then 70 MPH.

The way I heard it was Honda pulled all their inventory from any dealers for some reason and then delivered them to other dealers but the transit time put last years model on the showroom floors a year late. When I was at First City Honda last time they had 05's 2005's brand new in the crate for sale still in 08.

 

[steveny]

Steve, if that was true... then that was the deal of the century and the dealership was losing their a$$ on them. We all know the mark up on stuff like that isn't THAT high.

Problem is even if you bought one at full retail and got two then divided the price you paid by two and then took that figure and looked it up in the NADA you would have taken a 2500 dollar bath on each ski as soon as the ski left the dealers lot. So the immediate depreciation on the Honda ski was ~3x what it was on the seadoos.

 

[NSX-Files]

STEVE! SLOW!? I had it going almost 70. How the hell is that slow? Don't all the manufacturers have something going on where none of them go OVER 70 anyway?

That's just not true. I had it at 68, 2 weekends ago. . . . My STOCK aquatrax does 68mph on a glass still lake at 7:30 in the morning. So your 90 extra horsepower is getting you 2 miles per hour more than me.

It's all about what you want... but don't $hit on the Hondas by saying their "slow couches" because they're not.

PhiAlpha44,
You nailed it with "It's all about what you want." There's plenty of variety of PWCs from little standups to the biggins' - different strokes for different folks, right? I don't think anyone is $hitting on Honda PWCs, at least I"m not.

As far as "couches" that's not really an insult - we only call them that because they're long and cushy. Sea-Doo and all the other manufacturers make their fair share of couches, not just Honda. I myself have one 3-seater and one lightweight. I just have more fun on the lighter ski but that's me.

As far as top speed, unless you're measuring your speed with radar or a GPS unit, don't believe the speedo. Sea-Doo guys call them "dream-o-meters" because they are wildly optimistic. Even with heavily modified PWCs, approaching 70mph is one helluva feat.

 

[PhiAlpha44]

The way I heard it was Honda pulled all their inventory from any dealers for some reason and then delivered them to other dealers but the transit time put last years model on the showroom floors a year late. When I was at First City Honda last time they had 05's 2005's brand new in the crate for sale still in 08.

Wow. That's crazy. You would think Honda would have their stuff together better than that. 3 years out. That's unheard of.

Problem is even if you bought one at full retail and got two then divided the price you paid by two and then took that figure and looked it up in the NADA you would have taken a 2500 dollar bath on each ski as soon as the ski left the dealers lot. So the immediate depreciation on the Honda ski was ~3x what it was on the seadoos.

Oh. I see. Because they were 3 years old already. So they depreciated so fast... you were getting two for one, but in reality one was worth less than half brand new. Do I have that?

PhiAlpha44,
You nailed it with "It's all about what you want." There's plenty of variety of PWCs from little standups to the biggins' - different strokes for different folks, right? I don't think anyone is $hitting on Honda PWCs, at least I"m not.

As far as "couches" that's not really an insult - we only call them that because they're long and cushy. Sea-Doo and all the other manufacturers make their fair share of couches, not just Honda. I myself have one 3-seater and one lightweight. I just have more fun on the lighter ski but that's me.

As far as top speed, unless you're measuring your speed with radar or a GPS unit, don't believe the speedo. Sea-Doo guys call them "dream-o-meters" because they are wildly optimistic. Even with heavily modified PWCs, approaching 70mph is one helluva feat.

That's cool. I just kept seeing the word "SSSSLLLLLOOOOOOWWW" and was like "wait a minute here". The dream o' meter thing is funny. :biggrin:

I don't know if spedos on boats are more accurate or not, but when my buddy has his boat on the water and it says he's doing 40, mine says 40. And then I pull the throttle trigger the other half way and dust him. I'm just getting into the PWC thing and I'm having a GREAT TIME! It's alot of fun. This aquatrax is my first PWC. I've ridden others, but this was the one I chose to stick in the garage.

 

[steveny]

Oh. I see. Because they were 3 years old already. So they depreciated so fast... you were getting two for one, but in reality one was worth less than half brand new. Do I have that?

Exactly. and worse than that was the fact that I knew I wouldn't be keeping any ski's longer than a year so if I had bought the Hondas I would have had to sell them at a massive discount to under sell what someone could buy "brand new" ones for.

 

[isellpower]

Wow. That's crazy. You would think Honda would have their stuff together better than that. 3 years out. That's unheard of.


Oh. I see. Because they were 3 years old already. So they depreciated so fast... you were getting two for one, but in reality one was worth less than half brand new. Do I have that?




That's cool. I just kept seeing the word "SSSSLLLLLOOOOOOWWW" and was like "wait a minute here". The dream o' meter thing is funny. :biggrin:

I don't know if spedos on boats are more accurate or not, but when my buddy has his boat on the water and it says he's doing 40, mine says 40. And then I pull the throttle trigger the other half way and dust him. I'm just getting into the PWC thing and I'm having a GREAT TIME! It's alot of fun. This aquatrax is my first PWC. I've ridden others, but this was the one I chose to stick in the garage.

Since you are just getting into skis in a few months you will realize how funny you sound saying that your stock R12x does 70. You are doing 60, not 70. I'm sure you'll give yourself a little chuckle when you learn a little more. I have a GP1300R modded to the hilt. When you grow a sack give that girl ski to your little sis and buy a GP.

 

[steveny]

Since you are just getting into skis in a few months you will realize how funny you sound saying that your stock R12x does 70. You are doing 60, not 70. I'm sure you'll give yourself a little chuckle when you learn a little more. I have a GP1300R modded to the hilt. When you grow a sack give that girl ski to your little sis and buy a GP.

I had a GP before I had the seadoo. They are VERY quick and with the right mods they are crazy fast.

 

[ur2slow1]

We purchased an Aquatrax Turbo 3 seater new in 2006 and it's been flawless. Never fails to start and idle perfectly no matter how long it's been sitting and you can't beat the smooth / quiet operation of the Honda 4 stroker.

 

[Ryanmcd2]

Honda = Slow, Guys I could of bought anything and I bought the fastest 3 seater new, the RXT-X, the Honda's are SLOW don't fool yourselfs. Honda just got into this SeaDoo has been doing it about 20 years now. It's like saying a civic will outrun a NSX. civic = Honda, Sea-Doo = NSX

 

[ur2slow1]

I think we need to clarify that "slow" is an extremely relative term. My 3 seater Turbo Aquatrax tops out at 62MPH and pulls pretty hard up to that speed so maybe "slow" is the wrong term to use here. Let's agree on fast and Faster !

 

[steveny]

I think we need to clarify that "slow" is an extremely relative term. My 3 seater Turbo Aquatrax tops out at 62MPH and pulls pretty hard up to that speed so maybe "slow" is the wrong term to use here. Let's agree on fast and Faster !

62 is fast on a boat. 62 is not fast on a ski. 85 is fast on a ski. I have been on a ski that went 85. 85 is VERY fast.

http://search.yahoo.com/search;_ylt...r2=sc-sb&fr=yfp-t-501&vs=youtube.com&ei=UTF-8

and 90
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6kW2vne_qsc

 

[peiserg]

OK... this subject is being revisited because the season is practically over, the economy is dumping, and i hope there are people desparate to raise cash by selling their toys.

turns out my neighbor, who doesn't strike me as desparate (ford GT, superperformance gt40, explorer, expedition, excursion, porsche 911 turbo cab, wrx sti, and a frikking helicopter for chrissakes!!) is selling his two older skis. he has two new ones to replace them.

Gerry, Here are links to NADA values on our two skis for sale. Also see attached photo.

Yamaha XL 1200
http://www.nadaguides.com/default.a...&m=1906&d=1600201780&y=2000&ml=Y&gc=MR&gtc=MR

seadoo rx

http://www.nadaguides.com/default.a...&m=1476&d=1600153887&y=2000&ml=S&gc=MR&gtc=MR

both, including trailer, for about $8k. He said both were sunk last year, and both engines fully rebuilt and less than 5 hrs each since rebuid.

opinions? both are 2 strokers. MY 2000