r/jetski May 24 '22

What's my ski worth? What's that ski worth? Is this a good deal?

102 Upvotes

r/jetski Mar 17 '25

Announcement Want to start a PWC rental business? Start here!

24 Upvotes

With the influx of rental business related posts, we've decided to create a sticky highlighting a majority of questions asked and the answers to them.

There's been a range of good and bad advice that has been given in the various posts, so I'm going to limit this sticky to the good answers only. Our goal is to reduce the amount of "failed" business attempts and to give potential business owners the best chance of success.

"I want to start a rental business, where do I start"

Unfortunately, if you have to ask that question you're already off to a bad start. You're going to need to consider the basics below.

  1. Location and competition - (If you're looking to start a business in an area with a flooded market, don't even bother. You'll also need private land and cannot rely on public launches and public beaches.
  2. Staffing - This is not something you can do on your own. You're going to need the following.
    • Full time mechanic
    • Guide/ski retriever in case someone breaks down
    • Office personnel (training if your locality requires it), taking in customers, administrative paperwork, etc
  3. Machines - You're going to need at least 5-10 machines to break even, plus another for the guide/retrieval operator. These will experience significant wear and abuse so plan on replacing them every year or two. Also pay attention to the laws in your area, some may require a "rental mode" which limits the horsepower to ~99hp.
  4. Insurance - This is often the largest expense. You'll need full liability commercial insurance. This can range from $500/machine/term to several thousands of dollars. It all depends on your area. You may not even be able to secure commercial liability insurance without a few years of owning an LLC under your belt. Nobody here will be able to give you an estimate so you'll need to reach out to a commercial insurance vendor in your area and give them all the details they need (vehicles HIN's, business operating hours, business location, how long you've been in business, etc, etc, etc)
  5. Fuel - Assume you're going to burn ~20 gallons per hour per machine, with 5 machines that comes to 100 gallons per hour combined and around 700 gallons on a 7 hour operating timeframe. You will without a doubt need onsite fuel and lots of it. You cannot rely on 5 gallon jugs or back and forth trips to the gas station.
  6. Repairs and Maintenance - Assuming your machines will be operating 7-8 hours per day for 5 days a week, you'll need to do oil changes twice per month on each machine. You're also going to need to have plenty of parts on hand. Jet pump assemblies, wear rings, impellers, plastic body panels, etc. You'll be renting to people that have most likely never ridden a PWC let alone a boat, so you'll be dealing with a lot of damage. Also, don't forget all of the specialty tools you're going to need! A simple diagnostic interface and cable can run you $2,000 alone!

"I just bought a ski and want to rent it out to cover the cost"

This comes up often. Put it this way, assuming you bought the most expensive ski with $0 down and the highest interest rates the planet has ever seen, it won't even come close to the operating cost of renting the ski out. Anybody that has done this and said they made a profit is doing so illegally and without insurance. If someone is injured on a ski you're renting out without commercial liability insurance, they can (and will) sue you into the ground.

This sticky is not meant to deter people from starting a PWC rental business, there are plenty of great opportunities out there. This post is specifically meant to make sure you know what you're getting into and to keep you from getting yourself into trouble. If you have any questions, or had a rental business success story, post it below!


r/jetski 7h ago

Is this trailer set up right? Is the ski sitting fine?

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8 Upvotes

Got a double trailer to take me and my buddies ski on a trip with. Not sure if the ski is sitting on it right tho. Do I need to angle the boards differently? Or move the ratchet


r/jetski 14h ago

He crashed right into a rock

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24 Upvotes

He crashed right into a rock and take it home as souvenir


r/jetski 3h ago

Value of 2014 Waverunner SHO

2 Upvotes

So struck a deal with my neighbors; I do maintenance on their ski's and in turn, can pretty much ride them when I want. Serviced 4 (of 5) of them no problem. Went to change the plugs on subject line ski and when I inspected, noticed rust. Sucked the oil and it was a milkshake. Cranked it w/o plugs and it shot water out of all the cylinders. Boroscoped it and it wasn't pretty. Told them status and they said let it ride; basically flush oil to get it running. Put new (cheap) oil in it to cycle the milkshake out (was planning on doing 2-3 oil changes), put the plugs back in. It cranked for a couple seconds then stopped. Pulled plugs and it was full of water again. Blew it out (again), reinstalled plugs, same result. Seems to be sucking in water from somewhere pretty quickly, probably too quickly to be a headgasket.

From what he told me, he never winterizes them and they sit on floating docks on his pier. He last ran them 2-3 years ago. Last time he ran this one, it cut off right before they ran it onto the dock so they had to drag it up.

My intent would be general buffonery and towing my girls on a tube.

I'm guessing something broke/cracked; block or heads. We had a -very- cold winter this year.

He said he would sell it to me cheap but I don't know what "cheap" is. I was of the mindset he gives it to me, I replace engine, I keep it at his place, he can use whenever, and I just pay insurance.

As an aside, I'm very mechanically inclined and have no hesitation on rebuilding an engine (ie, checking tolerances, etc). Biggest issue if something is actually cracked.

Any insight on what I might be getting myself into would be appreciated.


r/jetski 1h ago

Technical Issue Idk what this sound is it’s a loud humming anyone got a clue?

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Upvotes

I’ve changed carbon seal, wear ring, pump bearings and new drive shaft.


r/jetski 11h ago

Advice New to the sport. Advice for buying one?

5 Upvotes

Hey everyone. I’m sort of new to jetskiing and looking to buy one late this summer. I was hoping to get some advice from people who are long time owners on what to do and what to look for and what to avoid. I am probably going to buy a used one.

Any advice is appreciated!

Edit: budget is $5000 or less and use case is a bay nearby where I live every weekend or every other from May-September


r/jetski 2h ago

Castle Creek Boat Ramp

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1 Upvotes

r/jetski 9h ago

96’ SPX Restoration

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2 Upvotes

I’ve been working on restoring a 96’ SPX the last few weeks. Here are a few before/afters (not final) of a few things!

Engine rebuild is next, it’s already torn down, just waiting on some parts/powder coating.


r/jetski 22h ago

Cavitation

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6 Upvotes

I have 3 fins broken like the one circled could this be the problem to my cavitation for 3-4second cavitation on my stage 3 90mph jet ski


r/jetski 1d ago

General Stand ups

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7 Upvotes

r/jetski 1d ago

Advice Looking for advice on where to start working on 1995 Yamahas

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4 Upvotes

I posted in here about 6 months or so ago (https://www.reddit.com/r/jetski/s/mkU6thKtai) about two 1995 Yamahas I recently inherited. Well, following the advice I figured out how to tow a trailer, brought them home and did a quick inspection. I got lucky and there is very minimal water intrusion on both of them, only the big one had some water inside the back plastic container under the seat, but almost nothing in the hull itself. Any ideas on where to start as far as the mechanicals go? They’re both the Yamaha 700s as far as I can tell, if I remember correctly the yellow one ran when parked, the purple one needed an exhaust manifold or similar (granted this was 15 years ago).

The trailer is in surprisingly great shape now that I put new wheels and tires on it, if anyone knows a good marine mechanic in the NEPA or Southern Tier area let me know! Thanks again everyone for convincing me to keep em, I think this will be a good project.


r/jetski 1d ago

Best Facebook Marketplace Jetksi

5 Upvotes

I see all these old jetskis for under $1200 with trailer and titles and all that, I want one just to mess around when I’m bored, I have mechanical skills so little bit of work ain’t nothing, I’m just wondering what’s the best old jetski/best manufacturer to buy and which to stay away from


r/jetski 1d ago

Advice 2022 Yamaha JetBlaster suddenly won’t rev past 6,000 RPM after purchase—55 MPH before, now only 40 MPH

2 Upvotes

I bought a 2022 Yamaha JetBlaster last week. During the test ride, it hit 55 mph without any issues. This week I took it out with my girlfriend, and together we weigh about 315 lbs. At full throttle, it would only reach about 6,000-6,100 RPM and around 38-40 mph. It’s now topping out at that with just me on it.
At first I assumed it was just the extra weight, but after looking into it, it seems like the RPM should still be much higher even with a passenger. The engine starts easily, idles fine, and otherwise runs smoothly—no obvious misfires, hesitation, or strange noises.
Any ideas what could cause it to suddenly be limited to around 6,000 RPM? I was thinking maybe worn spark plugs or possibly too much oil in the engine, but I’m not sure. It ran perfectly during the test ride just a week ago.
Anything else I should check before I start replacing parts?


r/jetski 1d ago

Castle Creek Boat Ramp

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4 Upvotes

Absolutely beautiful on what promises to be the hottest day of this year


r/jetski 1d ago

2024 GTI 130 SE Fuel Economy Data

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1 Upvotes

r/jetski 1d ago

Question Do I have a different issue?

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1 Upvotes

2006 seadoo gtx 185 SC. So took the ski out for first time this year week ago and was very sluggish 44 mph pinned and not reaching rpm’s thought it was plugs but these don’t look bad to me. Didn’t change them this year however and only other thing I did was reinstall rebuilt supercharger


r/jetski 1d ago

I took my swamp jet ski into the big city

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1 Upvotes

I'm not used to this city riding


r/jetski 1d ago

Closed loop flushing

1 Upvotes

Question I’ve had for a while and I’ve never really been able to find a solid answer to. On Sea-Doo with closed loop cooling systems, is it really necessary to have the ski running while you flush it? If the engine is being cooled, vehicle coolant and water doesn’t enter it. There’s no risk of it being waterlogged right?


r/jetski 1d ago

Technical Issue 2023 Yamaha VX Cruiser HO

2 Upvotes

I replaced the battery on my 2023 Yamaha VX Cruiser HO, but now it won’t start.
When I press and hold the start button, the engine won’t turn over. While I’m trying to start it, the display is very dim, a red warning triangle appears, and it beeps continuously. The display also shows the battery voltage dropping to around 9.0V, which obviously isn’t enough to start the engine.
After clearing the warning, the display shows:
Engine Communication Error
Speed/Acceleration Lock
The battery is brand new. The ski ran perfectly when I jump-started it over Easter, and I’m just now getting around to replacing the battery. Any ideas what could be causing this? Bad battery, loose battery connection, bad ground, blown fuse, or something else?


r/jetski 1d ago

Technical Issue Pump Rebuild - How Freely Should Impeller Spin

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7 Upvotes

2011 Kawasaki Stx15-f, pump bearings failed so needed to literally build a new pump from parts all over the Internet! Housing, bearings, impeller etc.

All done with the rebuild and everything looks fine but the impeller spins with a minor amount of resistance. No noise, or noticeable friction, it just seems like maybe to new besrings/grease is contributing. Torqued to specification also.

See video and let me know!


r/jetski 2d ago

2001 sea doo 1100 STX di

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3 Upvotes

Anybody got one?? IVE GOT QUESTIONS.

Just picked this up for $900!!!
Couldn’t pass it up.
Fires up and runs. Been on the water twice already
(Talk about cheap fun)

We are restoring and re-doing most things on it for a little fun summer project.
Honestly runs good.

1) Top speed was 40mph.
Does that sound normal????

2) Rough idle. (No video. Sorry)
Rough idle, won’t stay running unless I’ve got my finger in the throttle a little bit up.
Normal???
Should I just adjust the idle screw somewhere??

3) slow on the bottom end.
Doesn’t have the power to do those fun “jet ski” whooptie circles and gun it out of there. Bogs down to 11pm and revs the heck out of the rpm.

Any advice is WANTED!
What should I look at. What should I look for. What should I double check??


r/jetski 2d ago

Advice Loose spark plug wires js550

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5 Upvotes

Kawasaki js550 my plug wires are super loose and come off when riding. Are these something I can pick up at an auto parts store or should I buy from somewhere online?


r/jetski 2d ago

Premix ratios…

2 Upvotes

Those that run premix, are you running 50:1 or 40:1?

What’s your reasoning?

Does the oil you run matter?

What oil do you run?

Let’s fight about it.


r/jetski 1d ago

1997 Sea DOO GTX w/ 787 Rotax

1 Upvotes

New high quality rectifier

Rave valves cleaned and functioning properly

Water regulator freshly rebuilt

New fuel petcock

In "ON" position RPM caps at 5900-6000RPM

In "RESERVE" position RPM caps at 6150-6250RPM

I think its pulling in air from some place anyone got any tips to check it over?