Wife and I have been considering the purchase of a jet ski, but I know nothing about them... Never even ridden one.

Reason why is our folks are thinking of buying a pontoon boat and we've all conjured up the idea of a jet ski to play on.

I've done some research, but haven't come up with a lot of answers... My main concern, of course, is fuel consumption -- but also maintenance and upkeep.

I was thinking of a small, base model to start -- hopefully used, but I don't even know what to look for and at when I find one. I also thought that'd be a good chance to test ride one and see if we'd really want one after all.

Insight, anyone?

 

I rented one in San Diego a few years ago. Fun for a while, but I'd rather have a dinghy that you could actually use to go ashore with another person or two, or to carry something, etc.

The rental guy told me if I went ashore with his unit, he would charge me the full depost plus damages. The jet will suck up sand and ruin the pump in short order in shallow water.

Not a fan of the noise either, and I'm not alone....

jmo, hope you enjoy it whatever you decide.

 

My grandfather used to have a skidoo and it would burn through about 2 tanks a day with consistent riding. That was one of the higher end performance models though. Fun as all heck

 

Thanks for your response.

Wife wants to pull a tube, maybe try some skiing... Can't do that with a pontoon and a ski boat isn't going to be practical for us -- that's when the idea for the jet ski came to mind. Might take a bigger unit than I'd like to buy to pull a tube and what-not, though...

I talked to a salesman a few years back that sold Sea-Doo's... He said the small units weren't that hard on fuel and would perform well pulling a tube, but I've never trusted a salesman and never will. I know that they're not going to be fuel efficient by any means, but I don't want it to break the bank just to have a little fun.

Thanks for your response as well.

Roughly how many gallons of fuel did the rig hold?

 

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My buddy has 3. 1 is a stand up, a 760 2 seater and an 1100 3 seater. We have all the fun in the world. Never had a problem sucking up anything but that may have something to do with locale. The 1100 pulls tubes just fine and has a top speed of about 65 mph. 760 is my fav of the 3. We also have wet suits so can go in winter. This works out fine as I have all the dirt toys, ie: quads and dirt bikes so have year round stuff to do!
Good luck

 

BOAT = Bust Out Another Thousand.

Boat, (n), a hole in the water into which you throw all your money.

The two happiest days in a boater's life are the day he buys his first and the day he sells his last.

Jason

 

Thanks for the references!

Yeah, we have four wheelers now... I've been itching for another motorcycle and thought to myself that this jet ski thing might be somewhat similar and cool me off on that! Lol.

Just recently got rid of a bass boat... I know EXACTLY what you mean!

 

We have a 1999 Kawasaki STX 1100 3 seater. I bought it from a good friend and have had it about 6 years. We've put countless hours on it and have tons of fun with it. We've done 360s, jumps, just cruised, twirled kids off of the back, and basically rode the thing like we stole it.

It's never let us down and we've only had to put it into the shop once. That was after my dad rolled it and then couldn't flip it back over. By the time he got it righted it had sunk to the handle bars. We towed it to the boat launch, drained the water out, pulled the spark plugs and pumped the water out of the motor, put them back in and she fired right up. A few months later she started running rough due to water that got into the electronic ignition box. The guy there showed me a trick with a hair dryer and some silicon and never a problem since.

I will say it's far more fun if you have two but you can have lots of fun with one also. Be watchful of other skis and especially boats. There's lots of dummies on the water. Don't drink and boat either, especially on one of these. They're fast and things can go south in a hurry if you're not paying attention.

Have fun!