the real story behind the fx1

[fasterthanyou]

I have been told this by a few ex racers from back in the day, one of them being John Stevens. apparently the fx1 hulls were actual made in 1989/1990. I'm told that they were designed/in the works in 1989 but the hulls weren't manufactured till 1990. they ran a batch of 1500 of them in 1990 to compete with the 550/650. Yamaha realized that the ski couldn't really compete and was basically "outdated" so they decided not to finish them. so they just sat on the shelf for 4 yrs until they decided to do something with them. that is why they have 122mm pumps (same as old wr500). the 144mm pump wasn't produced when the fx1 was designed. there are many little things that all line up with this theory. like the pump and notice how the vin plates have holes but the hull doesn't so they didn't rivet them they just glued them in. this is just what iv heard so i figured id throw it out there and see what you guys think. I have no idea whether this is true or not but it defiantly sounds possible in my opinion.

 

[fasterthanyou]

forgot to mention that the fx1 and superjet have different ride plat and intake grate. you would think that if they were made at the same time they would share the same ride plat and intake grate. just one more thing that lines up with the theory.

 

[naticen]

Sounds pretty reasonable. Scott Watkins was supposed to have designed it but I don't think he was with Yamaha until after that. He's still around and has talked about designing the fx-1 and hasn't said anything like that. Somebody should ask and see what sort of truth is in it.

II dunno about using the same intake grate and ride plate but I'd think they'd use the same style of mounting the ride plate. And the method it uses is more like the waverunners that were out earlier

 

[fasterthanyou]

id really like to know the real 100% truth. iv heard a lot of story's all of them very convincing. I defiantly wouldn't be surprised to find out that they were actually made in 1990

 

[Jetfiend]

I have been told this by a few ex racers from back in the day, one of them being John Stevens. apparently the fx1 hulls were actual made in 1989/1990. I'm told that they were designed/in the works in 1989 but the hulls weren't manufactured till 1990. they ran a batch of 1500 of them in 1990 to compete with the 550/650. Yamaha realized that the ski couldn't really compete and was basically "outdated" so they decided not to finish them. so they just sat on the shelf for 4 yrs until they decided to do something with them.

If Yamaha felt that the FX-1 design was already outdated in 1989/1990, why would they wait for 5 years (after Kawasaki had already released the 750sx) to release it?

I worked at Yamaha Motor Corp from 1998 - 2000 and can tell you that they do not keep 1500 of anything on the shelf to sell years later. Motorcycle manufacturers and dealerships learned their lesson about having too much inventory during the early 80's.

 

[EfX]

I have been told this by a few ex racers from back in the day, one of them being John Stevens. apparently the fx1 hulls were actual made in 1989/1990. I'm told that they were designed/in the works in 1989 but the hulls weren't manufactured till 1990. they ran a batch of 1500 of them in 1990 to compete with the 550/650. Yamaha realized that the ski couldn't really compete and was basically "outdated" so they decided not to finish them. so they just sat on the shelf for 4 yrs until they decided to do something with them. that is why they have 122mm pumps (same as old wr500). the 144mm pump wasn't produced when the fx1 was designed. there are many little things that all line up with this theory. like the pump and notice how the vin plates have holes but the hull doesn't so they didn't rivet them they just glued them in. this is just what iv heard so i figured id throw it out there and see what you guys think. I have no idea whether this is true or not but it defiantly sounds possible in my opinion.

Waverunner 500/650LX uses (I think) an axial flow pump where it is not a straight flow, and it is like 133 or so. Nothing like a 144 or the 122 used in the FX-1. There is little if anything from the old Jammer/Waverunners that can be used on the SJ or FX-1.
Personally, it seems like the FX-1 was released at a time when racing was all the rage. Hardly anyone did what we call freeride back then. It seems the few surf riders at the time had a hand in the dev of the FX-1 that rode the 550's and I think that's where the tiny pump came from. I think the FX-1 stopped being produced because there was no market for a non-race ski and most riders of the time hated it. Everyone either raced buoys or did basic freestyle routines. When I bought mine brand new, it sat on the showroom floor for a year and a half when I purchased it in '96.

I think the Fox Trot X-ray 1 was created as a built 550 hull with a bigger and more reliable motor that would not need to be wrenched on so often when you rode surf or even freestyle. I know mine takes a beating the way I flop around on it in surf and I have never had to wrench on it like they did on those old 550's back in the day.

Just my .02¢

 

[Big Kahuna]

Yup, it was build to take over the 550.

 

[Jetfiend]

Yup, it was build to take over the 550.

By riders with tiny feet!

 

[mk1]

" Carlsberg don`t do jet skis , if they did it would be the Yamaha FX1 , probably the best stand up ski in the World."

 

[fx1mark]

I have had my fx1 since 97. I rode a 550 before that. I had heard or read that the fx1 was designed by the same Japanese gentleman that designed the waveblaster 1. It is obvious to me that it was designed to improve on the design of the kawasaki 550. Look at the standups available in 93. kawasaki 440-550 650 sxr and 750 sx. and the superjet 650. there was no yamaha 701 yet. now in 94 they came out with the waveblaster 1, superjet 701 and the fx1. the waveblaster and the fx1 were groundbreaking IMHO. My Best friend bought a 94 WB1 and two years later I moved up to the FX1.
so I guess the morale of my story is to say that the standup jet ski choices prior to 94 were pretty crappy, to say that the FX1 was designed earlier than 94 and shelved because it was "outdated" doesn't make sense to me. It really generated a lot of excitement in the standup world at the time.

 

[fasterthanyou]

I have had my fx1 since 97. I rode a 550 before that. I had heard or read that the fx1 was designed by the same Japanese gentleman that designed the waveblaster 1. It is obvious to me that it was designed to improve on the design of the kawasaki 550. Look at the standups available in 93. kawasaki 440-550 650 sxr and 750 sx. and the superjet 650. there was no yamaha 701 yet. now in 94 they came out with the waveblaster 1, superjet 701 and the fx1. the waveblaster and the fx1 were groundbreaking IMHO. My Best friend bought a 94 WB1 and two years later I moved up to the FX1.
so I guess the morale of my story is to say that the standup jet ski choices prior to 94 were pretty crappy, to say that the FX1 was designed earlier than 94 and shelved because it was "outdated" doesn't make sense to me. It really generated a lot of excitement in the standup world at the time.

thats a good thought. i guesse we will never know the true story but as far as the reason they stopped making them... they didnt sell well and they were more expensive to make as they were hand layed fiber glass.

 

[Jetfiend]

thats a good thought. i guesse we will never know the true story but as far as the reason they stopped making them... they didnt sell well and they were more expensive to make as they were hand layed fiber glass.

I started working at a Yamaha dealership in 1995, they still had 2 new FX-1's sitting on the racks, I remember they were more expensive than a 750sx and nobody would buy them. They sat there for years until my buddy finally bought one of them. We shipped the other one out of the country, to someone who knew how cool they really were!

 

[badvinny]

I bought one new in 1995 with my soon to be wife (she was nuts buying a new ski with her boyfriend), we liked it so much that a year later we had the dealer hunt for one which he eventually found in a warehouse, then we had 2! They were great until we got into aftermarket hulls, then the FX1's had to go, no comparison to a Rickter.

 

[waxhead]

They used the same pole bracket as the round nose superjet and a very similar pole.
The pump is not the same as the early wave runner prop.
They also use the later model bilge pump system.

 

[mk1]

I started working at a Yamaha dealership in 1995, they still had 2 new FX-1's sitting on the racks, I remember they were more expensive than a 750sx and nobody would buy them. They sat there for years until my buddy finally bought one of them. We shipped the other one out of the country, to someone who knew how cool they really were!

I would like to think they shipped the other one out to the guy I bought my one from , he bought it new , way back in the late ninety`s........ That dude had impeccable taste..... !