Any Jet-Ski owners?

[SuperBowlNachos]

I've been thinking about making this my first big life purchase. I've always loved being on the water and have had a thing for jet skis for as long as I can remember. I'd rather have a nice boat, but couldn't afford it. I have always heard boats and PWC are money pits, but my family had a boat for 12 years and the only major repair was getting the starter replaced so I don't buy that.

Anyone out there have one?

[superjames1992]

Re: Any Jet-Ski owners?

My family had a boat growing up, though we just got rid of it. It didn't get much use over the last few years with me in college now and my parents' work schedules often not jiving (my father works most weekends as an airline pilot). Things started to break due to lack of use, as well (It was a 1999 Regal). It was a lot of fun when I was growing up, though. We used to go to Belews Lake just north of here and used to go up and down the Kanawha River (with the coal barges and all) when we lived near Charleston, WV.

Jet skis always looked fun, and I'd guess that they are generally quite a bit cheaper (though some of the bigger monstrosities are probably ridiculously pricey).

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Any Jet-Ski owners?

My family had a 1996 Chaparral that we finally sold back in 2010. I think my parents bought it for $18,000 and we sold it for $6,500. Not ours but, http://media.photobucket.com/image/r...y/DSC_0205.jpg

Definitely got our moneys worth out of it. Same situation though. Went from 3 kids to just me being back in the summers and working so it was only getting used 2-3 times a year.

The jet-ski my uncle has is the cheapest one Kawasaki offers and it tops out at 65 mph and is a beauty. It cost around $9,500. Then I have seen them up to $16,000.

[AUChase]

They are fun toys, but most require some maintenance over short amounts of time, like most everything else. We have a 96 Yamaha waverunner and a few old Polaris. The old ones are the most fun to ride, because how light they are. We have owned a few brands, but Yamaha has gave us the least problems and more bang your buck.

Sent from my Desire HD

[Champion8877]

Re: Any Jet-Ski owners?

They are fun toys, but most require some maintenance over short amounts of time, like most everything else. We have a 96 Yamaha waverunner and a few old Polaris. The old ones are the most fun to ride, because how light they are. We have owned a few brands, but Yamaha has gave us the least problems and more bang your buck.

Sent from my Desire HD

Well I don't know a thing about jet ski's, but I will emphasize what he said about Yamaha. I currently own a Yamaha TTR-230 dirt bike and a Yamaha Grizzly 660 atv, both are amazing machines.

In the past I have had a couple Kawasaki bikes, one Honda bike, a Kawasaki atv, and a polaris, and let me tell you, nothing runs as good and performs as well a Yamaha. And nothing, besides maybe a Honda, is as reliable as a Yamaha. Yamahas are also some of the easiest machines I've ever worked on.

[RockinDaMike]

Re: Any Jet-Ski owners?

Another vote on Yamahas. I had a ATV Grizzly 600 also like Champion, man do I miss that thing. It was a beast! My uncle has Yamaha jet skis and they've been great to bring to the lake. Can't really tell you any other brand since I've only been on Yamaha's and I would say everyone is happy.

Never worked on the jet skis but the atv was easy to work on if you knew basic mechanics of a motor.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Any Jet-Ski owners?

How does insurance work as far as when other people ride it? I'll make my friends sign a waiver and a contract if I have to haha.

[SuperBowlNachos]

Re: Any Jet-Ski owners?

Another vote on Yamahas. I had a ATV Grizzly 600 also like Champion, man do I miss that thing. It was a beast! My uncle has Yamaha jet skis and they've been great to bring to the lake. Can't really tell you any other brand since I've only been on Yamaha's and I would say everyone is happy.

Never worked on the jet skis but the atv was easy to work on if you knew basic mechanics of a motor.

I am back on this idea again so I figured I would bump my thread and see if anyone new has some input.

I've heard the same thing about the Yamaha Waverunners. Apparently a lot less maintenance. I had been sold on Sea-Doo for a while before I started reading about this.

So now I am down to the GTR 215 and Yamaha VXR

http://www.sea-doo.com/watercraft/performance/gtr-215.html

http://www.yamahawaverunners.com/vxr

This may interest some people here. Sea-Doo introduced a new entry level class of PWC. Starting out at $4,999.

http://www.sea-doo.com/watercraft/sea-doo-spark.html

[mgoblue]

Re: Any Jet-Ski owners?

I've been thinking about making this my first big life purchase. I've always loved being on the water and have had a thing for jet skis for as long as I can remember. I'd rather have a nice boat, but couldn't afford it. I have always heard boats and PWC are money pits, but my family had a boat for 12 years and the only major repair was getting the starter replaced so I don't buy that.

Anyone out there have one?

Never owned a boat, but most people I know who have owned one say that "boat" stands for "Bust Out Another Thousand" lol

More serious:

If you'd use it regularly I say go for it...I've always thought they'd be fun.

[ubernoob]

Re: Any Jet-Ski owners?

Love the Yammy love going on in here.

We used to have 2 wolverines, a grizzly and a big bear. Got rid of them when I moved out and my parents sold the cabin. Only had minor issues with them considering the hell we put them through.

[Redacted01]

Re: Any Jet-Ski owners?

A friend of mine bought a pair of Yamaha's used I believe. They've worked fine for a few summers now. And he didn't pay all that much for them. He got a steal.

[Bellsprout]

Re: Any Jet-Ski owners?

You could get an inner tube and like 3000 tacos for the same price and float on the water in lazy bliss.