Mine Against Hers 1996 VS 1997 GTX

[etemplet]

This thread will be about my quest to verify WHY my wife's ski is faster than mine. I did build the engine on hers, and restored complete the 1997 GTX (hers). Initially my engine was in good shape so I restored my ski without doing internal engine work. I learned a WHOLE LOT having 2 of the same ski. 4 times I pulled those carbs on each ski and made adjustments. They were kickin but hers always walked by mine on top end. Even with 2 people on board her ski and me on my 96 in a motorcycle road race tuck laying down behind the bars.... she glided on by. There are posts on this forum with me whining about her ski being faster. I will find out why her's is faster.



2 years ago I had to replace the engine on my ski. YEP... lent that son of a gun out for 4 days. Ski destroyed. Don't lend your stuff out.

So with the new engine I'm thinking I could give her a run for her money. (I have ridden this ski about ONE HOUR in 2 years) It isn't even broken in and the same 2 year old premix fuel onboard my ski. After 20 putting around.... I decided to cheat on break-in and we lined up next to one another and I said go. I gotta give it to her... she will drop the hammer whenever I tell her and hold it there. Ha ha. Interesting results. when she hits the gas on her ski that bitch digs out!! Midrange she pulls the hell out of mine probably 5 skis easily. So I'm winding mine up going yea yea... I'm catching her... I was surely hanging with her and by this time she was at least 40 yards ahead of me. Then I'm blaming my 2 year old pre-mix in the fuel tank for a sputter. She was surprised how close I was. When the rain stops I"m going outside with my bore scope to check the impeller on her ski. I'll report back.

 

[etemplet]

Day 2 - after working on my info gauge and Painting my wife's handbar pad and such we went riding. What an adventure it was. LOL We helped a boat out that was broke down on da bayou and had some fun. I decided another RACE was necessary after putting some new fuel in the GTX. Top speed is very very close but she jumps me from the start. Not sure what that is exactly but I need to pull my carbs. I got low speed overfueling going on. Might be the CDI but I'm gonna check the carbs. Ski has been sitting.

Here is today's RACE.

 

[tobytd]

“Adjust” her throttle cable.

 

[Bowser]

Beautiful water conditions in the video.

Maybe the wear ring has a tighter clearance = greater output?

Edit: on another note did you zinc coat your trailer in the pic?

 

[tobytd]

Switch skies surely she has a weight advantage.

 

[etemplet]

Switch skies surely she has a weight advantage.

A couple years back I was full throttle and she glided by at the same freakin speed carrying a passenger. LOL Walked right on by.

 

[etemplet]

Beautiful water conditions in the video.

Maybe the wear ring has a tighter clearance = greater output?

Edit: on another note did you zinc coat your trailer in the pic?

Water is great my wife likes to ride there when we so.... that's where we go. LOL

I used cold galvanize compound on the trailer. Haven't painted it since.

 

[etemplet]

Wear rings look about the same. Mine is brand new. I'm gonna work on identifying the impellers but I'm not pulling the pumps to do that. I know her ski has a Seadoo impeller. I wonder if the 97 has different power curve settings?

 

[etemplet]

Pulled the carbs and everything looked OK. I pulled the Carbs apart, checked everything. Pop-Off Spot on. I swapped the CDI just to see if I had a computer issue... All Good. Before I embarked on tracking down an electrical issue, swapping the computer, checking all the plugs, maybe replacing the mag pick up... After saying a prayer to help me find the problem a thought popped into my mind. Check the Rave valves. That seems silly to me as I just built that engine and it has 2 hours on it. Sure enough the threads were pulled out of the MAG rave piston. That describes exactly the problem I was having with my engine. Jerky idle, great top end, and the reason my wife's ski jumped mine at mid-range. Notwithstanding all of this stuff.... her ski has always been faster than mine, even with the old engine. I wanted to get them "even up" using conventional methods... no cheating. With the new engine we were really close top end. I think My ski will hang with hers now. We'll see in 2 weeks.
After I prove that... I can cheat a little. I might look into an aftermarket impeller for my ski. It would be a great test to see if they make a difference.

 

[etemplet]

As an aside, I pulled out the RX and fired it up today. I want to keep only 2 skis for personal use but HOW can sell this jewel.??? That's not even counting when you hit the throttle or how great it handles.

I like that our GTXs match but I think thisfamily is gonna have a threesome

Here is the RX and I'm STILL waiting on PWC Graphics to make a set for this ski. I sent him the tracings Last JUNE. These people are ridiculous.

 

[acooper]

“Adjust” her throttle cable.

Now that's some funny shit right there!
Keep life simple.... keep ridin' and stay safe, too.

 

[Boyd12]

This thread will be about my quest to verify WHY my wife's ski is faster than mine. I did build the engine on hers, and restored complete the 1997 GTX (hers). Initially my engine was in good shape so I restored my ski without doing internal engine work. I learned a WHOLE LOT having 2 of the same ski. 4 times I pulled those carbs on each ski and made adjustments. They were kickin but hers always walked by mine on top end. Even with 2 people on board her ski and me on my 96 in a motorcycle road race tuck laying down behind the bars.... she glided on by. There are posts on this forum with me whining about her ski being faster. I will find out why her's is faster.

View attachment 61931

2 years ago I had to replace the engine on my ski. YEP... lent that son of a gun out for 4 days. Ski destroyed. Don't lend your stuff out.

So with the new engine I'm thinking I could give her a run for her money. (I have ridden this ski about ONE HOUR in 2 years) It isn't even broken in and the same 2 year old premix fuel onboard my ski. After 20 putting around.... I decided to cheat on break-in and we lined up next to one another and I said go. I gotta give it to her... she will drop the hammer whenever I tell her and hold it there. Ha ha. Interesting results. when she hits the gas on her ski that bitch digs out!! Midrange she pulls the hell out of mine probably 5 skis easily. So I'm winding mine up going yea yea... I'm catching her... I was surely hanging with her and by this time she was at least 40 yards ahead of me. Then I'm blaming my 2 year old pre-mix in the fuel tank for a sputter. She was surprised how close I was. When the rain stops I"m going outside with my bore scope to check the impeller on her ski. I'll report back.

You are a wise man! If you win, you lose!

 

[etemplet]

You are a wise man! If you win, you lose!

Does sorta take the fun out of it. Some people might not realize all of the details involved in getting top performance from the skis. If I didn't have 2 skis to compare this would be less interesting for sure. I know she doesn't care but I think she enjoys winning.

 

[DTH357]

I had to get the updated rave valves for my 97 GTX. They have slots cut into them. Before I changed valves I would have to hit the throttle two or three times very fast for it to take off like it should.

 

[tobytd]

There is a housing update also.