Buying a used speedster, help.

[daneek]

Hi. I'm new to this forum. I'm looking to buy a used 2000 speedster, two engines. I'm in Ukraine. The question is what to look at. What should I pay attention to when I'm looking at the boat. The owner told me the engines have just been refurbished, but how can I tell if the engine, body, jet.... whatever is not dead and that I won't be spending thousands of $ to fix it?

The other question is the fuel consumption on these things. How much fuel does the sucker drink in an hour. Maybe it's worth just getting a new boat with an outboard? Won't be so painful later on with the fuel prices...?

Please help.

 

[daneek]

Come on guys. Help me out. Should I go 400 miles to see the boat. If I do, I will need to know what to look for.

 

[seadoo_mike]

I just bought a used 2006 150 sportster myself, I have had stern drive boats before but I am new to the jet boat world and I like it. My boat only has a single engine, with a dual engine setup, you will have more to take care of obviously, what would be your reason for looking at a dual engine setup, you can also have the boat hooked up to a computer at a seadoo service center and have the engine's read, I had mine hooked up and it told me, total engine hours on boat, running speeds and rpm's that the boat was ran from new, if it has any diagnostic alarms in it and many more info, the check is called B.U.D.S. that would give you an idea of how the motor was ran, my boat gets pretty good fuel economy, had it out three times for half days and only used one tank, alot better than my old stern drive boats, but with the dual engine you will be using twice as much gas

 

[05GTXSC]

You wont be using twice as much fuel because it will not take as much power to move the boat therefore lower RPM's less fuel consumption but it won't be better then the single. The 06 is night and day to the 00 4 Stroke=better fuel economy more horse power. If you are looking to use the boat I would recommended duel engines.

 

[timmyboy76]

take a compression gauge with you. psi shgould not be in difference of 10% on each motor, with compression being above 100-110psi. Look at the impellor, and see if theres any light around it, if so, then you miight be changing the wear rings soon. If the battery is dead, jump it, but make sure the "host" power is not running. Other than that, if all these pass, then should be ok. o-yeaah, look under neath, if battery is good, then check all the buttons, lights,..etc. Good luck.

 

[daneek]

Thanks a lot guys. Gonna go check it out soon.

 

[daneek]

Ok, so I've seen the boat. It looks ok, other than some dings and scratches and patches on the seats.
First when he was starting the engine there was a weird banging noise inside the engine one. In a minute he started it up and it was fine for the rest of the time. Than when I had it on about 50% throttle, it felt as if the engine was pushing and releasing constantly. The water was quite rough. Was it because it was trying to get onto plane, or because of waves, or is that an engine malfunction? It was fine on full throttle.

The other thing is electronics. The rev-counters and the speedometer would turn on and off every once in a while and the only reeding on the rev counters was 5,500 or 0. Is that a really bad thing. I wount really die if I don't know how many rpm I'm doing at every given second.

There are 3 dings on the hull right in the centre, the biggest is about 1.5" x .5". Will that be a problem in future? Corrosion or that kind of stuff.

Also I don't really know what to look at when I'm looking at the wear ring. It has been in fresh waters for the last 4-5 years, but before, it seems by the corrosion on the pump housing that it had been in salt waters.

And last but not least, I've been told that rotax engines are not that reliable, so I want to hear from somebody out there who is using them. ARE THE ROTAX 2 STROKE ENGINES ON A 2000' SPEEDSTER RELIABLE, OR SHOULD I STAY AWAY FROM THEM?

Look at the pix and tell me what you think.

 

[timmyboy76]

hey daneek...for me, i'd trust the rotax, over the mercury motor, for those year/s. (just my opinion)

I wouldnt pay attention to the small stuff...speedo, tach..etc, that could be loose connections/corrosion on pins, or bad gauges.

The pulsing of motors, could be, the carbs need gone thru, and/or the "black caps" on motors, that your RAVE valves. You can take them out, and clean w/ wire brush, then re-install, or possible, the red dot on top, is out of adjustment. (common settings are, on motors, the red cap is buried into the black housing, and the waterbox setting, is flush w/ black housing).

The dings on the gel-coat, I just had mine fixed, and it looked like "fiberglass bondo", so if theres NO HOLES ,then this stuff could be purchased, any marine/water place.

The pick of the impellor looks good, along with wear ring, but was a far pic...the nozzle being "corroded", it looks like mine..missing paint.

All and all, if the boat performed well at top end, and jumped off the idle position, then I think its a good deal, but then again, you didnt mention, how much.....

 

[daneek]

Well first of all you need to know that this is Ukraine, so what costs $5000 in USA or Canada would probably cost around $8,000-$10,000. It is all because of customs, registration etc. He was asking $8,000, but I guess it's gonna be $6,000-$6,500. But then I'll need to spend another $1500 in registration and all the little extras.

Thanks for your replies. They've been really helpful!

 

[daneek]

Is there any other way I can estimate the hours on the engine if I don't have a chance to hook it up to a computer? Any clues to at least estimate the hours (some visual stuff, sounds)? I heard that the rotax 2-strokes of those years last up to 1000 hours, is that true? Is there any way I can find that out without the computer?

AND, is there any way to check if it is listed in any "stolen/missing" list. Don't want to get into a story where I've purchased a stolen boat.

The only place I can hook it up to the computer is here where i live and it's 400 miles away from where the boat is.

 

[daneek]

any clues?