Forget blasters, the new Spark has... foot wedges!

DAG

DAG

Yes, my balls tickled from that landing
Location
Charlotte, NC
Hate me if you want but I think this is an awesome idea. Now would I own one, probably not, but anything that might make our sport grow I like to see. I can potentially see this as a stepping stone for kiddo's new to PWCs. Once they get board with the capable "trixx" that it can preform its inevitable for the person looking to have a little more fun will drop the seadoo training wheels look for something a bit more in the flavor of a yamaha. Regardless nice to see the market research analyst are showing people not only like fast "super skis" but also something that's nimble and fun to flick around, refreshing.
 
OCD Solutions

OCD Solutions

Original, Clean and Dependable Solutions
Location
Rentz, GA
I agree. Great entry ski to get you in the sport and then kick it to the wife/gf/kids and move up to something bigger.

I bet more women will be into it as well knowing the cost to play isn't near as high and the ski is actually fun instead of being a huge tank that they can't throw around.
 
Vumad

Vumad

Super Hero, with a cape!
Location
St. Pete, FL
The best thing to make our sport grow is a stand up version that is hard to ride. The idiots doing stupid things on couches is bad for our sport. We had a buoy track setup on a weekend. Say that you want about that, but 8 people in a predictable riding pattern is certainly safer than the alternative. Where I'm going with that is there were a group of people pulling a tube through our track while people were riding. They could have gone 500 feet further north and been completely out of our way, but they are idiots. No lookout, no respect for anyone else on the lake, just zigging and zagging indiscriminately. We had a couch blow through a picnic table on shore and park itself 200 feet into the parking lot 2 years ago. People come into shore and just crashing into each other. Just one stupid thing after another. Sit downs are just too easy to ride and too easy to crash. I have no objection to the spark, but I don't think it's positively growing "our sport" anymore than any other couch.
 
bored&stroked

bored&stroked

Urban redneck
Location
AZ
Vumad said:
The best thing to make our sport grow is a stand up version that is hard to ride. The idiots doing stupid things on couches is bad for our sport. We had a buoy track setup on a weekend. Say that you want about that, but 8 people in a predictable riding pattern is certainly safer than the alternative. Where I'm going with that is there were a group of people pulling a tube through our track while people were riding. They could have gone 500 feet further north and been completely out of our way, but they are idiots. No lookout, no respect for anyone else on the lake, just zigging and zagging indiscriminately. We had a couch blow through a picnic table on shore and park itself 200 feet into the parking lot 2 years ago. People come into shore and just crashing into each other. Just one stupid thing after another. Sit downs are just too easy to ride and too easy to crash. I have no objection to the spark, but I don't think it's positively growing "our sport" anymore than any other couch.
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Your in Florida. On the motorcycle racing forum we have a whole thread just for that place and all its "special" people living there. Trying to compare florida to the rest of the country just doesn't work. I can honestly say I've never had or seen a single one of those major problems with sitdowns here in arizona. They run into docks and other boats and leave marks, maybe drive where they shouldn't, but I see boats doing that on the daily as well so you can't single out the skis.
 
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Pro-pulsion

Pro-pulsion

Location
Ontario, Canada
I would agree with the belief that there is a rather high percentage of the couch riders with little to no respect for others or their surroundings. I personally have a 6 stitch scar just above one of my ears from a guy riding a ZXi 1100. When I was a young lad and helmets on skis for personal use was unheard of, I was jumping a wake when this guy out of nowhere flew in right behind me, when I landed he was in the air on my trail and landed on my head. His ride plate gored me pretty bad and gave me a concussion for about 3 months. It sort of scares me to see them making it more affordable for an idiot to get on the water will just result in more idiots on the water lol. I keep well away from everyone but these guys find me and always come too close for comfort just to see the standup guy flying out of the drink.
 
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Quinc

Quinc

Buy a Superjet
Location
California
We had a guy on a standup die over the 4th. I was at the lake but didn't see it. Story goes that two buddies jumping boat wakes and jumped into each other. One guy ended up with a broken ankle. Other guy got hit in the head and life flighted, but ended up passing a few days later.
 
Pro-pulsion

Pro-pulsion

Location
Ontario, Canada
At my favorite ramp one year were two totally inexperienced newbs on old beaten Kawi standups, they saw us out, so they thought they could join in our group. That would have been fine but the one ski was a 550 full of problems and a dead battery after 20 minutes of cranking lol...nice to see them test these scowls before clogging the ramp up...the other was a straight piped 650sx out the side, no waterbox. He chose to take his 3 year old kid out for a ride on the screamin demon without hearing protection. That poor kid was at about the right height to get that sound in the face. I made it clear that nobody with little to no regard for other people is going to be seen with me, on or off the water. To do that straight piped crap to a neighborhood of apartment buildings and make them put up with that uncontrolled volume, and then torture a kid with it was beyond unacceptable. I saw those two skis put up for sale that weekend when we told them you're not riding with us. This year one of the same two guys was at the ramp again with an old scowl of a Polaris 650 couch on the trailer and some other yellow bucket in the water, and again parked fully across the loading zone for the ramp and using the ramp as his own test tub. I'd hate to see what kind of stupidity he would perform with a higher performance couch in his evident price range. Up here we have to pass a boater's competency test but it can be done online and anyone can do the test for anyone. It really defeats the purpose when I see fools like that, but then again there is no proof he even did the test. Probably just bought a scowl for a dirt cheap price and off to the lake. Just as a funny regarding these clowns, they forgot to fill up their stand-ups when the got to the ramp, saw that the price of gas closer to the ramp was 4 cents more than where they lived...drove off and returned an hour and a half later with one full gas can to "save" the 4 cents lol.
 
orangefinger

orangefinger

Location
Reno,NV
seadoo now catering to the drunk kids ( at every lake ) doing 360's , and again , and again, splashing each other, splashing swimmers, getting close, getting too close >>>> woops crashed, woops ski upside down...hella trixx .......seadoo congrats you found your crowd ;0) .
 
Christian_83

Christian_83

Xscream
Location
Denmark
Mr_Bucket said:

"The 2017 SPARK TRIXX model comes equipped with numerous innovations including handlebar with adjustable riser, step wedges and extended-range Variable Trim System (VTS), all of which help riders perform tricks like a pro."

I get the adjustable handlebars, but the other two features don't make much sense to me. Do people do tail stands on purpose? And who needs trim on a ski that can't flip?

Their time would've been better spent if they just added some power and cut some weight. Hopefully Yamaha has something better to reveal next week...
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Erhm, well the Spark can flip - so yeah thats that :)
 
truth609

truth609

Location
Wisconsin
Vumad, I put in 55 hours of hard surf time on my 14. I broke the stock handlebars, and 2 steering supports, nothing else. It honestly held up great. If you aren't excited that a manufacturer made an affordable, smaller, lighter ski, then without competition improved that ski, you are ignorant.
 
billglass

billglass

Location
usa
I like the idea that they put fun back into the sport for sit-downs since the Blaster has been discontinued for years. It will never fill the enthusiasts void that is out there (in the sitdown market). That's why the Blaster lives. But I see with today's release of the yamaha models that just another couch at a cheaper price came out. When it comes to riding couches, I choose not riding.. I let my buddy ride my Blaster (he use to have one) for old times sake the other day and I sat on the picnic bench instead of riding his 70 mph couch.. You do like 3 70mph passes and that gets old. Doing tricks on it is like doing tricks on a boat. It's just dumb. I'd rather save my energy for the Blaster. I agree with those above that it is sad that there are so many idiots out there who have no respect for rules and property. That will always be the case. and I have to say, I would like to try the spark trixx just to see what is really feels like.... my 2 cents.


BTW Spark. You don't need foot wedges to do a tail stand on the Blaster, Just skill.. LOL
 
Vumad

Vumad

Super Hero, with a cape!
Location
St. Pete, FL
truth609 said:
Vumad, I put in 55 hours of hard surf time on my 14. I broke the stock handlebars, and 2 steering supports, nothing else. It honestly held up great. If you aren't excited that a manufacturer made an affordable, smaller, lighter ski, then without competition improved that ski, you are ignorant.
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I made 3 posts in this thread...

Up trim... I've owned many many skis. Many of them nose under on the face of a wave. I wasn't being sarcastic when I said up trim is a positive thing.

Bad for "our sport"... I didn't say there was anything wrong with the spark. Actually, I have been contemplating buying one. I think they are a great thing for the overall industry. However, I stand by saying that many people are reckless in operation of sit-downs, and the spark eliminates the learning curve of standups. I don't believe the spark is any better for the sport of standup / B1 than the new sport cars are for motorcycles. Hopefully, some people of lesser means could start racing them in stock classes, which will help offset stand-up classes. Otherwise, I can see no-benefits for stand-up riders.

How they hold up... Again, genuinely interested as a potential owner. I'm currently riding a blaster. My concern with the spark is how the hull is built. I'd be worried about it breaking down in the hot sun or cracking on jumping. That's really my only concern.

I think the spark is a great thing. It's awesome that you can buy anything for that price. I have suggested them to a few friends and have considered putting on on the trailer with my blaster.
 
truth609

truth609

Location
Wisconsin
Vumad, I wasn't directing any negativity or anything to you, just that I have 50+ hours of surf on a spark and it help up great. I broke some stuff and 1 of those items, sea doo reinforced on the 17. The yam ex is a Damn Joke. Brp deserves great respect and our business for stepping up and offering the closest thing to an aggressive surf capable sit down since 1996.
 
truth609

truth609

Location
Wisconsin
I do nose stabs, whips, and inverted whips on my spark.FB_IMG_1450294589200.jpg


ima badfish said:
i saw one at daytona freeride last year that was pulling true nose stabs. it was pretty crazy. Probably in one of the dayonta vids out there.
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imabadfish said:
i saw one at daytona freeride last year that was pulling true nose stabs. it was pretty crazy. Probably in one of the dayonta vids out there.
Click to expand...
 
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