True story:
I drive to the dealership yesterday morning to have the compression checked. Shop foreman, salesman & myself are standing there in a very tense situation. Test with their tester & the foreman says "we did lie; it has 150 lbs" - I see it for myself....
We put my tester on - 75 lbs. I agree that the problem must be with my equipment. Still very tense but we call the deal good.
I hop in the truck, do a quick search for Autozone and there is one 4 blocks away. I drive there (busiest Autozone I've ever been in) and explain that my tester (bought 2 weeks earlier) is defective & get an exchange. I go to the parking lot, use the replacement tool and - 30 lbs.... Now I'm starting to get angry.
I throw the tool in my toolbox & start on my way to go look at Seadoo #2, the '98 GTX Limited. On the way I see an O'Reilly store so I pull in and rent a tool from them. This tester pulls 110 lbs. Better, but still not what I had just seen on the dealership's gear. I decide that these may not be quality tools although they sell them everyday for around $40. Continue to Seadoo #2.
I meet the seller's wife at a boat ramp, give the ski a visual inspection and decide to lake test it. I'm wading in 43 deg water an the machine starts easily. I let it warm up a bit before getting out of reach of the dock. All seems well. I head out on the lake and run for about 15 minutes; accelerate, decelerate, idle, manuever, check the reverse: all good. I had brought my GPS with me & had cleared the max speed. I never did go WOT for long due my lack of experience riding a ski. If I lost my glasses it would be bad.... My GPS recorded just over 50 mph. This seemed good enough for me. I negotiate the deal over the phone and purchase the ski for $1900.
I stopped at NAPA on the way home & bought another tester... The original ski tests 140 lbs, the GTX reads 135 lbs. I think it's going to be OK.
What a day.
