96, 97 Speedster or 97 Challenger?? Pros& Cons?

[SharkX]

Hi,

I'm looking to purchase my first Seadoo boat and there are a few boats that are in my price range that I am going to look at in the next couple of days. My choices are a 96 or 97 Speedster, and a 97 Challenger. The price on the speedsters are around the $4000 range and the challenger is around $3500. Would appreciate any advice, I've read on here what to look for but wanted to get some of your opinions.

Thanks in advance!

 

[ocod]

Aren't the speedsters smaller?
If your planning on having more than 3-4 people plus gear then the larger Challenger is better choice

 

[fastboatman29212]

Hi! I own a 97 Speedster. Fast, super stable in turns, agile, pulls toys and wakebaords/kneeboards great. NOT VERY MUCH FUN IN CHOPPY WATER since it's only about 14 -15 ft long. Check on service records. If fuel lines, etc have not been replaced since new, it will need to be done. Parts are getting harder to find, but not too bad. Watch for leaks into the engine compartment trough problem areas. Mine started leaking through a rust hole in the muffler.

 

[SharkX]

Ok, I checked out the 97 Speedster and did a compression test on both motors and all 4 cylinders were right at 120 psi. The boat was a little rough cosmetically but seemed to run ok on the trailer. I can get the boat for $3500 with the trailer, what do you guys think? The guy selling it said that he is a marine machanic and has gone through the pumps and everything is good. He said I could water test it tomorrow if I wanted to.

 

[ocod]

Ok, I checked out the 97 Speedster and did a compression test on both motors and all 4 cylinders were right at 120 psi. The boat was a little rough cosmetically but seemed to run ok on the trailer. I can get the boat for $3500 with the trailer, what do you guys think? The guy selling it said that he is a marine machanic and has gone through the pumps and everything is good. He said I could water test it tomorrow if I wanted to.

Thats on the edge of a rebuild and can hold out another season or two more??
Def a water test then its up to you.....

 

[jb92563]

Towing weight might be an issue as I know first hand how awefull it is to tow something too big for your car.

Thats why I bought a 99 Speedster last week to tow behind the 4.0l Wrangler.....it tows great!


Also I had considered the Merc vs 1 or 2 rotax.

It seems hard to get a older Merc serviced and less folks around doing it, plus its expensive on parts.

Conversely I can get 2 rebuilt rotax for under $2000 and there are lots of folks who work on them.

I also wanted the 2 engine setup for redundancy to limp home if things go bad, and when they are both going strong
your flying like a bat out of hell.

My 2 cents

Ray

 

[OfficerSeaDoo]

If the '97s check out okay mechanically, then I'd go with one of them. They have observer seats and I don't think the '96 does. I think you'll also gain a ski pylon on the '97s. Either way, you should be happy. These boats are always worth something.

 

[SharkX]

Well, I ended up going with a real nice 96 Speedster. Thanks for all the advice. Compression tested out good, took it out on the lake and it ran good, so all is good Everything works except for the gas gauge so I'm thinking that it is probably the float loosing the magnets.