So as a few of you know, over the summer, I built my first Superjet up from scratch. A very gracious friend of mine gave me a full modded sj with a siezed motor. The ski had a B pipe, MSD enhancer, etc.. I hated the purple paint that the stock SJ came with, so I decided to paint it. Fresh paint job, then I looked for an engine. Borrowed a couple hundred from my dad, and took out all the money in my checking account, to buy a brand new 760 Riva motor, ported cylinder and cases. Pop it in with some used dual 44s, using the same electronics and everything. First time I tried to start it up, nothing. Burnt negative wire? Okay no problem. Buy a new wire, hook it up, brraapppp. Really choppy though. Try adjusting the jetting, still cant get it running right. By the time I finished the ski, with the exception of tuning, the end of summer was nearing.
So my friend, the one that gave me the ski in the first place, recommends that I bring it to the guy that built all his race boats, insisting that he would get the jetting just right, and get the ski in the water within a week. So I give this guy a call, Jim is his name, and explain my problem to him. He says hell yeah, he would do it for cheap. Great! Drop the ski off the same day, but when I got to his house, place looked a little sketchy. He lives in the middle of a slum, with a small home, no garage? But my friend ensures me, even though it may not look like it, this guy is a pro. Hesitantly, I hand my ski over. Next day, Jim calls, saying that the ski looks great, just needs a carb rebuild. Okay, I can do that. Go to the local yamaha dealer, and 90$ later, I drop 2 rebuild kits off at his house. Next day, give Jim a call, apparently the skis still not working right. Great. He tells me to call him the next day.
Three days in, and I give him a call. He says that he found my answer, the MSD was dead. Okay, its cool, my friend has a stock 61x handy. Drop it off at his house. Btw, my jetski was out in the middle of the lawn on a stand. That really freaked me out.
Give him a call the following day. No good! Still doesn't work! At this point, I was getting a little hesitant. I knew the bill was getting big, so I asked him if I could get the ski back and do the rest of the work myself. He insisted that he finishes the job, and that he was going to start diving into the front end that night. Peachy, now hes getting into my brand new engine.
Get a call the next day, Jim saying that he had found the problem. Apparently, the screws that had held the stator in, had jiggled loose, and destroyed everything :clown:. Apparently the stator was save-able, but I needed a new flywheel. Ordered a like new fly wheel from Jetmaniac, came in mint condition! Bring the asshole the flywheel, and he tells me to call him tomorrow.
He calls me the next morning, apparently the ski was running great now! Yay! About time. He had soldered up the stator, and popped everything back in. Sealed up the front, and sealed up the Ebox so that "No water would ever get in there." I was so excited that I would finally be able to ski. I go to his house, to finally take a look at my ski. First thing I notice is all the stratches on my brand new paint. That kinda set me off. But I was cool, the ski was running finally, so I was happy. Take off the hood to inspect. New fuel lines because my old ones were cracking apparently. Except these lines were new, used lines. Wtf. They were nice and dirty. Whatever though, a little mineral spirits would take care of it. Then I notice something that pissed me off even more. My brand new BK twister heads had been cut off!!!! GARRR!! He said "They would really mess up your hands." I had gotten those the day I brougt Jim the ski!!! But I cool off, its cool, I wouldn't need to adjust much anyway. Start the ski up, sounds goodish. I ask him if he messed with the jetting, apparently no. Everything was the same as when I had gotten it. I was sick of the guy, so I payed him his 300$ and left.
Next day, first day I ride my stand up! Pop it in the water, start it up, and off I went. I noticed then, that the ski was running like
! Misfiring, and if you gunned it, it would die. No top speed, a good mid range tho. Top speed, holding the throttle down, around 25mph? Horrible. But I had fun regardless. Then an hour or two into sliding and messing around, the ski starts bogging? Wtf could be wrong? Go to the dock, and pop the hood. WOW! I had 5 inches of water in there! How?? Ends up the the dumbass had changed my cooling loop configuration, and moved the flush. BUT he hadn't secured the fitting. So when I was ridding, water was pouring into the engine compartment. Great! Put the thing back on, and tighten it up really nicely. Take the ski out again, but theres still water pouring in? From where? This time, it ended up being that when my BFF Jim had cut the FP screws, he hadnt tightened them down. So the bottom screw had fallen out, and water was squirting out (at a really high pressure too). Bring the ski in one more time, and tighten the screws. Give her a nice long flush, and make sure to wash everything off. Everything. I washed her for maybe an hour and a half.
School started the next day, so the ski just sat in the garage. The next weekend, I decide, instead of calling Jim, I would call Riva and ask them how to work on the jetting. Amazing customer service, I get to a guy that really knows what hes doing. He tells me to email him the jetting. I do, and then I dont get a response until 2 weeks later, because he had a family emergency. All was well, I knew that stuff like that happens. Finally get the recommendations, which were ALOT different than the parts inside. Pop the carbs back on, press the green button and.... Nothing? Free wheeling, and nothing else!? Hmf, the bendix probably is a little stiff. Open up the flywheel cover, and OMG!!! Rust, dirt, oil and crap everywhere?!?!? My perfect flywheel that I bought from Jetmaniac was super rusted!! Wtf!! :thinking: Pull the flywheel off, and get a look the the stupid thing. Jim never cleaned the flywheel compartment after the other flywheel had gotten destroyed. That doesn't explain the water and rust though. Then i realize, that half the screws for the flywheel cover are gone! He forgot to put screw on the bottom 3 holes!! That explains why there's rust in there!! Bendix was rusted and frozen :clown:. Soak her in mineral spirits for a day and half, and work her every hour or so, then soak her in transmition oil. Like new! Took a look at the stator, horrible. Almost threw up. It was repaired with a little solder, and hot glue. He didn't even clean the stator either!! But heres the real kicker. The stator was turned all the way clockwise. So the timing was super retarded. I even asked him to use a timing wheel and his tools to get the right timing. Asshole. Clean everthing, advance the timing a 2 degrees, pop the bendix in, and grease everything really nicely. Seal her up with all the screws this time also. Press the green button, and instant brappp. Awesome. I Give Jim a call to demand that he give me a refund, no answer so I leave a message. Take the ski out the next day, and theres still not much of top end. It starts bogging. And the throttle isnt responsive. After an hour of riding, I give up, and go to my friends house to borrow his stock 650, that compared to my 760 b piped monster, is 10x faster and better. Ironic eh?
So today, a week and a half later, the jetskis new batter would start smoking from the negative terminal? Huh? So I was in the mood to check the electronics, and check the stator, since I was feeling as if that was the problem. Open the e box, and out comes a gallon or so of water... ugh. Everything is rusted and wet. I have no idea what could be wrong now. I still haven't received a call from Jim, and he wont pick up. I will continue to call him. Dedicating myself to this ski was probably the worst idea Ive had in my life, right behind giving my jetski to someone with no knowledge of it. Point of the story is, If you want something done right, do it yourself.
Btw, if this guy doesn't refund me, theres gonna be a SN part out real soon.
My flywheel, following opening up the flywheel cover. Poor thing. It used to be shiny...
Look at all that rust, and glue and dirt... bllechhh
Look at the screw? I did a little magnification and raised the brightness so you guys could see.
So my friend, the one that gave me the ski in the first place, recommends that I bring it to the guy that built all his race boats, insisting that he would get the jetting just right, and get the ski in the water within a week. So I give this guy a call, Jim is his name, and explain my problem to him. He says hell yeah, he would do it for cheap. Great! Drop the ski off the same day, but when I got to his house, place looked a little sketchy. He lives in the middle of a slum, with a small home, no garage? But my friend ensures me, even though it may not look like it, this guy is a pro. Hesitantly, I hand my ski over. Next day, Jim calls, saying that the ski looks great, just needs a carb rebuild. Okay, I can do that. Go to the local yamaha dealer, and 90$ later, I drop 2 rebuild kits off at his house. Next day, give Jim a call, apparently the skis still not working right. Great. He tells me to call him the next day.
Three days in, and I give him a call. He says that he found my answer, the MSD was dead. Okay, its cool, my friend has a stock 61x handy. Drop it off at his house. Btw, my jetski was out in the middle of the lawn on a stand. That really freaked me out.
Give him a call the following day. No good! Still doesn't work! At this point, I was getting a little hesitant. I knew the bill was getting big, so I asked him if I could get the ski back and do the rest of the work myself. He insisted that he finishes the job, and that he was going to start diving into the front end that night. Peachy, now hes getting into my brand new engine.
Get a call the next day, Jim saying that he had found the problem. Apparently, the screws that had held the stator in, had jiggled loose, and destroyed everything :clown:. Apparently the stator was save-able, but I needed a new flywheel. Ordered a like new fly wheel from Jetmaniac, came in mint condition! Bring the asshole the flywheel, and he tells me to call him tomorrow.
He calls me the next morning, apparently the ski was running great now! Yay! About time. He had soldered up the stator, and popped everything back in. Sealed up the front, and sealed up the Ebox so that "No water would ever get in there." I was so excited that I would finally be able to ski. I go to his house, to finally take a look at my ski. First thing I notice is all the stratches on my brand new paint. That kinda set me off. But I was cool, the ski was running finally, so I was happy. Take off the hood to inspect. New fuel lines because my old ones were cracking apparently. Except these lines were new, used lines. Wtf. They were nice and dirty. Whatever though, a little mineral spirits would take care of it. Then I notice something that pissed me off even more. My brand new BK twister heads had been cut off!!!! GARRR!! He said "They would really mess up your hands." I had gotten those the day I brougt Jim the ski!!! But I cool off, its cool, I wouldn't need to adjust much anyway. Start the ski up, sounds goodish. I ask him if he messed with the jetting, apparently no. Everything was the same as when I had gotten it. I was sick of the guy, so I payed him his 300$ and left.
Next day, first day I ride my stand up! Pop it in the water, start it up, and off I went. I noticed then, that the ski was running like
! Misfiring, and if you gunned it, it would die. No top speed, a good mid range tho. Top speed, holding the throttle down, around 25mph? Horrible. But I had fun regardless. Then an hour or two into sliding and messing around, the ski starts bogging? Wtf could be wrong? Go to the dock, and pop the hood. WOW! I had 5 inches of water in there! How?? Ends up the the dumbass had changed my cooling loop configuration, and moved the flush. BUT he hadn't secured the fitting. So when I was ridding, water was pouring into the engine compartment. Great! Put the thing back on, and tighten it up really nicely. Take the ski out again, but theres still water pouring in? From where? This time, it ended up being that when my BFF Jim had cut the FP screws, he hadnt tightened them down. So the bottom screw had fallen out, and water was squirting out (at a really high pressure too). Bring the ski in one more time, and tighten the screws. Give her a nice long flush, and make sure to wash everything off. Everything. I washed her for maybe an hour and a half. School started the next day, so the ski just sat in the garage. The next weekend, I decide, instead of calling Jim, I would call Riva and ask them how to work on the jetting. Amazing customer service, I get to a guy that really knows what hes doing. He tells me to email him the jetting. I do, and then I dont get a response until 2 weeks later, because he had a family emergency. All was well, I knew that stuff like that happens. Finally get the recommendations, which were ALOT different than the parts inside. Pop the carbs back on, press the green button and.... Nothing? Free wheeling, and nothing else!? Hmf, the bendix probably is a little stiff. Open up the flywheel cover, and OMG!!! Rust, dirt, oil and crap everywhere?!?!? My perfect flywheel that I bought from Jetmaniac was super rusted!! Wtf!! :thinking: Pull the flywheel off, and get a look the the stupid thing. Jim never cleaned the flywheel compartment after the other flywheel had gotten destroyed. That doesn't explain the water and rust though. Then i realize, that half the screws for the flywheel cover are gone! He forgot to put screw on the bottom 3 holes!! That explains why there's rust in there!! Bendix was rusted and frozen :clown:. Soak her in mineral spirits for a day and half, and work her every hour or so, then soak her in transmition oil. Like new! Took a look at the stator, horrible. Almost threw up. It was repaired with a little solder, and hot glue. He didn't even clean the stator either!! But heres the real kicker. The stator was turned all the way clockwise. So the timing was super retarded. I even asked him to use a timing wheel and his tools to get the right timing. Asshole. Clean everthing, advance the timing a 2 degrees, pop the bendix in, and grease everything really nicely. Seal her up with all the screws this time also. Press the green button, and instant brappp. Awesome. I Give Jim a call to demand that he give me a refund, no answer so I leave a message. Take the ski out the next day, and theres still not much of top end. It starts bogging. And the throttle isnt responsive. After an hour of riding, I give up, and go to my friends house to borrow his stock 650, that compared to my 760 b piped monster, is 10x faster and better. Ironic eh?
So today, a week and a half later, the jetskis new batter would start smoking from the negative terminal? Huh? So I was in the mood to check the electronics, and check the stator, since I was feeling as if that was the problem. Open the e box, and out comes a gallon or so of water... ugh. Everything is rusted and wet. I have no idea what could be wrong now. I still haven't received a call from Jim, and he wont pick up. I will continue to call him. Dedicating myself to this ski was probably the worst idea Ive had in my life, right behind giving my jetski to someone with no knowledge of it. Point of the story is, If you want something done right, do it yourself.
Btw, if this guy doesn't refund me, theres gonna be a SN part out real soon.
My flywheel, following opening up the flywheel cover. Poor thing. It used to be shiny...
Look at all that rust, and glue and dirt... bllechhh
Look at the screw? I did a little magnification and raised the brightness so you guys could see.
