300/440/550 I'm picking up a free 550 this coming week

[Bambino]

Hello everyone I am new to jet ski's- (I have ridden the big Yamaha wave runners tho) and I have ridden dirtbikes for years, worked at a Polaris dealership for a few years were I worked on quite a few Polaris 2-stroke watercraft motors- But this coming week I am supposed to go pick up a free Kawi js550- Anytime I try something new it usually begins with me going online and looking for the most legit forum I can find, so here I am- The person I am picking it up from said that it ran cherry the last time he had it at the local lake- "It runs like a top, and it's bored out" is what he said- He put it in the shed for the winter and it's been there for a few years now- He is older and doesn't want it anymore, and told me to come get it- I looked at it today but didn't have my truck with me, it's red in color and was under a tarp, and looked extremely clean- No dents or scratches, the paint looked great, the dash didn't look bad from the sun everything looked really "new"- I guess I am just seeing what is up with starting a project like this? Is it still cost-efficient to work on these? From the posts I looked through it seems there are still many out there working on them-

Can't wait to start pulling it apart- I will post pictures of it as soon as I get it-

 

[crazy4sand]

i was in ur shoes about two years ago been on dirtbikes all my life only rode jetskies a few times a year also big yamaha sit downs then i picked up my first stand up and all said and done my bike sits in the garge and i'm all into standups i own 2 Sjs now and have given/bought and sold about 6 550's and have a junkyard of parts laying arounf withen 2 years.

Welcome to the X and enjoy!

 

[Riding The Right Way]

Yeah, a junk yard of skis is the way to go .. So I'm learning .. I started lightly about 2 years ago with a 650 .. And now I have a 550, 440 and still have the 650 .. The hardest part is finding the freaking part you need .... So I've adding to the collection and creating your very own junkyard of parts is not a bad idea ....

Some times you get lucky and it just takes some minor things to get it running .. Other times it takes 3 skis to mix and match to get one good one .... haha .... A "not running" 440 or 550 are a dime a dozen .. Talk to parents friends and you would be surprised who has an old stand up in stored somewhere .. Or for $100 you can pull one off criagslist ....

People on here are pretty overly helpful, just takes a little time and research to find what you're looking for .... And soon enough you will be sucked it to a whole nother world .. haha