First time out on the SPI

[bentgixxer]

Took the ski out this morning for a short bit, till a storm blew in. That thing is awesome!! my arms hurt like a MOFO!!

Ski ran like a champ. I'm sure there are MUCH faster ski's out there, but this thing will suit my needs. Didn't even get it up to speed at WOT, due to water chop, and my noob fear of trashing something. but had a blast!

Having never been on a ski in my life,so i did my own little safety course. ( been riding M/C's forever, and taken safety courses )
I practiced slow long and tight turns, idle speed and docking maneuvers, figuring out the lean angles on the ski, just some putting around near shore ( just in case, and i know your'e not supposed to operate within a certain distance of the shore, but i picked a spot with no one around ) Didnt tip it, and dont want to! lol. I tied some webbing off of the bar and made a loop so i could use it as a step if i tipped. Im sure the fiberglass is not the strongest in those regards, so eventually i'll have to figure something else out.

would have loved to play a little more and build my confidence, but being by myself and unsure if i could get back on if i fell off, i played nice.

If anyone on here is from the Clear Lake / Galveston area, hit me up sometime. I work 24 on 48 off, so usually have time to play.

 

[bentgixxer]

So the storms cleared up a lot quicker than I expected, so I headed back to the water. ( I love being 10 minutes from the ramp!! ) Unload the ski and go play. It was actually a lot calmer the second time, after the storm rolled through, the water calmed down. played around some more, did a little practice. went to where i could stand up in the water, and walked the ski out till i was chest deep to practice open water mounting. That is pretty difficult! LOL Fell off twice, ( I chose fall, versus tipping the ski ) and made it on the third attempt. I'm sure the family down the beach a hundred yards or so thought i was crazy.

So after riding around for about ten minutes, i notice the ski start to bog when i went WOT. It bogged briefly then caught up, and bogged briefly, then caught up. I dont know ski's, but my first assumption is going to be the plugs. I should have changed them already as the ski sat for 2 years in storage, so that will be item #1 this payday.

I decided to get a little braver this outing and do some sharper turns. I dont know if there is proper verbage for it, but once i was on plane, I turn slightly one way, once the ski enters the turn, I turn back the other way sharply. ( spinning the ski out basically ) that was a lot of fun, but shortly after, ( 10-15 seconds ) the motor boggs and dies. I'm assuming pulling a maneuver like that on an older carb ski, i just hit sufficient G force to starve the motor of fuel. after about 10-15 more seconds, ski would fire right back up.

After about 30-45 minutes on the water, i noticed the ski was starting to bog down a little more, a couple times almost to the point of stalling. so i decided it's time to park it for the day. Go enjoy a couple rum and cokes and melt my brain with the XBOX.

aside from plugs, anything else recommend replacing any wear parts as the ski sat for so long? I have a guy on another forum ( dont know if he posts here or not ) that works on skis, and i told him even though this SPI seems to be running well, I'd like him to give it a once over. So I'm sure he'll have recommendations for me as well.

anyways, that's it for today. washed the ski, flushed it, and parked it until sunday, have to hit the part time yob for a 36 hr shift on the morning.