Opinions on 2004 Speedster 200

[thor7000]

Looking at a 2004 seadoo speedster 200 with the twin 155HP engines (310HP total)....how is the overall performance of the boat?? How are they getting out of the hole, is the HP enough for the boat?? I currently own a 2004 Sportster 155 4TEC and am pretty happy with the overall performance, just would like to have something with a little more seating capacity.

Thanks,

 

[Dr Honda]

Performance wise... it will be close to your Sportster. 2 engines... but a much bigger boat. I think you will be happy with it. My only concern is the engines. Those are first gen 4-tech's... and they may be at the end of their life.

If you are thinking about buying it... take it to a reputable shop, and have them check over the engines. (compression, leak down, total hours, etc)

Post some pics if you get it. :cheers:

 

[thor7000]

Thanks....the owner claims both engines have 65hrs on them and was just fully serviced a month ago!! If I pull the trigger on it I will definitely post some pictures!!

 

[unclejay]

65 Hours

Funny how all boat engines seem to have either 35 or 65 hours on them. Even 20 year old ones.

Actually 10 hours per year is not good anyway. Too much sitting around ruins an engine faster than using it.

 

[thor7000]

The current owner bought the boat new in 2006, actually it still has an extended warranty until june 2011!!

Another option just came up, a guy that I called at the beginning of the week called me today, he has a 2006 Yamaha AR210...he is asking $17,800

From what I have read the Yamaha's are pretty good boats but are under-powered whereas the Seadoo Speedster 200 has better performance but not as many cool options as the Yamaha. The Sportster as mentioned above has low hours (65hrs) still has extended warranty until june 2011, bimini top, travel cover, and is in very nice condition....got the seller down in the mid $12K mark!!

I am still leaning towards the Speedster, but thought I would see what your thoughts would be..!!

Thanks,

 

[RFoster130]

That sounds like a good deal on the Speedster really.

 

[jcrango]

04 speedster has plastic pumps

The 04 speedster 1st and 2nd editions have plastic pumps. These pumps tend to get out of round and wear out the wear rings quckly thus causing cavatation. The 05 speedster has metal pumps to solve the problem. I have an 04 and if I would of known before hand I would of bought an 05. Other than that they are good boats.

 

[thor7000]

The 04 speedster 1st and 2nd editions have plastic pumps. These pumps tend to get out of round and wear out the wear rings quckly thus causing cavatation. The 05 speedster has metal pumps to solve the problem. I have an 04 and if I would of known before hand I would of bought an 05. Other than that they are good boats.

thanks for the heads up!! Could you upgrade to a metal pump?? and if so what would it cost??

Since you have the same boat...what would you estimate the overall weight including the trailer would be?? I know the dry weight is listed at 2,770lbs. but cannot find the total weight including trailer. I have a GMC Safari van that has a towing capacity of 3,500lbs. and am hoping that I won't be over that..!!

thanks,

 

[RFoster130]

You are going to be realllly close on the weight. I would guess 300 lbs of fluids plus the trailer and boating gear will put it right at 3500. You really shouldnt tow anything even close to the max weight. It will kill the transmissions and brakes.

 

[thor7000]

O.K...so here is another option then...the 2004 speedster 200 310HP (65hrs) for $12.7K or a 2009 Challenger 180SE 255HP (18 hrs) for $17.5K + shipping costs from the West coast??

 

[RFoster130]

They both have pros and cons. That challenger is a nice boat. It will put you within the weight range for towing. It is newer. It has 1 engine to maintain. Yeah it has a supercharger, but being an 09, you wont have the washer issue. Just rebuild it every 100 hours or so. The cons to it are that it will be slightly slower than the speedster and slightly smaller. If you can live with that, then go for it.

Coming from the west coast, i would ask if it was used in salt water and what kind of care was done to it

 

[jcrango]

04 speedster towing

I pull my 04 speedster 2nd edition with a 98 Chevy Astro van without any issues. You could change to metal pumps for about $1000 if you do the work yourself. What I did was to go from a plastic to stainless steel wear rings. There is no way the ss wear ring will go out of round ($300 For both pumps). A lot of people a leary of the ss wear ring. After talking with seveal pros and high performance guys it is obvious most use ss wear rings.

 

[thor7000]

I pull my 04 speedster 2nd edition with a 98 Chevy Astro van without any issues. You could change to metal pumps for about $1000 if you do the work yourself. What I did was to go from a plastic to stainless steel wear rings. There is no way the ss wear ring will go out of round ($300 For both pumps). A lot of people a leary of the ss wear ring. After talking with seveal pros and high performance guys it is obvious most use ss wear rings.

Thanks...that definitely helps putting me at ease!! lol

Sorry to sound stupid, but how do I know if it is a 1st or 2nd edition speedster and what are the differences??

 

[jcrango]

04 speedster 2nd edition

If the 04 speedster hull number on the back of the boat is equal to or greater than US-CEC601421304 it is a 2nd edition. The only difference I know of is the plastic pumps are different. The 1st edition has the same plastic pump as the 03 GTX 4-Tec jet ski. The 2nd edition has the same plastic pump as the 04 GTX 4-Tec jet ski. When I ordered my Riva ss wear ring I ordered it for the 04 GTX 4-Tec and it fit perfect. Never even had to remove the impeller. You can go to Seadoo.com under the owners section and look at the parts list for the 1st & 2nd editions and you will see 99.9 % of the part numbers are the same. At some point Seadoo changed where the exhaust exits the boat, mine exits under each rear corner. On other boats the exhaust exits under the center of the boat where the ladder is stored. By the way, I bought my boat in the spring of 2010 for $13,000. It had been used the first summer it was new and only had 10 hours. The owner owed $19,500 and had to come up with $6,500 just to sell his boat. That had to hurt. That is a big problem. Many people owe more on there boats than they are worth and it costs them money to sell them. If they don't have a free and clear titile then you have to deal with the bank and it gets difficult.

 

[jcrango]

04 2nd edition speedster

I have the 2nd edition 04 speedster. I got the wear rings from ************** who give members a 10% discount and has lower shipping rates. Greenhulk gets them from Riva Racing. I did the wear rings myself the hardest part was drilling the 4 holes in the ss wear ring for the set screws that prevent the wear ring from spinning inside the plastic pump housing. The 1st edition 04 speedster has a shorter plastic pump and would require the wear ring to be cut 10mm shorter by a machine shop. Private messaging isn't working for my replies. If you have any more questions use this thread.

 

[thor7000]

Thanks for your help...much appreciated!!