New 2017 Kawasaki 4 stroke sx-r!

Vumad

Vumad

Super Hero, with a cape!
Location
St. Pete, FL
mbrick said:
Exactly my point. Yes they went 6 years without a ski, but the SXR was unchanged since 2003. So they had 13 years to work on this new one. Why was it suddenly rushed? They did not HAVE to unveil this week in Havasu.

If they took the right direction, great. But I hope there were not compromises for some artificial deadline.

I'm really curious to see what people say after riding it. Standing on the tray without moving sure sounds like it was made "easier" for more people to be able to ride them.
Click to expand...

What would make them "easier" for more people to ride them would be to make them more affordable for young people. Kawi missed the mark for me with a 1500cc monster. They haven't announced the price, but I was really hoping to see a stand-up version of the spark. They said their demographic is around age 35. I think that is more because young people can't afford them. I think those buyers are going to end up on sparks instead of standups. Who knows, maybe they are going to drop some crazy good price, but I suspect they went the wrong direction with the price and power.

Your first car isn't an expensive corvette with a governor key. Your first car is a honda civic ready to take a tuner kit. The stand up market needs a little motor, light weight, in expensive, that has kawasaki designed performance upgrades available such as ECU flashes, cams, turbos, etc. Make up the money on the tail in. I can buy a GYTR bumper for my YFZ450 but I can't buy a GYTR pole for my superjet. I just don't get it.

They'll probably sell, but I feel like they just brought the HP arms race that's saturated the sit down market to the standup market. I guess we'll find out soon if bigger truely is better in our sport too.
 
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x2mafia

x2mafia

Maximum effort
Location
WA
If the tray 16 inches wide I think it's smaller than the old sxr.

The NEW magnetic key it's pretty cool. I parted a 96 zxi and the previous owner must have gotten a hold of that new key system from kawi and retrofitted it
 
WB1994

WB1994

Location
Amherst NH
x2mafia said:
If the tray 16 inches wide I think it's smaller than the old sxr.

The NEW magnetic key it's pretty cool. I parted a 96 zxi and the previous owner must have gotten a hold of that new key system from kawi and retrofitted it
Click to expand...
All the zxis came with that key that always got lost. A pair of pliers and forcing the switch into the on position once without the key made it so you never needed a key again. You could turn it with your fingers after that.
 
aggro

aggro

Gen 2 X-2
Location
Minnesota
Here is the press release from Kawasaki...
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All high resolution images on my imgur site

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WB1994

WB1994

Location
Amherst NH
When Kawi took the SXR bottomdeck and 800 drivetrain and a Kawi 110 dirtbike seat and a zxi steering stem and then made a new topdeck and called it an X2 i knew then kawi was all done. That ski was a joke for most of us die hard gen 1 fans. Now this.

I agree that making the biggest and badest easier to ride isnt bringing more people to the sport. What hooked me was spending all summer learning to master simple balanceing techniques with my friends laughing the whole time.

I said this long ago, the tree hugging granola eating EPA being the problem, why not just sell hulls like every aftermarket company does now anyways. Then have your own line of factory kawi upgrades like poles and whatnot. Then you could have a few different hulls that could take any old kawi two stroke drivetrain. Then you could have a new year design SXR hull with a ZXI doner ski father son project .
 
Jhucke

Jhucke

Location
Wisconsin
Vumad said:
What would make them "easier" for more people to ride them would be to make them more affordable for young people. Kawi missed the mark for me with a 1500cc monster. They haven't announced the price, but I was really hoping to see a stand-up version of the spark. They said their demographic is around age 35. I think that is more because young people can't afford them. I think those buyers are going to end up on sparks instead of standups. Who knows, maybe they are going to drop some crazy good price, but I suspect they went the wrong direction with the price and power.

Your first car isn't an expensive corvette with a governor key. Your first car is a honda civic ready to take a tuner kit. The stand up market needs a little motor, light weight, in expensive, that has kawasaki designed performance upgrades available such as ECU flashes, cams, turbos, etc. Make up the money on the tail in. I can buy a GYTR bumper for my YFZ450 but I can't buy a GYTR pole for my superjet. I just don't get it.

They'll probably sell, but I feel like they just brought the HP arms race that's saturated the sit down market to the standup market. I guess we'll find out soon if bigger truely is better in our sport too.
Click to expand...

They had to cut the old sxr because it wasn't selling. They probably had to get Kawasaki and maybe other investors re-interested assuring that people will buy and I guarantee that model was the idea of making it super easy for people to ride. Doesn't take a whole lot of skill to ride a sit down in a straight line. Same concept here. Kawasaki is way off in my opinion but probably the only way they were going to be able to reintroduce anything similar to a standup.
 
mbrick

mbrick

Location
Los Gatos, CA
Agreed with WB1994... I really enjoy the challenge of still trying to figure out balancing and turning sharper and sharper and leaning more and more, or zig-zagging back and forth. And I still have not mastered it.

Bigger, heavier, more stable is going to take almost all of that fun away.

I still can't believe how much fun it is jumping back on a 550sx. It tells me heavier and more power is probably not the answer. But maybe I am not the demographic they are targeting.

It did not need to be a 1500cc 4 cylinder with twice the hp (and +250 lbs).

The launch and marketing is confusing me. They are trying to target racers and spark owners at the same time, with the same vessel.
 
mbrick

mbrick

Location
Los Gatos, CA
These guys get it:

Fatefully, what makes the SuperJet so much fun is also what alienates so many PWC enthusiasts: riding a SuperJet takes a certain level of athleticism. Balance is key, and riding a standup is a dance between you, the ski and the water. For this reason, soft, comfortable and stable runabouts have increased in popularity (almost as quickly as people’s waistbands). In fact, being completely exhausted after a ride is a sure sign of a good day on the water.
http://watercraftjournal.com/if-it-aint-broke-2016-yamaha-superjet-waverunner/
 
BombThreat

BombThreat

'Diggity
Location
Johnstown, NY
Watercraft Journal said it's gonna be about half the cost of a Hydrospace... So assuming that's $15,000. My guess is gonna be $8000. I'd be cool with that.
 
C

chevota84

I'm very fat and not very athletic and I can ride a super jet, I even rode a js300 for a bit last year. If I can do it, anybody should be able to. I guess everybody just wants the easy way out now.

Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk
 
mbrick

mbrick

Location
Los Gatos, CA
BombThreat said:
Watercraft Journal said it's gonna be about half the cost of a Hydrospace... So assuming that's $15,000. My guess is gonna be $8000. I'd be cool with that.
Click to expand...
If they came in at less than the SuperJet MSRP that would really be something.

Hopefully your info is more current than this quote from their article:
"Further details such as the estimated MSRP (our guess of $10,995 was thankfully too high – so maybe $10,499) will be revealed after the 2017 dealer meeting scheduled for November 13, 2016"
 
INDebtSJ

INDebtSJ

Having a VISION!
Location
Ga
Everyone has it wrong. They will adapt the course to the skis now. Go fast in a straight line and turn left, go fast on a straight line and turn left go fast I am straight line.........
 
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