First Jet Boat, which year/model should I get

[rkkoeb]

My wife wants me to sell the jet skis and get a jet boat. With that said what is a good year and model to look for? Needs to be at least a 5 seater, do about 50 MPH and want a late 90's or early 2000's year model due to prices. Want something that will be dependable and a good history behind it. I do understand that I will need to be in a 2 stroke due to the age and price I want to spend. Any suggestion on what to look for or stay away from would be helpful

Thanks

 

[justinsrad98]

98-99 speedster are 5 seater. Engines are 787 so tons of parts cheap and are rebuiltable quickly and easily ( no like the mercury 240).
On the bad side, mpem are expensive.

They look good also!

 

[rkkoeb]

Are they single engine or twin engines? What type of top speed do you get?

 

[justinsrad98]

Twin 787. I get 50 on mine but it's way to fast to enjoy the boat st that speed. It's really fast at take off and literally jump out of the water. I paid mine 6k us 6 years ago on eBay .


Here is another pic

I had the seat redone when I bought the boat.

 

[Lumps]

I have a 2000 challenger 2000. It has the mercury 240 efi. I haven't had problems but I think I would get the 99 challenger 1800. It has the dual 787 engines. They are relatively cheap and if one fails on you out on the water you can still limp home. If you look at the mercury part of the forum, there are a lot of posts where there is something wrong with the engine and no one can figure out what's wrong

 

[racerxxx]

I have a 99 Speedster, bought it new. It's my favorite jet boat seadoo ever made. It seats 5, don't fool yourself, with an adult or a almost teen in the bow seat you'll be hard pressed to see, it's a pain in the ass. Consider it a true 4 seater. Now, the 98-99 challenger would be a great family boat and had the twin 787's which are dead reliable. You carb seat 3 across the back plus 2 captains chairs with the bow seat open. This boat will do 50+, I've had my speedster at 53 creeping in on 54 with just me, low on gas in water like glass using gps, so I'd be confident at a solid 53 mph. Not sure if [MENTION=57696]68ragtop[/MENTION] still has his challenger or not but he's in Green Bay.

I know I'll upset guys, but I wouldn't touch a Merc powered seadoo with a 10' pole. I'm 100% mechanically inclined and could handle working on it but a I know a seadoo 2 stroke engine like the back of my hand. They're so easy to rebuild and work on and if it totally grenades they're literally parts out there to trip over.

 

[68ragtop]

Good Morning!

Crap, talk about bad timing I sold my 1999 Challenger last summer to a guy with a cottage on the bay in dycksville. I wasn't looking to sell it, I was just approached at the right time & I sold it.

I completely agree with all the comments. When the twin 800's are dialed in & synced they are awesome to drive & the sound of them in stereo is like a small twin engine airplane. It's cool as heck. Mine was in perfect tune & with just me in the boat I could just squeak it over 50mph. 52 in good conditions. Never tried top speed with 3-4 people, but I think it would still be close to 50mph?

There was a 1998 challenger on CL recently in Green Bay & the price seemed reasonable as it looked really nice in the photos, but as these age there are a lot of rough ones out there too. Let me know what you do.

 

[TVKing]

I have a 1998 Challenger 1800 seats 7 but really seats 5 adults and a couple of kids or grandkids to ride in the bow. It has twin 787's mine will do 50 but as others said it is a thrill but not a normal ride.
Lots of fun easy to trailer and launch. Mine has been reliable for the 5 years that I have owned it.
Lots and lots of storage in these boats
Terry

 

[68ragtop]

The one thing I tweaked on mine quite a bit was getting the engines dialed in to each other. First time out they ran well, but didn't respond the same when I would go from idle to WOT pulling out of the water. that drove me nuts. Not that there was something wrong with either engine, they just didn't react the exact same. So I spent a lot of time adjusting the carbs until they were 95% the same. Then I got the throttle cables the same so they held the same RPM with both levers in the same position & I was very happy. Kinda miss the boat with all this talk.

 

[rkkoeb]

I know on the late 90's Seadoo jet skis they had problem with the Grey fuel lines jelling up. Did they have the same problems on the jet boats?

 

[rkkoeb]

I know on the late 90's Seadoo jet skis they had problem with the Grey fuel lines jelling up. Did they have the same problems on the jet boats? Also what should I expect to pay for a nice condition one?

 

[racerxxx]

My boat did not done with grey tempo fuel line, nor did the challenger I worked on.

 

[68ragtop]

Did these boats ever use the tempo lines? my 99 still had the original lines, non-tempo. With the bigger tank & routing its possible they never had them, but that's just a wild guess.

 

[racerxxx]

Some early boats did iirc. Or, at least I remember seeing a pic of one.