Looking to buy Freestyle ski but need advice

[Quinc]

The fuel is not that much

Just 8$+ a gallon more then pump. why you should run 50/50!

 

[Wetbuffalo]

Or do like I do and put two ratio right cups of leaded 116 into 5 gallons of 91 ethanol free. Just adds that bit of safety factor and the motor runs a lot smoother.

 

[badvinny]

One reason the PO wants pump gas is because here in Canada you can't pull up to the pump for race fuel. I have 3 different Dasa 1100+1000cc motors, Pump gas and Octane 112 additive has served me fine for years, but now I am adding a gallon of VP every can and it seems better on my program able ignition. Never had a fuel related failure before. 5 gallons of VP is over $100 here btw.
A Dasa and B pipe, enhancer has done fine with Taylor Curtis for everything this guy is asking for.

 

[yamanube]

I wasn't aware of that about pump gas engines, would it be safe to hold it down at a 1/2 - 3/4 throttle, or would heat still build up too much?

None of these hulls you'll be holding at 3/4 throttle. Coming off a Spark, you might be hard pressed to even stay standing.
This feels like a post for Facebook, lots of experts there to help you transition from a Seadoo to an all around backflip ski that chases boats and rides fast.

 

[orangefinger]

square nose super jet, cheap and will help u fundamentally understand that its not like riding a spark standing up ....

U wont have dumped a bunch of money into something u might be overwhelmed with

what's these riders are doing on their skis looks easy....but it aint .....I always recommend to learn the basics , learn how to ride and muscle and then learn how to control ...... going from ability to ability and control is a huge step.

plus its unspoken but your rider cred is way higher ......then some of the kids that just fork out 30K and get on a 1200 ...earn it , don't just buy it :0_)

 

[Canadian_l3acon]

I really appreciate all of the good information in this thread. I know its easy to roll your eyes at a new guy like me who talks about wanting to hop on one of these things and go so I appreciate your patience. I am starting consider the option of finding a good clean lightly modded square nose SJ to learn on for sure. Just wondering if I would feel like I needed more shortly after. I only have room in my garage for one more ski right now so it would be nice to have one that does it all.

 

[whitca]

Get in touch with @bungeeguy. Great dude in your area.

 

[E350]

Get in touch with @bungeeguy. Great dude in your area.

 

[Citizen]

The ski i am selling was actually Bungeeguy's at one point haha. Super good guy

 

[mike b]

I think I will be one of the only, or possibly the only one who says to get an AM hull. Not to get you off track, the SJ is more than likely what every rookie ends up going to even though they have their eyes set on a freestyle ski. Most of the time I think that is because of budget. People want a flatwater flipper for 6k and that is not going to happen. If you have 13-17k to throw at a flatwater boat I would say go for it, if you don't have atleast 8k into a ski I would say it would not be that entertaining.

I jumped from a couch to a js550 to a 650sx and then AM hulls. I never rode a superjet and I can't say that has held me back from anything minus a barrel roll really. A superjet, unless in surf, is not going to flip or do a 360. A 180 is very able to do on an AM hull on your first day so for that to be a reason to ride a superjet for a year to get a 180 nose stab down I wouldn't be on board with that idea very much. I took the shortcut and a lot of riders will disagree with me, however just because it worked for me it doesn't mean it will for you. I go to the lake ALOT so unless you are putting in the tray time you will not progress with tricks. At the same time you might give it a few tries and figure it is not for you and you would rather go fast and big air jumps. In which so, a superjet or OEM hull will be the better option and alot cheaper.

Bottom line is if you don't have 10k or more to throw into a flatwater ski, you really won't be getting anything that is worth a damn and better to find a superjet for yourself. Sure there are deals between 7 and 10 that pop up but the people that know a good deal it will be gone before you make a thread wondering if its a good fit for you. You should travel and experience some skis of all sorts of budgets and figure out what is best for you. A ticket to Lake Havasu in October would be cheap compared to throwing money into the wrong ski. Gain some more experiece first hand as well as doing your own research, not asking a group what they think is best. In October there will be stock and modded superjets, 5-8k AM skis, and 10k plus, then all the 20k full comp setups. I know full comp is not what you need, but deciding if an AM hull is something you want or need will be something you can easily figure out there. People have different reasons to say one ski is better than another, but none know if it is best for YOU. You will have to figure that out since most of us already had the background of riding a standup of some sort. Not sure if anybody has come off a seadoo and jumped into the sport before so not sure the path you should go as your situation is special lol.

 

[Yami-Rider]

Depends who you are I guess. We have a newby and he has only been riding for a couple months till he landed his first backflip on a 701 V2. No easy task. But prolly better to get a sj if you've never rode, you may or may not like it, before you dump 10k+ into a user a/m ski

 

[eastcoastjumper]

Maybe off topic here but this whole pump gas thing boggles me. So people want the high dollar lightweight/strong carbon hull, bad ass high energy ignition, billet stroker PV ported engine, big modified carbs, big pump with kick ass trim, dry pipe make me a star ski but then want to skimp on fuel? This whole pump versus race gas thing has got to stop. It's a dead horse that called me and said stop beating it. The fuel is not that much and the quality is what you are paying for just like the ski. Pump gas quality varies state to state and station to stAtion so it is not a valid metric. Move on to a topic or metric that has not born out a self evident answer. Have a great day and hope ya find what ya want.

i blew through 55 gallons of c12 this month.

I think I will be one of the only, or possibly the only one who says to get an AM hull. Not to get you off track, the SJ is more than likely what every rookie ends up going to even though they have their eyes set on a freestyle ski. Most of the time I think that is because of budget. People want a flatwater flipper for 6k and that is not going to happen. If you have 13-17k to throw at a flatwater boat I would say go for it, if you don't have atleast 8k into a ski I would say it would not be that entertaining.

I jumped from a couch to a js550 to a 650sx and then AM hulls. I never rode a superjet and I can't say that has held me back from anything minus a barrel roll really. A superjet, unless in surf, is not going to flip or do a 360. A 180 is very able to do on an AM hull on your first day so for that to be a reason to ride a superjet for a year to get a 180 nose stab down I wouldn't be on board with that idea very much. I took the shortcut and a lot of riders will disagree with me, however just because it worked for me it doesn't mean it will for you. I go to the lake ALOT so unless you are putting in the tray time you will not progress with tricks. At the same time you might give it a few tries and figure it is not for you and you would rather go fast and big air jumps. In which so, a superjet or OEM hull will be the better option and alot cheaper.

Bottom line is if you don't have 10k or more to throw into a flatwater ski, you really won't be getting anything that is worth a damn and better to find a superjet for yourself. Sure there are deals between 7 and 10 that pop up but the people that know a good deal it will be gone before you make a thread wondering if its a good fit for you. You should travel and experience some skis of all sorts of budgets and figure out what is best for you. A ticket to Lake Havasu in October would be cheap compared to throwing money into the wrong ski. Gain some more experiece first hand as well as doing your own research, not asking a group what they think is best. In October there will be stock and modded superjets, 5-8k AM skis, and 10k plus, then all the 20k full comp setups. I know full comp is not what you need, but deciding if an AM hull is something you want or need will be something you can easily figure out there. People have different reasons to say one ski is better than another, but none know if it is best for YOU. You will have to figure that out since most of us already had the background of riding a standup of some sort. Not sure if anybody has come off a seadoo and jumped into the sport before so not sure the path you should go as your situation is special lol.

solid advice. @Big Kahuna should sticky this comment somewhere

 

[Citizen]

I think I will be one of the only, or possibly the only one who says to get an AM hull. Not to get you off track, the SJ is more than likely what every rookie ends up going to even though they have their eyes set on a freestyle ski. Most of the time I think that is because of budget. People want a flatwater flipper for 6k and that is not going to happen. If you have 13-17k to throw at a flatwater boat I would say go for it, if you don't have atleast 8k into a ski I would say it would not be that entertaining.

I jumped from a couch to a js550 to a 650sx and then AM hulls. I never rode a superjet and I can't say that has held me back from anything minus a barrel roll really. A superjet, unless in surf, is not going to flip or do a 360. A 180 is very able to do on an AM hull on your first day so for that to be a reason to ride a superjet for a year to get a 180 nose stab down I wouldn't be on board with that idea very much. I took the shortcut and a lot of riders will disagree with me, however just because it worked for me it doesn't mean it will for you. I go to the lake ALOT so unless you are putting in the tray time you will not progress with tricks. At the same time you might give it a few tries and figure it is not for you and you would rather go fast and big air jumps. In which so, a superjet or OEM hull will be the better option and alot cheaper.

Bottom line is if you don't have 10k or more to throw into a flatwater ski, you really won't be getting anything that is worth a damn and better to find a superjet for yourself. Sure there are deals between 7 and 10 that pop up but the people that know a good deal it will be gone before you make a thread wondering if its a good fit for you. You should travel and experience some skis of all sorts of budgets and figure out what is best for you. A ticket to Lake Havasu in October would be cheap compared to throwing money into the wrong ski. Gain some more experiece first hand as well as doing your own research, not asking a group what they think is best. In October there will be stock and modded superjets, 5-8k AM skis, and 10k plus, then all the 20k full comp setups. I know full comp is not what you need, but deciding if an AM hull is something you want or need will be something you can easily figure out there. People have different reasons to say one ski is better than another, but none know if it is best for YOU. You will have to figure that out since most of us already had the background of riding a standup of some sort. Not sure if anybody has come off a seadoo and jumped into the sport before so not sure the path you should go as your situation is special lol.

+1 I agree with all this. Superjet is great, but if flips are your goal, save urself some money and a few years and go straight for the AM hull. The one caveat would be dont jump into 1200cc monster motor.

 

[Canadian_l3acon]

I think I will be one of the only, or possibly the only one who says to get an AM hull. Not to get you off track, the SJ is more than likely what every rookie ends up going to even though they have their eyes set on a freestyle ski. Most of the time I think that is because of budget. People want a flatwater flipper for 6k and that is not going to happen. If you have 13-17k to throw at a flatwater boat I would say go for it, if you don't have atleast 8k into a ski I would say it would not be that entertaining.

I jumped from a couch to a js550 to a 650sx and then AM hulls. I never rode a superjet and I can't say that has held me back from anything minus a barrel roll really. A superjet, unless in surf, is not going to flip or do a 360. A 180 is very able to do on an AM hull on your first day so for that to be a reason to ride a superjet for a year to get a 180 nose stab down I wouldn't be on board with that idea very much. I took the shortcut and a lot of riders will disagree with me, however just because it worked for me it doesn't mean it will for you. I go to the lake ALOT so unless you are putting in the tray time you will not progress with tricks. At the same time you might give it a few tries and figure it is not for you and you would rather go fast and big air jumps. In which so, a superjet or OEM hull will be the better option and alot cheaper.

Bottom line is if you don't have 10k or more to throw into a flatwater ski, you really won't be getting anything that is worth a damn and better to find a superjet for yourself. Sure there are deals between 7 and 10 that pop up but the people that know a good deal it will be gone before you make a thread wondering if its a good fit for you. You should travel and experience some skis of all sorts of budgets and figure out what is best for you. A ticket to Lake Havasu in October would be cheap compared to throwing money into the wrong ski. Gain some more experiece first hand as well as doing your own research, not asking a group what they think is best. In October there will be stock and modded superjets, 5-8k AM skis, and 10k plus, then all the 20k full comp setups. I know full comp is not what you need, but deciding if an AM hull is something you want or need will be something you can easily figure out there. People have different reasons to say one ski is better than another, but none know if it is best for YOU. You will have to figure that out since most of us already had the background of riding a standup of some sort. Not sure if anybody has come off a seadoo and jumped into the sport before so not sure the path you should go as your situation is special lol.

This seems like sound advice. There was a clean SJ that came up for sale in my area today and I almost pulled the trigger on it. But pretty much exactly what you just told me was the reason I didn't. I feel like I would enjoy getting to know it for a few weeks, then be wishing I could do more on it. Right now I have been going out to the lake every other day. So if I did invest in an AM ski, I feel I would learn quickly. Thank you for your input!

 

[Lumberjack]

I was in your shoes few years ago but coming from a superjet and ended up buying an fs2 evo which I'm inredibly happy with. I'm glad I didn't buy a full out freestyle ski because I enjoy stabs/spins/chasing wake boats and just slashing around cruising lakes and river enough that I don't need more power or a lighter boat.

Have you ever rode a full out freestyle ski? Have you ever rode a standup?

Freestyle skis are purpose built and most wont let you cruise around the lake chasing boats at WOT for hours on end like a superjet or surf ski.

I think you are in for a rude awakening and advise you to ride some skis before spending 20k on something you don't enjoy.

I've tried a few freestyle skis and the way they rode was far from enjoyable for me. (Others were great) unless you are looking to blip the throttle 20 feet from shore and have to refuel every 20 minutes you are going to want a more well rounded ski with a full sized tank and a hull that will ride less nose high.

You need to ride some different skis before deciding. There are many Canadian Facebook pages with lots of freestyle riders that can help you out and it's easy to buy a hull that's not going to do what you want it to.

Owning a freestyle ski means you basically need to be a two stroke mechanic because there isn't a shop in Canada who's going to repair your engine or troubleshoot your freestyle boat (maybe 2 guys in the country) and I promise it won't run right all the time. Are you able to do this?

There's even a Canadian freestyle hull builder (polar composites) that can set you up with what you need.

Today theres even provincial races and a V wake competition happening in Alberta. Would of been a good chance to ride some different boats that are forsale

 

[E350]

Lumberjack: What do you think about the Rickter Edge?

 

[Lumberjack]

Lumberjack: What do you think about the Rickter Edge?

I've never ridden one but its just a new and improved fs2 evo so it's a surf ski. It's going to ride more like a short superjet than a freestyle boat but 10x as fun than a stock hull.

If you want to flatwater flip an edge or fs2 your going to need a big CC engine and be extremely skilled.l but that's not what they are designed to do so I would never buy either of these hull for freestyle as they are freeride surf hulls.

I lucked out and really enjoy my fs2 evo but it's all about the kind of riding you want to do and you can't always get the best of both worlds.

I

 

[Lumberjack]

Also doing water wheelies on a spark and riding a 900cc freestyle boat is like comparing a 90hp daily driver (oil change and brakes every few years) to a 10 second purpose built drag car that that requires constant attention.

Are you able troubleshoot ignition problems? Ignition curves? Tune carbs? Tune pumps? Unless your spending big money on a brand new professionally built and tuned freestyle boat be prepared to always carry tools and wrench.

 

[E350]

Lumberjack: I am going to post a thread about what is the most reliable engine for a surf ski, but I might as well ask you now. How much do you weigh? And aren't you running your fs2 with a stock Superjet 701cc engine? What engine size would you prefer to put in your ski? I assumed that it would be the most reliable version of a 900cc engine but that is just speculation from reading here on this forum.

 

[Lumberjack]

Lumberjack: I am going to post a thread about what is the most reliable engine for a surf ski, but I might as well ask you now. How much do you weigh? And aren't you running your fs2 with a stock Superjet 701cc engine? What engine size would you prefer to put in your ski? I assumed that it would be the most reliable version of a 900cc engine but that is just speculation from reading here on this forum.

170 lbs, just a 701 with a pipe and it's still a rad time. Obviously after riding it a few years you may want something closer to a 900 but I still think I have a ways to go skill wise before just jumping to a bigger engine. I'm more into reliability than a bigger engine for now.

All i ride is lakes, rivers and chase boats no surf for thousands of miles. I usually do some longer distance riding/cruising to different sand bars/islands/friends cabins across lakes so this setup works for me. But its all about what kinda riding you want to do.