Jet ski buying question
Discussion
Thinking of buying jet ski
Researching, it seems you can’t launch from wherever you want, only few places allow you. Is that right?
Secondly you need to register and pay annual fee to a harbour to launch from , so does that mean if you want to travel to different seasides then would have multiple registration and fees to pay? Also see some places charge launch fee
Seems we have caught up with making money from people using pcw
These aside, what would you buy, seedoo or yamaha? What model? I am looking for cost effective first time jet ski, not sure if that will be a money pit
Researching, it seems you can’t launch from wherever you want, only few places allow you. Is that right?
Secondly you need to register and pay annual fee to a harbour to launch from , so does that mean if you want to travel to different seasides then would have multiple registration and fees to pay? Also see some places charge launch fee
Seems we have caught up with making money from people using pcw
These aside, what would you buy, seedoo or yamaha? What model? I am looking for cost effective first time jet ski, not sure if that will be a money pit
Edited by Piston2022 on Thursday 17th October 22:52
As panamax says, rent it.
Where are you thinking of using it?
Do you have a hitch and a trailer and somewhere to store it?
I would be renting one first off to see how much you like it before taking the plunge and buying one.
What do they say about boats? You love them for 3 days, the day you buy it, the first day you use it and the day you sell it.
Rent one the first few times...
Where are you thinking of using it?
Do you have a hitch and a trailer and somewhere to store it?
I would be renting one first off to see how much you like it before taking the plunge and buying one.
What do they say about boats? You love them for 3 days, the day you buy it, the first day you use it and the day you sell it.
Rent one the first few times...
A quick flick on ebay for 3k bought up a 2001 Yamaha wave runner with only 45 hours, so in 23 years its done less than 2 hours a year.....the description talks about how it isn't ideal for long days on the water being 2 stroke but 'great for quick blips'.
With absolutely no disrespect to any members who jet ski that has all the hallmarks of a pain in ass hobby to me. Especially if your a fair distance from the water where you'd want to launch from.
I've only ever been on one a couple of times but I'd start with a half day hire at most. After a few hours you'll likely be knackered and wet.
With absolutely no disrespect to any members who jet ski that has all the hallmarks of a pain in ass hobby to me. Especially if your a fair distance from the water where you'd want to launch from.
I've only ever been on one a couple of times but I'd start with a half day hire at most. After a few hours you'll likely be knackered and wet.
You dont want just one, ideally you want to go out with at least 2 of you, as they break down a lot and getting stuck out at sea is no joke. Plus it gets boring with just the one. Doing your marine vhf licence and buying a dsc gps radio is a good idea.
Cheap sea doo are nothing but problematic money pits, yamaha are a bit better but still high maintenance.
No matter what you get you will spend more time preparing them, maintaining them and cleaning after use than you will spend enjoying them.
There are a few places you dont need to register/insure them, and a few slipways are still free but they can be hard to find.
Jet ski trailers have tiny wheels that rotate really fast, you need to be disciplined to tow slowly, and preferrably give the trailer 20-30 minutes for the wheel bearing to cool before you submerge them, otherwise the rapid cooling will cause them to shrink and suck in saltwater past the seals, and wreck the bearings in no time.
Speedboats kept out of water, and jetskis are a great fun idea, and really fun once in a while, but eventually you find the hassle of launching and retrieving them isnt worth the fun.
2 strokes are seriously thirsty too, and older ones need premium fuel or the e10 ethanol f
ks the carbs in no time. Think along the lines of £100 fuel/oil in a couple of hours in the faster ones. Cheaper and just as exciting just buying a bag of coke, and with the state of the water in some places just as unhealthy.
If you are handy with the spanners you can buy a broken one for next to nothing, fix it, play with it until reality hits then sell it for 4 times what you paid for it.
Cheap sea doo are nothing but problematic money pits, yamaha are a bit better but still high maintenance.
No matter what you get you will spend more time preparing them, maintaining them and cleaning after use than you will spend enjoying them.
There are a few places you dont need to register/insure them, and a few slipways are still free but they can be hard to find.
Jet ski trailers have tiny wheels that rotate really fast, you need to be disciplined to tow slowly, and preferrably give the trailer 20-30 minutes for the wheel bearing to cool before you submerge them, otherwise the rapid cooling will cause them to shrink and suck in saltwater past the seals, and wreck the bearings in no time.
Speedboats kept out of water, and jetskis are a great fun idea, and really fun once in a while, but eventually you find the hassle of launching and retrieving them isnt worth the fun.
2 strokes are seriously thirsty too, and older ones need premium fuel or the e10 ethanol f
ks the carbs in no time. Think along the lines of £100 fuel/oil in a couple of hours in the faster ones. Cheaper and just as exciting just buying a bag of coke, and with the state of the water in some places just as unhealthy.If you are handy with the spanners you can buy a broken one for next to nothing, fix it, play with it until reality hits then sell it for 4 times what you paid for it.
Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Thursday 17th October 22:15
I’m not an expert but friends have them and they swear by seadoo due to the closed loop cooling system, especially as there’s a lot of seaweed etc around our coast.
Generally before that I’d have always swayed towards Japanese. Yamaha, or the seemingly underrated and under marketed Kawasaki.
Generally before that I’d have always swayed towards Japanese. Yamaha, or the seemingly underrated and under marketed Kawasaki.
I agree re try before you buy . I then guess can see if it is fun item to have after few sessions
Thinking about membership on websites such as one pasted below? Anyone with feedback?
https://jetskisafaris.co.uk/jetski-club/
Thinking about membership on websites such as one pasted below? Anyone with feedback?
https://jetskisafaris.co.uk/jetski-club/
Edited by Piston2022 on Thursday 17th October 22:51
The guys i went out with had £5500 and £7500 seadoos, I had a £275 yamaha/wetjet
Both the seadoos broke down multiple times a year., sensors, ecus, cooling problems, injector problems, superchargers breaking. Usually around about the time we could all synchronise an evening off work and it was sunny was when one of them would go pop.
The only breakdown i had on my yamaha was the fuel tap failed and i had to switch to reserve even though i had plenty fuel.
My kawasaki stand up had a catastrophic blow up from a broken piston skirt, but it was a bit of a heap to begin with, it was overdue a rebuild.
Both the seadoos broke down multiple times a year., sensors, ecus, cooling problems, injector problems, superchargers breaking. Usually around about the time we could all synchronise an evening off work and it was sunny was when one of them would go pop.
The only breakdown i had on my yamaha was the fuel tap failed and i had to switch to reserve even though i had plenty fuel.
My kawasaki stand up had a catastrophic blow up from a broken piston skirt, but it was a bit of a heap to begin with, it was overdue a rebuild.
How long is a piece of string? Depends what parts you need and if you are paying for labour.
I did all my own labour.
The other lads used the local jet ski place charging about 72 quid an hour including the vat, and they always seemed to find plenty that needed doing when they put their skis in for work, unusal to get a bill lower than £300, and some repairs.were over £2500. Pre pandemic and the hyperinflation theivery that every is up to now so i dread to think what it will be now.
Between buying my ski and fixing it up, and servicing it for 3 years i spent a total of £542 before i sold it for just over 2 grand, but i was lucky in buying it, and very careful about sourcing parts for it, and i sunk quite a few hours and skint knuckles into it. I did a thread on it a few years ago.
There is no such thing as a max life if you are prepared to replace parts as they wear/fail, but there will be a point where things dont make sense financially, especially if you are paying someone else to twiddle the spanners for you.
I did all my own labour.
The other lads used the local jet ski place charging about 72 quid an hour including the vat, and they always seemed to find plenty that needed doing when they put their skis in for work, unusal to get a bill lower than £300, and some repairs.were over £2500. Pre pandemic and the hyperinflation theivery that every
is up to now so i dread to think what it will be now.Between buying my ski and fixing it up, and servicing it for 3 years i spent a total of £542 before i sold it for just over 2 grand, but i was lucky in buying it, and very careful about sourcing parts for it, and i sunk quite a few hours and skint knuckles into it. I did a thread on it a few years ago.
There is no such thing as a max life if you are prepared to replace parts as they wear/fail, but there will be a point where things dont make sense financially, especially if you are paying someone else to twiddle the spanners for you.
Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Thursday 17th October 23:13
What can be achieved if you are miserly but resourceful https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I got bored of the hassle around using the thing even when it wasnt costing me much overall.
I reckon if it was a big money loser it would get really old really fast.
I got bored of the hassle around using the thing even when it wasnt costing me much overall.
I reckon if it was a big money loser it would get really old really fast.
Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Friday 18th October 00:25
OldGermanHeaps said:
What can be achieved if you are miserly but resourceful https://www.pistonheads.com/gassing/topic.asp?h=0&...
I got bored of the hassle around using the thing even when it wasnt costing me much overall.
I reckon if it was a big money loser it would get really old really fast.
So what year would you buy/ hours for hassle free jet ski?I got bored of the hassle around using the thing even when it wasnt costing me much overall.
I reckon if it was a big money loser it would get really old really fast.
Edited by OldGermanHeaps on Friday 18th October 00:25
I am able to do most mechanical work on cars including rebuild but jet ski is new to me
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