Newbie questions

[bfrost]

Hi guys, I'm new to this forum and new to owning a boat.

Last week i bought a 1998 sportster 1800. I LOVE IT! I had been shopping around for a used boat and found this one at a really cheap price - about 3k$ cheeper than others. Thought it would have been in rough shape, but it's not, it's mint. For a 10yr old boat, it looks like new.

So, I took it out on the water for the first time. With 4 people in the boat, I was only able to get up to a bit past 45mph. Might have got a bit more if I kept on the throttle. The previous ownder told me he got it up to 62mph with old plugs and thought it could go faster with the new ones. So obviously I didn't get it going that fast. I'm not worried yet tho. I'll try again soon (was only on it once).

My questions are:

What should I be looking at to make sure it's running smoothly and that I'm able to get the right speed coming from it?

If he said he got it to 62mph and I can only get 45mph, should I be worried?

What kind of regular maintenance should I be doing? I run on fresh water only and always take it out of the water.

If I want to wax the hull, will any old boat wax be ok?

Is it safe to wash out the engine compartment with a hose or pressure water? There is a bit of muck in there...

Is there anything I should know being a new boat owner? It will be used mostly to tour, tubing, water ski/wake board.

Has anyone used this boat to wakeboard before? Is the wake large enough or did you need to add ballists?

I know, a lot of questions... feel free to answer as many as you want. Just really new and excited about being out. So much to learn. Glad I found this site

here's a pic of my new baby

 

[robin savell lloyd]

I am not sure of the exact speed your boat can go but I believe that you are very close. If you did a internet search on this subject you will find out from a lot of pwc long time riders that many people either lie about there top speed or they are useing the dreamometer that came with there boat. If your tachometer is very close to your revlimiter at top speed there is nothing you can do to your engine to make it go faster without over reving your engine. your jet pumps could need some atention. I would think that this could be one way of checking the pumps. It is only a rough idea but will be close. If you can get much higher speeds buy your self in the boat with no one else. than I would say it may be time to service pumps. I can be wrong but I would think top speed in your boat should not drop by more than 5 mph with 4 people in the boat. :cheers: