[Jeff@TopGearSolutions]

Let me start buy saying what I've owned and what I've driven and what I've found through the years with Jet Skis.

Owned Myself:
2001 Sea Doo XP
2005 Yamaha GP1300R
2005 Kawasaki 12F

For those who know jet ski's the above are all kinds of different Jet Ski's in terms of ride type, size, power, reliability ETC ETC

Driven / What Friends have:
2003 Yamaha XLT1200
2011 Sea Doo GTR 215
2010 Sea Doo RXP
2005 Kawasaki 15F
2005 Sea Doo GTX

A few various other older skis.

I'll preface by saying I'm a big fan of agile jet skis. I like to jump. I like the jet ski to feel light. I like to have good stability and control. I also prefer a ski that can be easily modded and do it at a low cost. There are some jet skis that can go fast for very little modification and practically no engine work.

I recently picked up a 2005 GP1300 R. It's a 2 stroke. The hull design is second to none even for it's age. Anyone in the industry knows the GP1300R is in it's own class. Reliability, modability, hull design, weight. It's the perfect ski for almost anyone looking to go fast and do it fairly inexpensive. Out of the box it did 63 MPH (GPS). It's now doing 67 MPH and I've only changed the ride plate, stepped the sponsons, and intake grate. (Also D plate / Cat Delete). <-- A must in any 2 stroke jet ski. I plan on doing a prop and maybe EFI controller to get it up to 70 MPH (GPS).

You will notice i say GPS a lot of because all Jet Ski speedo's are incorrect. If its not verified by GPS Speed it's not legit.

My 2 previous skis I lost in Sandy. Thanks Sandy.

My Sea Doo XP was my favorite ski. It was extremely light. I had a Prop and intake grate and she did 62 MPH (GPS). However, it's intention was never for top speed. It was very nimble. I could duck dive or simply pop straight up and down out of the water. Turned on a dime. The 0-30 acceleration time was unbeatable by even todays 4 Stroke supercharged jet skis.

Typically sea doo are unreliable especially the new supercharged models as they are costly to repair and maintain as they get older. This sea doo xp however was very reliable and it is known the jet ski world as it's own class. There is a strong following of these jet skis because of how strong the engine is and the hull design in general.

I rebuilt this jet ski after a long and hard 250 Hours. I rebuilt it for no reason other then maintenance. It's better to rebuild a 2 stroke earlier then to wait for it to blow in my opinion.

We also had a Kawi 12F. What a pig. Heavy and under-powered. We called it the cadillac. It maybe did 48 MPH (GPS). The hull is actually great for modification and I would imagine with a ride plate and a few other bits it would probably get up to 51-52 MPH but it's still slow. It's intention was for family. It's a big 3 seater and very comfortable and stable. 4 Stroke was reliable and good on gas.

Buying New:

If I had to buy a new ski I was leaning towards the Kawi 300R or the Sea doo RXT 260. The price tag all said and done was not appealing to me. I could by 3 of my GPR1300 ski's for the price of one of those and I could keep up with them on the water for little money. Granted a new ski is nice and a warranty is great but at nearly $17000 out of the door with tax tile and registration it was not worth it.

For someone who buys a new jet ski I would say keep it until warranty is over. Keep in mind these new jet skis are "boats" to me. They are big, bulky, they sit deep in the water. They are not as "fun" to me. I've driven a few of them over the years. They are quick. But they are almost boring too in a sense that I dont feel like I'm driving a Jet ski but a small boat. I guess it depends on the person of course. I'm not trying to disuade anyone from getting one. IF you have the money and want a brand new ski that's fast out of the box, get it. They are still awesome. But for me I was shopping on a budget and trying to find the last agile mod friendly jet ski so I got the GP1300R instead.

Buying used:
This is a very tricky thing to buy used. There are a lot of things to know about Jet Skis in general and the platform you are buying. For instance I bought a 2005 GP1300R. Apparently the 2006 are bit better as there was a hull design change in the pump tunnel as they were prone to cracking. Just one random thing I didn't research enough of. I'll roll the dice though. What I'm trying to say here is if you are buying a used jet ski research the year and research the problems they have. They all have some problems and they are usually quite common for the same platform. You will normally see the same complaints.

For instance out of the box the GP1300R was notorious for porpoising and chime walking. It also had a lot of cavitation out of the hole shot and the Catalytic converter was prone to clogging. $60 D plate and $200 worth of mods in the ride plate and pump seal fixed all of that. I got rid of the porpoising by stepping the sponsons (free mod) and the ride plate helped a bit too. They also picked up my speed another 4 MPH. (That's a lot for not touching the engine).

Before I bought the ski the first thing I did was go under it. The seller was a little surprised. First thing I checked out was the propeller. It was mint. Sharp. Shiny. (Look out for dull, bent, not sharp, and pitting). This is a sign of cavitation and/or age.

I then checked the wear ring. This is part of the pump. The wear ring should be as close to the edge of the propeller without touching and mine was nearly perfect all around.

I then checked the compression on the motor. It came out with 130 PSI across the board. Perfect.

The hull in general was mint. Minimal damage all around. Paint looked fresh like a brand new jet ski. When I brought it home people thought it was a brand new jet ski. It's actually 8 years old though. It was a great buy. The previous owner lied or didn't know it had a Cat Delete. I found that out later on when i went to do it myself. Other then that it has a bit of a oiling fixation at idle. I will be fixing that this week as it seems the oil cable is just not adjusted correctly or not on at all. On this particular jet ski this causes it to run in fail safe and just dump oil. Better safe then sorry.

/ RANT

If you know your budget and know what you want out of a Jet Ski I can help.

I can go on forever about my other skis, and other skis I've driven but I feel none of that information is relevant.

IF you are buying used stick with a newer 4 stroke. If you want to roll the dice you can go with a used supercharged model but you will can run into some expensive head aches depending on the hours on the ski. I would still say avoid Sea Doo unless they are new with warranty. Therefore I always recommend newer yamaha or Kawi.