Hi - I am currently a two year owner, ie jet ski novice, of a Kawasaki STX1100 ('97) which is the old 2-stroke 120HP - it is great but I have found I need to upgrade, hence seeking advice for this direction. My needs are as follows:- 3 seater
Most use is a mate on his and I on mine - we both ride the open surf I have a family and we do a lot of day or holiday activities involving normally a 3 man body glove towable with scenarios of 21yr old, 19yr old and 15yr old children and their friends usually either 2 or 3 at a time on the towable We are working on water skiing and wake boarding - but only just beginning A problem with current ski is it struggles getting going with the towable initially due to 3 people on it plus the tow rope cuts through the water constantly spraying the riders making it awkward to see etc so....... having given you heads up on my use the advice I seek is along these lines:- I have been advised probably a '04 or '05 or maybe '06 (if I can afford it) See-Doo 155hp with the tow pole - this seems a good direction however I have since read the pole part that slides doesn't handle 3 person towables and usually bends etc - they had replaced it with a s/s pole insert - any thoughts on this??? Plus I was told of the ski being pulled sideways/tipping when throwing the towable and occupants in a whip turn - logically it is higher therefore pulling ski over ...... any thoughts? I was not keen to go turbo as I am not mechanical and to me this suggests better mechanical knowledge with maintenance is needed - I feel maybe the 155hp would be enough??!! Is the See-Doo the right ski for my needs here and if yes, which model? Due to the ski I am seeking in age it appears harder to get advice/direction All comments/advice most appreciated Cheers Scott
I'm even more novice than that, only 2 months! But I do have a Seadoo Wake, the 215hp supercharged version. I regularly towing a tube, wake board or someone on a surfboard. Have not had more than 1 person being towed yet. The ski handles perfectly, an I do most of my towing in the ocean with swell! I have noticed that when you do the whip turns that you can feel the ski being pulled to the side a bit, but some countersteering sorts it out, never felt that it wanted to capsize. I must admit that when there is 3 adults on the ski, I do not do much turning as it does feel pretty unstable if they move around! But that might just be me thats oversensitive! One thing though, if you add the ballast tanks, straight line or gentle turning only! Crazy handling...
On the power issue, the more the better! When I bought mine, I was assured that the 155 would do the job easilly, but got a good deal on the Supercharged version. I am very happy with my choice! Hope this helps, good luck!
Hey Scott,
I have a Seadoo GTI SE 155 and heard quite often that it would be too underpowered to pull a decent size wakeboarder / skiier out of the water. I recently spent a week on holidays and got to do a lot of the things you're interested in. Pulled a 95kg wakeboarder (with 92kg driver and 80kg observer) out of the water easily with no issues / concerns at all.
Towed 2 average adults in a tube including moderate whipping turns easily. I will say that you definitely feel the weight and drag etc on the turns but the size and shape of the tube played as much of a part as anything. The larger and more buoyant the tube the better, the smaller ones really bog down. It's probably obvious but we found that with the more weight in the tube the more you have to shift that weight towards the back of the tube otherwise the front of the tube bogs and sinks when you power up. Again, power was not the issue because if we pulled harder we would have just destroyed the tube. As far as stability goes, we never felt like we would tip or anything but you do feel the weight pulling you sideways a bit on the turns but you would feel that no matter what the size of the engine. I don't have a tow pole and don't feel the need to have one - the standard tow hook is fine. Obviously more power will pull more easily but I just wanted to let you know that you won't have any problems with a 155hp if that's the way you want to go.
Russ'
Thanks for your time and interest - I am on a tight budget so when buying I hope I don't get teased with 'hmmmmm just a little more and you can have the supercharged' hahaha ..... seriously though, you are right with the side ways whip when turning and I too have mastered the effect however if I did get the tow pole then I was concerned that factor would be a major increase and more so the effect of the elevated pole pulling the ski over sideways - I suppose if it came to it, when with multiple on a tube, then the pole can stay down low hence minimizing the tipping effect when in the turn whip - ultimately it will come down to preparing the ski for that sideways pull when exiting the turn
with our current stx1100 120hp 2 stroke it really has been servicing us well to be fair ie the 3 on the tube has been as much as a 95kg, a 82kg and approx 80 kg on the back with the rider (I) 100kg and spotter 55kg – it struggles initially to get going but once we have started it kicks in strongly from there on - the tube is the Body Glove 3 man and when pumped full it glides beautifully with the kids doing pyramid stands or standing crouched over the other two holding onto the grips – pretty amazing to see them doing all this at 35-40klms – there spills from the turns are classic
I am not familiar with the ballast tanks so didn’t quite grasp what you meant – are you inferring a positive outcome with them??? What do they do??
I do agree the more power the better across the board however I worry that younger generation could come serious mischief at higher speeds – our stx1100 gets me to about 84km/hr (with 100kgs) and my lighter kids are getting it to 90km/hr – I am unsure what a 155hp would get us to approx???
What does your 215hp get you to??
I sense the 155hp will be sufficient for our needs but seeking advice from the forum and other areas
If looking at the 215 seadoo there would be two "keys". One allows full power, while the other (learner key) limits the power - thus limiting the high speed mischief (I'd think the 155 would have these as well).
I'm a great advocate for more power, especially with the ability to limit its use.
yeah I would definitly reccomend a supercharged version my friend just bought a 155 and to be honest I thought it was gutless in the power department like palmer said there is a learner key that will limit power for learners trust me i just went from gp1300r to a seadoo rxp 215 and it is just awesome when iam on it i just dont want to get off it
I appreciate your time and interest – that is very re assuring to hear re the 155hp power – interesting your thoughts that the normal tow point is ok so will need to research that further – I guess I risk being over cautious which at the end of the day probably making a rod for my own back if I am not careful Thanks Scott
Scrampy, mine is a '07 and my GPS'ed top speed in light chop (ocean riding) is 91kmh. I still crack up at the "155 is gutless" comments. I have been for countless long rides with guys with big supercharged (S/C) ski's, RXT 255's, FX SHO's etc and have never had an issue in keeping up. Sure, they will leave me behind in short bursts but anyone who rides in the ocean (chop) regularly knows that it is tough work to maintain 90kmh for any length of time let alone higher speeds. It also comes down to personal fitness because after a few minutes your quads will be killing you. I reckon it would be one hell of an effort to maintain 110kmh in average ocean chop for 5 mins without powerlifter legs and unbelievable skill not to mention a few handling mods. The difference between stock 155's and 255's is about 15 - 20 kmh (plus acceleration obviously). My whole point is it's "horses for courses". If you are riding flat water regularly, faster is better but imo flat out on flat water get's boring pretty quick. I have more fun in heavy chop at 70kmh. If you are into the whole power thing and tinkering to get more power then obviously S/C is the way to go. If you want a reliable, economical, general purpose ski to do the things you asked about then the 155 WILL do the job. Don't get me wrong, I'm not against S/C ski's in fact I think there awesome, I'm just trying to point out that if it's not in your budget that it's not necessary. My 155 has done everything I've asked of it, wakeboarding, skiing, tube towing, wave jumping and general long distance cruising. One thing to note is the GTI seat is harder than the GTX etc.
Anyway, I hope this helps.
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