Super Jet decision/opinion help please

[Cache450]

Let me first off mention that Im fairly new to this game but have become addicted after being on a 550SX for a year, hence the reason Im asking for opinions. I have recently acquired a 98 SJ hull and have plans to build it up for next season... since they are "all the rage". Anyway I am having a terrible time trying to decide what motor to put in it. A few I have made the rounds about are the Jet/Blue 718, the jet/blue 781, or a ss850bb build. But I have recently learned of the "True Performance 964" motor and am VERY intrigued by it! mfg: They are a little out of my price range but I am all about "doing things right the first time"! So if it takes a little extra saving to make it happen then so be it.

So now to the opinions... is it REALLY worth putting that much motor into a SJ hull? (sure I would love myself a backie chan hull but its not gonna happen for awhile, if ever). keep in mind that I ride strictly flat water... and I do have a goal to somehow do some backflips eventually (goals are good right? ...even if I am a LONG ways off)

WHat are your thoughts? save up for huge motor and build accordingly or just drop in a clean Jet/blue motor and just go have fun??? :1zhelp:

 

[OCD Solutions]

What's your budget?

 

[High Speed Industries]

If you are fairly new to the sport a stock motor with a b pipe is fine. Get good on a small motor and you will be great with a big motor.

 

[makejetskiinggreatagain]

People always say that, but I have heard time and again from people with AM hulls that your skill progresses exponentially faster with an AM...wish I knew from experience....

 

[CRJ]

if you have plans to backflip, start with a good hull. better yet, buy a running 701 SJ, ride it for a year and then grab a hull. building them ground up is very expensive.

 

[OCD Solutions]

better yet, buy a running 701 SJ, ride it for a year and then grab a hull. building them ground up is very expensive.

This was my initial advice as well and where I was going with the budget question. I rocked a SN for over 9 years before I got the bug to build up a new ski and when I did, it cost me way more than I originally budgeted. I got a deal on a bare 2007 RN hull with footholds, lowered hood, footholds and turf. I was putting together a ported 760 for it and started with a budget of $8k and ended up with a little over $13K in it. I didn't do anything crazy either, it was just done right and done well but you would be amazed at how fast all the little stuff adds up. I would have saved thousands by starting with a running ski that had all the little parts already.

Here's a link to my build thread so you can see just how reasonable of a build it was for that price tag too.
http://www.x-h2o.com/threads/49919-IN2-H2O-s-07-Superjet-Build-quot-Sleeper-Project-quot

P.S. I could not have done it without the Jetmaniac either. Chris is your one stop shop for all the little things you will need to put together a ski from scratch and he's adding new parts to his inventory all the time.

 

[Big Kahuna]

People always say that, but I have heard time and again from people with AM hulls that your skill progresses exponentially faster with an AM...wish I knew from experience....

Seen that also, They learn to back flip.............. But that is all they can do, maybe some 180 - 360's......... Honestly, very little skill involved there......... Pin the gas and hold on.. Many of those guys could not run a bouy course efficiently, When needed, may not be able to change directions quickly for safety reasons......... Just my opinion. I believe you should learn to ride your ski well and handle your ski well first.........

 

[Dustin88]

Your best bet is to find a 701 sitdown for cheap, like a vxr pro or wr3 gp, and put everything in the sj hull with a b-pipe, then upgrade as you ride.

 

[makejetskiinggreatagain]

Seen that also, They learn to back flip.............. But that is all they can do, maybe some 180 - 360's......... Honestly, very little skill involved there......... Pin the gas and hold on.. Many of those guys could not run a bouy course efficiently, When needed, may not be able to change directions quickly for safety reasons......... Just my opinion. I believe you should learn to ride your ski well and handle your ski well first.........

ha ha makes sense. Didn't think about that happening. Guess I should stop obsessing about not having an am hull and ill just try to perfect the basics till I can save some cash. :wiggle:

 

[ProSouth]

.... Pin the gas and hold on.. .

not so easy on a -12 hull.... when you look like donkey kong riding a glass bottle, it aint easy doing 55mph. agree with BK though, learn to ride. hell i still can't ride.

 

[paczowski123]

This winter I'm building my 701 94 SN and focusing mainly on the power plant and driveline. To me this makes the most sense as I can swap this into an AM hull, and still give me some more power for the time being. Keeping my square nose allows me to save the needed money for my upgrade to an AM hull in the future, and by already having a good base driveline and power plant to swap over, I won't have much to do when it comes time to convert. That's me, but I'm on a budget and felt keeping the square and converting to a AM made more sense than spending extra money on a round nose, and having the extra money laying around in a hull once I swapped to AM.

All in all I'm saying to me it makes more sense to focus on driveline and engine then the hull as it can be swapped to a AM, as you already have that plan in mind.

 

[Blue]

Big motors are great but the down side is big motors cost a lot of money and eat a lot of fuel and if you go with a big motor you will probably run a PF pipe which only allows for a small 2 to 3 gallon tank which last about 30 minutes with my 898 motor. If your new to the sport a decent motor with a B Pipe is a good all around ski and when your ready to move up sell the whole ski and buy a carbon hull which you can then flip with even a small well built motor. Many people are able to flat water flip a superfreak even with one of our small Blue/Jetmaniac motors. I ride with a buddy of mine that rides a -4.3 superfreak with an 82mm motor I built him and it will flat water flip and roll with ease. Good luck which ever way you decide.

 

[paczowski123]

Can't wait to he my hands on my blue ported 735 top end kit!! Think it will really wake my current setup up!!

 

[xXx Octane xXx]

As I'm sure you've already come to find out, there are a lot of options for motors. I spent a good amount of time reading about and comparing all of the different motor options available from the different manufacturers and builders over the past three years during our off seasons. Like you, I also had the intention of putting a large displacement motor in my stock hull until I could afford an aftermarket hull. (A lot of people will tell you to buy the hull first instead, but like you, I did things backwards too).
After hearing and reading about the new True Performance Engineering motors last winter/early spring I got in touch with Erik and after a few long conversations with him about his motor design I ended up ordering a 964cc from him knowing that the motor was still in its development stage. Right around the time when the first group of cylinders came back from nikasil plating I heard about the new Powerhouse performance light weight billet +4mm cranks so I talked with Erik to see what his thoughts were on using a +4mm crank with his cylinder. I ordered a new crank from Zack that afternoon. The last minute change added some additional time to the delivery date but the outcome was absolutely worth the wait.
The TPE 1021cc has made my superjet so fun to ride that I honestly couldn't bring myself to take the motor back out of it to put into the carbon superfreak I bought this winter (which is getting its own TPE 1021cc). The weight issues associated with the stock superjet hull honestly become a non-issue with the power these TPE motors produce - and on a budget none the less.

Eric.