swapmeet
Brotastic
- Location
- Arlington TX
So through a ridiculous series of events (much too long to explain, even by my standards), I ended up buying a 1983 JS440 on Saturday, and I agreed to buy it sight unseen.
The description on FB was vague. "Has title, Has aftermarket parts, new battery, we got it to turn over but not run."
You know the story, right? We all know this story. You think "probably has crap compression, CDI is probably toast" etc etc...
But the price.... THE PRICE was too cheap to resist. My plan, (at the time) was to do a motor swap on it as I have a peppy Yamaha 650 sitting in a tote waiting for a new home, and this seemed like the perfect donor ski. A complete ski... which means less nickle and dime BS to have to source.
So my buddy brings the ski and the title to the lake Saturday. Tells me the battery is dead (its a new AGM battery.) Well, I happened to have brought a fresh battery just for the occasion! The registration on the side is from California and its dated 1999. No idea the last time the ski had been run.
Pop the hood, sure enough I see a Westcoast complete exhaust system and a Westcoast internal fill "Baffle Tank" which had about a gallon of fuel in it. Who knows how old it was. I didn't care though, i'm gonna motor swap it right?
So I throw in my new battery, hit the start button (no lanyard needed!) and it spins like a champ. This is good news. the excitement is building.
I "prime" it with some fuel down the flame arrestor, too much it would seem. Spin and spin and spin and spin... i'm losing faith that it will run. Then... it begins... maybe... yes... to fire... little by little, like a freight train gaining momentum. And then... MOTHER OF GOD it starts... Nay it RUNS...! You can see fuel being pulled into the carb through million year old clear fuel line that is STILL SQUISHY... 5-6 of us are crowded around and you'd think someone had just had a baby or recovered from a near death experience. There were smiles for miles, high fives and heads shaking in disbelief. Mine being one of them.
I was like a kid on Christmas.
So we throw that mofo into the water and I proceed to ride the crap out of it. I haven't had a smile that big on my face in I don't know how long. I rode the gas out of it, the old gas... I had to use the reserve switch to get back in. Put fresh gas in it and rode it some more.
This thing was a hoot. It was tippy, and it completely relied on RPM to get you moving. If you unloaded the pump it would "waaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!" and then bog when you reloaded it. You had to feather the throttle just to 'jump it' otherwise it would bog when you landed...
Its stupid, its archaic, dated, underpowered, and completely ridiculous. But it was perfect.
The complete list of parts (thus far)
Westcoast exhaust (with Pisser!)
Westcoast waterbox
Westcoast Flame Arrestor/ velocity stack?
Westcoast internal fill baffle tank
Wescoast Ride Plate
Metal Pump shoe
Aftermarket intake grate (doesn't look like the Westcoast logo)
After realizing how perfect this ski is, i've decided to clean it up and leave it alone. I'll make it legal, and keep it for my kids to learn on. My daughter loves the pink turf. @Big Kahuna are you at all involved with this turf sir?
Now here's the part that has put me into deep contemplation, and the reason for the title of this post. This ski cost me nearly 100x LESS than what my freestyle ski has. But the fun quotient isn't anywhere near that much of a disparity.
Do you ever find yourself asking "How did I get here?" "How did I end up with a $xx,xxx Ski???"
The description on FB was vague. "Has title, Has aftermarket parts, new battery, we got it to turn over but not run."
You know the story, right? We all know this story. You think "probably has crap compression, CDI is probably toast" etc etc...
But the price.... THE PRICE was too cheap to resist. My plan, (at the time) was to do a motor swap on it as I have a peppy Yamaha 650 sitting in a tote waiting for a new home, and this seemed like the perfect donor ski. A complete ski... which means less nickle and dime BS to have to source.
So my buddy brings the ski and the title to the lake Saturday. Tells me the battery is dead (its a new AGM battery.) Well, I happened to have brought a fresh battery just for the occasion! The registration on the side is from California and its dated 1999. No idea the last time the ski had been run.
Pop the hood, sure enough I see a Westcoast complete exhaust system and a Westcoast internal fill "Baffle Tank" which had about a gallon of fuel in it. Who knows how old it was. I didn't care though, i'm gonna motor swap it right?
So I throw in my new battery, hit the start button (no lanyard needed!) and it spins like a champ. This is good news. the excitement is building.
I "prime" it with some fuel down the flame arrestor, too much it would seem. Spin and spin and spin and spin... i'm losing faith that it will run. Then... it begins... maybe... yes... to fire... little by little, like a freight train gaining momentum. And then... MOTHER OF GOD it starts... Nay it RUNS...! You can see fuel being pulled into the carb through million year old clear fuel line that is STILL SQUISHY... 5-6 of us are crowded around and you'd think someone had just had a baby or recovered from a near death experience. There were smiles for miles, high fives and heads shaking in disbelief. Mine being one of them.
I was like a kid on Christmas.
So we throw that mofo into the water and I proceed to ride the crap out of it. I haven't had a smile that big on my face in I don't know how long. I rode the gas out of it, the old gas... I had to use the reserve switch to get back in. Put fresh gas in it and rode it some more.
This thing was a hoot. It was tippy, and it completely relied on RPM to get you moving. If you unloaded the pump it would "waaaaahhhhhhhhh!!!!!!!!!!" and then bog when you reloaded it. You had to feather the throttle just to 'jump it' otherwise it would bog when you landed...
Its stupid, its archaic, dated, underpowered, and completely ridiculous. But it was perfect.
The complete list of parts (thus far)
Westcoast exhaust (with Pisser!)
Westcoast waterbox
Westcoast Flame Arrestor/ velocity stack?
Westcoast internal fill baffle tank
Wescoast Ride Plate
Metal Pump shoe
Aftermarket intake grate (doesn't look like the Westcoast logo)
After realizing how perfect this ski is, i've decided to clean it up and leave it alone. I'll make it legal, and keep it for my kids to learn on. My daughter loves the pink turf. @Big Kahuna are you at all involved with this turf sir?
Now here's the part that has put me into deep contemplation, and the reason for the title of this post. This ski cost me nearly 100x LESS than what my freestyle ski has. But the fun quotient isn't anywhere near that much of a disparity.
Do you ever find yourself asking "How did I get here?" "How did I end up with a $xx,xxx Ski???"
