gel coat repair for minor damage ?

[Spimothy Leary]

ya, I might be pissing into the wind on this, Its not like i'm trying to pull tight donuts, but the turn radius sub 20 is just so dam bad, I want to cut that 20 foot radius down to 10 or just give up.

actually #5 might be to reinstall opas, I had kind of set that idea aside. < thanks for the reminder

next time I ride with Coastie I need to swap rides and get on his rxt with opas and see how I feel about it.

Its possible that my complaints are consistent with the opas delete and i've been fighting to fix a problem that could be solved by just putting them back on. (the ski came with opas delete so I didn't chose it, It came that way)

 

[Michael211_2000]

ya, I might be pissing into the wind on this, Its not like i'm trying to pull tight donuts, but the turn radius sub 20 is just so dam bad, I want to cut that 20 foot radius down to 10 or just give up.

About a 20 foot diameter do-nut (10 foot radius I suppose) is what my 06 RXT does at about 3/4 throttle (~6.5k rpm's with steering turned full either way). This is correct for the hull length and weight of an RXT I believe. Question is, why doesn't your RXT perform the same? IDK.

Have you checked your SC to insure it is actually making boost? I mean like lately? I suspect many RXP's and RXT's are run every summer without a clue that their SC isn't actually working... unless it fails catastrophically (ie. grinding noises or engine locks up because of it) the rider may not realize it has stopped spinning in fact... has happened to me before, SC to TB air hose has popped off the TB while riding several times (till I cleaned it really good with dish washing soap inside) and last Fall after rebuilding the SC the new needle bearings burned up and somehow it went to spinning freely (never quite figured out why it was spinning freely when I pulled it out, but all parts were present on the shaft and still torqued properly... it was weird, all I can say).

OPAS only helps out at low speeds. The OPAS paddles actually lift up out of the water at higher speeds (they are pressed up by water pressure coming from the pump). Doing a do-nut they have little to no affect IMHO. OPAS will somewhat improve low speed handling at idle but do nothing at higher speeds.

Regards!

- Michael

 

[Michael211_2000]

And you still make no mention of the intake grate... is it still the OEM? Is there even one under there? (Yes, they can be lost and people don't necessarily notice they no longer have an intake grate they just talk about the thing getting sloppy on turns)

OEM intake grate is cwap not much better than no grate at all. Get either a RIVA or R&D grate, they improve handling at ALL speeds!

Most of the other stuff you list you are about to try, I think you won't be impressed at all with the results. :-\

- Michael

 

[Michael211_2000]

ps. The reason some people delete the OPAS is to eliminate the drag the paddles create at the onset of hitting the throttle hard from a dead stop... people wanting to race their SeaDoo's will eliminate the OPAS to get a little faster on take-off. Once you're going on plane though, they are effectively lifted out of the water and have no effect.

If you're not good at steering with thrust alone it will make the hull feel sloppy on turns while idling though.

- Michael

 

[Spimothy Leary]

Michael:
after re-reading your posts and how stressful you are about thrust, I will most definitely revisit your POV on my next ride, maybe due to so many hours on smaller ski's i'm missing the obvious where i'm being too tentative on the throttle, the smaller ski's would hook and I could pop the ass end around with ease using short/hard bursts.

note: my complaints don't make the ski un-rideable, just unsatisfactory. I'm only posting my complaints/results in the hopes that others my benefit.


top loader grate, riva
sc is definitely working
discovered that it had 81 ring, ordered the 83 this morning.
opas was deleted when I bought it so I have no comparison against the baseline, but experienced riders have made complaints about opas in the ocean causing unpredictability, but as stated, perhaps after this next run it might make sense to source out a pair and try them out.

not that I had a tape measure out or anything but IMO it was close to a 20' radius, (40' diameter) not 10' radius, if I had 10' I wouldn't complain.

again, perhaps i'm just pissing into the wind and trying to defeat the laws of physics but I'm willing to at least try

I'll report back in a week after some boxes arrive in the mail

 

[Michael211_2000]

Hmmm.... thing is, nobody else with an RXT of that vintage has ever referred to it as "a barge". Ergo, what the problem with you and yours is, I cannot fathom! I really don't think it's you, but am at a loss as to what about it could be malfunctioning either. :-\

I can do 20 foot diameter do-nuts with my '06 RXT that just get tighter and tighter actually (under power, using more and more throttle but actually going slower and slower as I spiral inwards) until I decide to "pop-out" and SHOOT across the lake at high speed (which is really exhilarating!). Your experience with that RXT just doesn't seem to be anywhere near the experience I've enjoyed with mine... so, what the heck gives?

Go ride Coastal Joe's RXT and let him ride yours and maybe ya'll can figure it out together... that's all I got left! :-(

- Michael

 

[Spimothy Leary]

yip, either i'm going insane or just missing something, it could be obvious or hidden.

running comparisons on similar models would help the process of elimination.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

Update,
Finally got around to making some handling mods, thought i'd share in the event another member with a 3 seater would like to read up on improvements in steering.

1) changed reduction nozzle from 81 to 83
2) installed speedfreaks steering control mod.
3) installed Seadoo 2012 RXPX sponsons.

WOW, my problems are totally solved.

U turn inside of 10 feet, corners on rails, no more washout on turns, and the X sponsons in the sport (middle) position are perfect, track's just like stockers unless I need the extra hook and a quick lean digs those fin's in just right, it took me about 2 miles to make minor adjustments in ride style and after that I was grinning from ear to ear.

Wife is a little disappointed because I had threatened to sell the ski if the handling problems weren't solved, but now I love this thing, IMO it handles nearly as good as a rxp, I can turn on a dime now.

So, if you have a 3 seater with or w/o opas, and want better cornering, a sponson upgrade most definitely make a difference. Would I do the X again? not sure....

I was told that the 2012 X sponsons were a direct bolt on, that info was incorrect, unless he just meant "the center hole lines up" < lol, fker... So 2 holes had to be filled, new ones re-drilled, and two other inside holes had to be elongated to add the X.

If I had correct info, I likley would have ordered Riva or Worx since I believe both of them are direct bolt-on's, and would have saved some labor with the likely the result.

I'll throw some pic's up later today of the new look. This should work on RXT, RXTX, GTX models and you will notice the difference on tight turns.

for those with the RXTX, (does not work on non X steering controls) I do think the speedfreaks ($75) mod is a good idea, it appeared to add about 3 or 4 degrees of turn radius on the nozzle, it can't turn any further now, hitting metal so not possible. Makes a noticeable difference in the turn radius but not sure how significant of an effect it had overall since I did all 3 mods at the same time.

Bottom line, I couldn't be happier with the results !!!

 

[Michael211_2000]

Yay! Cool beans! Glad you finally got it performing to your satisfaction.

Remember the saying, Happy Wife Happy Life! :cheers:

- Michael