Seadoo HX

[sxi steve]

The HX is what killed the Blaster in sports class racing. More HP, better handling (stock), cutting through chop, no sliding. Two completely different boats.
Look at this this way: the HX (just like an SXR) is for CC racing, the Blaster (just like a SJ) is for freeride/freestyle.
The Blaster: better jumper, loose, better air.
The HX: runs on rails, faster, awesome cornering.
Tell them to pick what they like.

OH, and BTW, I don't see that many HXs for sale, people tend to keep them for some reason, it's easier to get a better deal on a B1.

I can agree with the above. I ride the SXI-Pro and use my HX for guests. It's a fun ride, definitely fast stock, corners great. It does seem to stick to the water. It was definitely worth the $1300 I have into it.

 

[WFO Speedracer]

This thread still brings me a chuckle when reading it. Who is the Wedoseadoo guy anyhow, what a jerk !

 

[bigo]

i have owned both fun factor 100% the hx however i was fixing it every 3rd ride and it was a pita to work on compaired to the blaster.

 

[PainNsuffering]

Stock Water Horse

I have owned/purchased more jetskis than I like to admit. I started out with a new 1994 WaveRaider. I doubt that there was a more unforgiving jetski that a newb could buy at the time. That thing threw my 210 butt off of it at 45+MPH more times than I remember and I had the bruises to prove it. I stopped spending/wasting money trading for the new year's model some time ago. My last two purchases are over a decade old and they still are strong. A '97 Yamaha GP1200 & a '96 SeaDoo HX. Both are stock/unmodified & so far, reliable & there is a fun factor for both. The GP1200 will almost rip your arms out of their sockets when you punch the throttle from a dead stop. (great for losing an unwanted passenger :mischievous But.... as I was told by a semi pro who had a wickedly modified Blaster 1, (his Blaster 1 could do 60MPH & smoked my stock HX in a drag race) NOTHING turns or carves the water like an HX. It is not the fastest ski out there but after you figure out how to ride that water horse...it will cut the water at a right angle and leave you feeling like you're on a roller coaster. I cannot speak about ocean wave hopping abilities but it is a fun ride on a glass lake. I had a Blaster II & it handled like a motorcycle on water, was much easier to ride and mount than the HX (the Blaster 1 was impossible for me to remount in deep water because of the very high seat position, hats off to the guys that can do it) but the HX is just more fun....and more unforgiving....there is a learning curve.

 

[Boris]

Can I toss in my shequels into this fight ?
Substitute the HX with a 96 XP or 97-99 SPX. Tons of fun, a great motor and a simpler driveline than the HX.
Blasters are fun but I have a soft spot for the X4 hulls.

 

[scottie mac]

IMO the x4 Doo is the most fun runabout ever made. Couldn't agree more, bro.

As for the HX vs Blaster, they really are about as opposite as two skis that are considered the same class can be. An HX is a carver. It is designed to sit in the water, cut thru it and eat up chop. That is why it all but ran the blasters out of racing. It take A LOT of blaster to be able to run with an HX set up for the course.

The Blaster rides on top of the water. It is a more playful ride and a heck of a lot more fun jumping, playing, etc. But, what makes it fun, hurts it on the course.

Whenever anyone asks me which one is best, I tell them to ride them and make up their own mind. That really is the only way anyone can be sure. IMO, it is a no brainer, I love the blaster from spec/limited to full on mod. I won three National titles riding one and while it cost a bunch to build a competitive blaster, I always loved the fact that everyone always assumed we couldn't do it.

Scottie

 

[cattledog]

hx is a couch, blasters rule

 

[Sidsol]

I owned HX's and Blasters, I always compared them like this

HX- Rides like a Sports/Road Bike
Blaster- Rides like a Dirtbike/Motox ( I race blasters so I guess that will be supermoto)

 

[Billybo455]

i've got a b1 that's about to be a 1200 cc boat and i'll be able to compare it to my 787 hx in about a month hoping i can take the hx in a drag race.

 

[Vumad]

This is an old thread but happened across it. Since this question, we have owned all of these skis. HX, B1, B2, 3D, XP, X2, SJ, SXR...

The HX was a great ski and is hands down the winner for bouys, but inferior in the surf. The B1 was fine for bouy's but superior for the surf. The biggest thing however is that the total ownership of the Hx sucked compared the the B1. The Yamaha reliability and tunability in both the motor and the pump was vastly superior to the Seadoo. The HX was great to ride, but not great to own. No offense to the seadoo fans, but I think he and I would both agree that the B1 or B2 is a more enjoyable ownership experience as a whole.

Ultimately, a decade later, my buddy found the X2 to be the most enjoyable. We're not getting any younger and the X2 kept simple has worked out to be a good balance of things at this point in our riding careers. I think he'd really like a G2X2 if he could get one but unfortunately one has never been available. We talked about trying a fixed steer superjet but he's content with his X2 at this point for the associated costs. I myself still have my X2 but exclusively ride my superjet. Side note, his X2 UMI is superior to my accu-steer.

 

[waxhead]

The HX was great to ride, but not great to own..

Having owned both and having raced and won a national title on a mod hx I can say that there is not a better way to say it than is said right there.

 

[Pro-pulsion]

I did a lot of research on the HX a long time ago when I was asked to try and make it a better surf ski. One that would hit better on the holeshot and just handle the surf better. Basically, the 720 engine is a lump. It has a stator "mag cup" which is basically a flywheel on the stator side, and a second flywheel on the pto side and it's steel. It's heavy but you can't lighten it much or you'll destroy the crank, it seizes onto the crank...I destroyed his spare engine trying to remove the one on it. No amount of heat would remove it, it had to becut off and I stopped before going that far as I had already broken parts I never thought would break but I also never thought it would be so impossibly seized. The only Factory Pipe that used to be available for it had too restrictive of an outlet and it was known for melting pistons. I managed to bore the tail section on the mill at work to what I believe would have cured that issue but in the end he didn't want to risk it so he stayed with the stock pipe. The lowest impeller pitch for the power it produced was something like 15/21, I don't remember exactly but it was an improvement over the 21/28? 4 blade that was on it, the flame arrestor screens needed to be reduced to 1 or 2 for better airflow, there was an airbox mod that I had to do as well, I think it was drilling out a few 1/2" holes in the bottom for more air and drainage, and I figured out some plumbing mods to dry out the pipe a bit more. While he said it was miles better, it was still no Blaster. He has since retired the HX line and moved to Sparks, but has also basically retired from the ski life since the Sparks lol. So just another testament to how SeaScrewed continues to fail in one way or another. The other obvious infuriating thing with SD is the immediate abandoning of parts support when your ski becomes 10 years old. All of their models are changed ever so slightly when they update a model for the next year that you can't interchange parts from older models so you're stuck having to buy either exact year used parts or new...until they stop supporting that year of ski. BRP has left such a horrible reputation with me that I won't even work on their junk anymore. It's a good bit of a rant but it's because to me, it's like trying to compare a product made in China vs Japan or North America. Interesting fact, BRP parts are made in China. I experienced that when changing out afront brake line on a friend's Canned Ham Outlander. It said on the packaging, "Genuine BRP" and a follow up mention on the same sticker..."Made in China".

 

[WFO Speedracer]

All this is great but the fact remains that to this very day I repair way more Yamaha engines than Seadoos ,it's a ratio of at the very best two Yamaha's to every Seadoo and I have seen it at five to one at times, at this very moment in time there are two dead Yamaha's that need top ends but only one Seadoo and it's a 951DI .

Granted some Yamaha engines such as the 650-701-760 series of engines are way more reliable than others but you can no longer rubber stamp every Yamaha ski as being reliable just because it says Yamaha on the decals.

One more thing BRP parts are made all over the world, always have been, it always say on the package where the parts came from, I have seen parts from Mexico, China, Canada , the United States and Italy before . again a blanket statement that is not rooted in fact, I am not trying to get into it with you here , I am quite more reserved than I used to be just stating the facts as they apply to me, your experiences may be quite different.

 

[waxhead]

I did a lot of research on the HX a long time ago when I was asked to try and make it a better surf ski. One that would hit better on the holeshot and just handle the surf better. Basically, the 720 engine is a lump. It has a stator "mag cup" which is basically a flywheel on the stator side, and a second flywheel on the pto side and it's steel. It's heavy but you can't lighten it much or you'll destroy the crank, it seizes onto the crank...I destroyed his spare engine trying to remove the one on it. No amount of heat would remove it, it had to becut off and I stopped before going that far as I had already broken parts I never thought would break but I also never thought it would be so impossibly seized. The only Factory Pipe that used to be available for it had too restrictive of an outlet and it was known for melting pistons. I managed to bore the tail section on the mill at work to what I believe would have cured that issue but in the end he didn't want to risk it so he stayed with the stock pipe. The lowest impeller pitch for the power it produced was something like 15/21, I don't remember exactly but it was an improvement over the 21/28? 4 blade that was on it, the flame arrestor screens needed to be reduced to 1 or 2 for better airflow, there was an airbox mod that I had to do as well, I think it was drilling out a few 1/2" holes in the bottom for more air and drainage, and I figured out some plumbing mods to dry out the pipe a bit more. While he said it was miles better, it was still no Blaster. He has since retired the HX line and moved to Sparks, but has also basically retired from the ski life since the Sparks lol. So just another testament to how SeaScrewed continues to fail in one way or another. The other obvious infuriating thing with SD is the immediate abandoning of parts support when your ski becomes 10 years old. All of their models are changed ever so slightly when they update a model for the next year that you can't interchange parts from older models so you're stuck having to buy either exact year used parts or new...until they stop supporting that year of ski. BRP has left such a horrible reputation with me that I won't even work on their junk anymore. It's a good bit of a rant but it's because to me, it's like trying to compare a product made in China vs Japan or North America. Interesting fact, BRP parts are made in China. I experienced that when changing out afront brake line on a friend's Canned Ham Outlander. It said on the packaging, "Genuine BRP" and a follow up mention on the same sticker..."Made in China".

Isn't Seadoo made in Canada ??? The same as Harley is made in the USA

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Isn't Seadoo made in Canada ??? The same as Harley is made in the USA

Made in Canada with Austrian engines and parts from all over the world , in other words just like everything else built now.

 

[orangefinger]

I Love both of them in different ways and i think its difficult to really say which one is better, each has there pros and cons.

I liked the blaster due to easy different conversions 701/760/KAW1100 etc and the way it rides, I think it rode best and handled best with the KAW 1100

The Hx cuts thru anything but boy when u get thrown of in choppy water you better have the seat shortened or now how how to mount it , it can be challenging.

An easy 787 conversion nwould be great that would really wake it up , then there is also KAW 1100 conversions

 

[WFO Speedracer]

Waxhead can relate to some of these blanket statements especially the one I hear all the time that parts made in China are crap , parts made in China are made to the specs the MFG sends them, so are the parts all crap, no the MFG specs were crap and that's why the parts made from those specs were crap , garbage in garbage out as computer geeks say..

The Chinese can make parts that rival any other place in the world , what they can't do is hold MFG's nose to the grindstone to provide decent specs for the parts they can't make chicken salad out of chicken Sh !t.

 

[Pro-pulsion]

Isn't Seadoo made in Canada ??? The same as Harley is made in the USA

The headquarters is in Quebec, I have no idea if they're manufactured there too. I have heard they manufacture the different lines in different places. A few models of the snowmobile line I think are assembled there but not sure about actually made there, I was also told when I had to train for a vehicle company there that they only handled sleds where I was in Sherbrooke Quebec, the ATV and watercraft lines are who knows where else. Where I had to train, it was across the road from the BRP facility.

Waxhead can relate to some of these blanket statements especially the one I hear all the time that parts made in China are crap , parts made in China are made to the specs the MFG sends them, so are the parts all crap, no the MFG specs were crap and that's why the parts made from those specs were crap , garbage in garbage out as computer geeks say..

The Chinese can make parts that rival any other place in the world , what they can't do is hold MFG's nose to the grindstone to provide decent specs for the parts they can't make chicken salad out of chicken Sh !t.

Nailed it, garbage in garbage out. I'm not saying people haven't had good experiences with them at one time or another, but their record from my personal experience over the last 3 decades has been exactly what you said, garbage in, garbage out.

 

[waxhead]

Waxhead can relate to some of these blanket statements especially the one I hear all the time that parts made in China are crap , parts made in China are made to the specs the MFG sends them, so are the parts all crap, no the MFG specs were crap and that's why the parts made from those specs were crap , garbage in garbage out as computer geeks say..

The Chinese can make parts that rival any other place in the world , what they can't do is hold MFG's nose to the grindstone to provide decent specs for the parts they can't make chicken salad out of chicken Sh !t.

Spot on. We always make or billet from 6061 T6 its an international grade. We here is all the time and slap our forehead when other people say proudly made in the usa and their manufacturer is actually the same one we are using. We have delivered lots of parts to other companies who ask us to send it to their chinese warehouse. Even so much as there is a company that sells a part we made for them proudly made in the usa

 

[WFO Speedracer]

The headquarters is in Quebec, I have no idea if they're manufactured there too. I have heard they manufacture the different lines in different places. A few models of the snowmobile line I think are assembled there but not sure about actually made there, I was also told when I had to train for a vehicle company there that they only handled sleds where I was in Sherbrooke Quebec, the ATV and watercraft lines are who knows where else. Where I had to train, it was across the road from the BRP facility.

Nailed it, garbage in garbage out. I'm not saying people haven't had good experiences with them at one time or another, but their record from my personal experience over the last 3 decades has been exactly what you said, garbage in, garbage out.

To each his own , some people like Chevys some like Fords.