Hey guys, I am new to the X4 community and wanted to introduce myself. I really didn't know anything about X4s but stumbled across a 97 SPX on Craigslist that was advertised for $400 not running. I contacted the guy and he said it was in the water and he had no ramp so it pretty much had to be fixed at his dock. He immediately came down to $250 so I headed out. It looked terrible but I didn't care for the price. When I got there, it didn't have a battery so I hooked up my jumper and it started after a while. I was excited but found the throttle was sticking so I had to cut it off quickly. After I connected a bungee cord to the linkage and a quick test drive, I handed the guy the money. He acted like it suddenly didn't want to sell it but I told him I wasn't fixing his seadoo for free lol. It was bitter cold that day and very windy so he said I should come back in a few days when it was warmer but I wasn't leaving it there after fixing it. So, I directed my wife and friend to the nearest ramp and rode 15 minutes to meet them. By the time I got there, I was completely soaked and numb. There were no other boats out so if it broke down I was going to be in bad shape but I made it. I loaded it onto a utility trailer, took it home, rebuild both carbs, replaced all the fuel lines, cleaned the gas tank and valve, cleaned and rebuilt the rave valves, changed plugs, wired in a 451m relay and cleaned the VTS trim motor to get it all working. I also confirmed compression was good and gave it a good cleaning and buffing and now have a very nice ski for about $400. I am also installing a Blacktip seat cover Thursday. I was shocked at how fun it was when I first rode it. I assumed it was an old slow ski that would be good for just cruising around the lake but it is a blast. Since then (5 weeks ago), I have bought and fixed up two other X4s (95 and 96 XP) which I'll describe later. I still need to install the seat cover and paint the sponsons and rub rail but here are before and after pics of the SPX: