Help me decide ! GTX 260 Ltd Yes, but 2011, 2012 or must be 2013 ??

[charlyboy]

Hi everybody...

Dont answer straight away 2013 please !!!!!

Two reasons for that :

1) The price tag : I am from France, and over here these things are pretty expensive
2) I am not going to put many hours on it, so, I will be obliged to force myself to go out more in the early days, to get the "soft" 10 hours done for the first service before I can really enjoy the machine

I would like to get a GTX 260 Ltd because of the suspension, and also the power, of course. It will be to have some fun, in the Mediterranean with my kids, mainly for Wakeboarding.

At first, I saw two weeks ago a splendid GTX 260 Ltd 2010 with only 10 Hours on it, from a dealer who was offering a warranty on it, the machine has been serviced each winter, pristine condition.. Not expensive at all..

Then I learnt that BRP made a few changes with the 2011: air filter, tank volume, more power, transmission, intercooler, compressor, fuse box, and much more... too many changes to be left unnoticed... I decided to pass on this 2010 for the moment and look for the differences in between the different models produced 2010, 2011, 2012 and the new one 2013...

Why ? in order to decide which one to take, to avoid, if possible to get a brand new one and pay too much for a machine I will use maybe 30 hours per year, and avoid also to purchase an early model which could potentially has quite a few issues over time and fail on me when I want to use it !!!

Your advice will be welcome and carefully considered !!

 

[charlyboy]

Not many views, no answers,

I guess this subject isn't interesting at all to anybody, either nobody here has used any of these machines, or nobody has had any issues with these machines. Which could be good if it is the case.

In Europe, it wasn't the case, early models had lots of issues with compressors, suspension, electricity, transmission, etc ... and opinions are more expressed about this subject, and discussions tend to be very lively, a bit too passionate at times, and can loose their objectivity...

Here it is easier in a way... opinions aren't expressed

 

[mattydipps]

i remember there being more of an issue with the "older" gtx.. from 06 and before 215s with valve issues and internal issues.. not so much with the newer 260s

IMO i do not like suspension skis and i try to stay away from suspension skis.. what is the price difference between the years?

if your into wake boarding like in your previous post, why not opt for the 215 wake pro?? its a great ski and it has plenty of power..and has a ton of features for towing a wake boarder

 

[KK40384]

Only issues I know about the newer suspension models is that they don't like to float very well. There have been some sinking issues with the iS models. There's a thread on here about it. I'm sure if you search it will come up. I'd stay away at all costs from the suspension.

 

[charlyboy]

Hi,

I never heard about sinking issues, I heard (read) about a lot of things but not about sinking... A friend had a 255 rxtx who sank, but it was his fault he made so many mods, including the exhaust, that water could get inside the watercraft when static when left unattended for too long... going down !!!!

A shop advised me to look for the Wake 215 too... I liked the GTX for all the gadgets it had... I may need to change my mind...

Now, again, what are the evolutions in between the 2011, 2012 and 2013 models of the wake pro 215 ?

 

[KK40384]

Here's the link to the thread discussing sinking problems of the suspension skis

http://www.seadooforum.com/showthread.php?42924-2010-RXT-nearly-sank-today&p=316571#post316571

As far as the wake models go I can tell you that the 2012 and '13 use the s3 hull which is pretty darn good. I'm not sure about the 2011

 

[red2blue]

PWC's don't have transmissions.

 

[charlyboy]

Thanks KK40384 for the link,

PWC's don't have transmissions.

Red2blue, What do you mean by this ?

 

[chucked]

Its direct drive right off the engine. Where did you read they had transmissions? I dont know about that exact model but there were probably only subtle differences in those 3 years.

 

[charlyboy]

ooops, my english which is far from being good enough, I miss a lot of vocabulary, sorry. And I also miss braincells !!! When I am trying to recollect what I was told more precisely, it is more like this. In early models, there has been issues with misalignment maybe due to the engine supports, so it lead to frequent ring change around the propeller and propeller changes too. The GTX 260 Ltd I was interested with had only 15 hours on it, and already had a new ring and a new propeller... I probably translated this in my mind as transmission issues.. which is probably wrong...

The fact is that the local dealers keep saying that there are no issues with these machines, but people on French forums keep vomitting on 2009 and 2010 machines, and actually on most iS machines.

For the past 3 days a few people have advised me to go the RXT-X 260 AS RS route as I really wished to have a Sea-Doo with suspension, it seems that this machine runs flawlessly. Most forum members are extremely happy with the RXT and RXT-X machines, All S3 hull owners seem also very happy, and the few ones who have the aS models say that it is a zillion times better than the iS one. It isn't a "pullman" version of course, you know you are on a jet this time...

The machine in itself seems very good, I must admit it.

I still love the GTX 260 Limited for all the gadgets which comes with it, maybe i will never use them.... but...

 

[red2blue]

Why is the suspension such a crucial need for you if you're just gonna be towing the kids around with it?

Personally, I've found the S3 hull on the newer T-X 260's allows wot runs through decent chop with minimal effort from the rider...especially when compared to the older skis. But I also find they ride much better...more comfortably than the suspension skis. Because....here's where personal preference comes to play...the suspension skis sit too high...and in rough water I find that very unnerving.

But maybe that's just me.

 

[charlyboy]

Well, I wished to have the suspension because I have a bad back. However, when I take care of it, it can leave me in peace for very long periods of time and I can ski, play tennis, practice kite, wake, bike among other things... Among the things I must avoid : running, regardless the shoes quality, horse riding because i am not good enough, and the first hit with the saddle and I can't walk for weeks !!

I used for hours and hours the GP 1300 of a friend a while ago, and I was obliged to use my legs a lot, like when on a trial bike. I am slowly getting old as we all do, and I slowly tend to prefer comfort to performance, this is why the suspension side was appealing to me.

And to be honest, the "Yacht" side, with all gadgets of the GTX Limited has some appeal too.. I have a bad tendency to like gadgets a lot


A couple of weeks ago, I registered to this forum with the hope to learn what were the evolutions on the GTX 260 Ltd from 2010 till 2013, and unfortunately, to date, I have no managed to learn this.

I know that I have said that one of the objectives was do do wake boarding with it, to the question "why not taking a wake pro 215?" Well, I though about it, it is a very nice machine, a lot cheaper, but, heuuuu, I wished to have suspensions...

The only seadoo shop next to me hasn't got a GTX 260 ltd in stock, but a RXT-X AS RS, and they were ready to give me a very nice discount on it, but by the time I added the scale, ski module, depth module, cover, safety kit, speed ties, I was getting close to the price of the GTX machine, without being sure I would use the extra sporty character of the RS. Maybe the aS suspension would be better, I don't know...

We'll try to organize two day trials with the shop in the coming weeks if the weather decides to get better. Hopefully, if I try the machines, it will be easier for me to make a decision.. because on paper only, it is quite difficult..

 

[smc0922]

I have a 2011 RXT-X aS and love it. The suspension really smooths everything out for a nice ride. As for the sinking issues I have no idea how they flood the engine compartment, the compartment walls on my ski are taller than the sides, so excessive rain will spill over the side before it reaches the top of the engine compartment. Most other sinking issues are due to exhaust hose clamps being loose or bad carbon seals on the driveline.

Overall there isn't any major issue that would make me choose a 2010, 11, or 12 over another. I believe the color change in 2012 is the only real difference.

 

[charlyboy]

Thanks Shawn for your feedback, The RXT-X aS really looks like a very nice machine.