Probably a dumb question...

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Glassgirlw

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So we bought a pair of 2016 GTI SE 130's and just put them on the water for the first time last night. My first time ever driving one so I used the learning key that maxes your speed at 35 mph because I was a little unsure of my abilities maneuvering and I know there is a break in period for the first 10 hours. Is using the learning key the way to break it in? Or can you go faster than that during the break in period? I've done loads of research and the main thing I see from others is just to do short bursts of speed and such for the first 10 hrs. But no one says what your max speed should be during those 10 hrs. Any advice for a newbie ? [emoji4]
 
You can go faster. The biggest thing is not to do long high speed runs. You can do bursts to see what it's like. Plus the MPEM will limit things to protect itself until it unlocks.
 
yes, no need to keep the learning key on unless you are learning, which is just fine, and probably a good idea, but you won't harm the engine by putting the normal key on, just avoid long WOT runs, keep the throttle varied, burn up some hours, get some experience.

as far as maneuvering, the only thing that is a bad idea is going full speed then yanking the handlebars one direction or the other, because you might experience the "hook" , which can toss you off, if you feel it hooking too hard, you can just ease up a little bit on the throttle and it will collect itself again. When i'm doing high speed turns, I try to leave about 20-30% of throttle so if I need to power up into the turn to avoid washout < sliding sideways. If I feel a bit of a washout, i'll lean into the turn and brap up a little bit to get the sponson's to dig.
 
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not really, feel free just don't hold it there.

Personally i'd probably stick to varying between 40-80% of throttle and avoiding WOT except just for a blip. (Wide Open Throttle)


We just did 2 60 mile runs with another member here breaking in his 215 GTR, and I know we pushed him to some short WOT runs just to keep it up, and didn't have any concerns, but we also backed down pretty quickly as soon as he fell back in the pack so he wouldn't be tempted to keep pegging the throttle to keep us in sight.

anyhoo...
practicing maneuvers is probably the best advice I can give during the break in if your new to pwc's or new to your machine, wide sweeping S turns at various speeds, getting used to how the PWC turns at various speeds and throttle, brapping the throttle through turns to increase your comfort level so that your hand/brain work on instinct and you can keep your craft under 100% control.

find some crab traps or similar and run through them like in a slalom course, make u turns around obstacles, always keep the obstacle on the opposite side of your turn so just in case your steering cable snaps you won't be slamming into something... < ya it happens

Learn to keep all other craft in sight at all times, no silly maneuvers when you have somebody behind you, train the guy behind you to always be a solid distance behind AND to the side and aware of YOU at all times, in the same respect its important for YOU to be aware of THEM at all times to avoid the potential for a big ugly crash.

When i'm in a pack of ski's i'm constantly looking over my shoulder or glancing in the mirror, checking on the other riders and making sure we all keep a safe distance. We have hand signals that everybody knows and dam well better pay attention to.

Inexperience can be dangerous, you sneak up beside another ski, he's not paying attention then decides to make a hard left right into you, BLAM! I've seen the results of innocent horseplay, its not pretty.

my buddy reminded me saturday that his 2nd ski (RXP) is a dead man's ski, the previous owner was goofing off riding along the shoreline, looked over his shoulder too long,looked up and saw a dock 20 feet in front, made a hard left, the ski made the turn w/o a scratch but he got tossed head first into the dock, died.

3 months ago I bought a trunk full of spare RXT parts, the owner told me his ski was totaled, his wife lost her leg, 7 surgeries, disabled for life, because they were pulling out of a no wake zone he hit the throttle to about 15 mph then slowed down to check on his best friend, who had pegged the throttle while looking back over his shoulder and hit his ski at about 55mph... the wife is lucky she didn't die, but it was a simple mistake with drastic consequences.

The example above is why when we pull out of a no wake zone we're staggered almost in a V pattern, so that even if the leader stops, you won't run his ass over.
 
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Spimothy Leary said:
might experience the "hook" , which can toss you off,
Click to expand...

Experienced the "hook" myself about 3-weeks ago at 66 MPH... I was racing OCOD to the bridge and cut it sharp around a marker buoy,, Needless to say, the ski went straight and I went right. Ended up about 150 ft from the ski...

Fastest I have ever left the ski,,, I think I skipped like 6 times before I was going slow enough to puncture the water..
 
To expand on Spims comments...

These skis are an absolute blast. And for some reason, they are also magnets. We for some reason "want" to ride near our buddies or close enough to other so they can see us and out skis,,, It is just human nature and all but impossible to prevent.

I live in FL but am a member of Toronto Ski group on FB as there is good info there as well.

One of the Very Experienced riders was in a collision about a week ago One ski sank and the other floated but was destroyed. He was life-flighted with fractures to his skull, (but not life threatening from what I have read). The point is, he was a very experienced rider and something happened. I still do not know if it was his fault or the fault of the other rider. But bottom line,,, it does not matter whose fault it was. What matters is, something went wrong and he is now in the hospital....

I am like Spim, checking my mirrors all the time and looking back over my shoulder.
 
Coastiejoe said:
To expand on Spims comments...

These skis are an absolute blast. And for some reason, they are also magnets. We for some reason "want" to ride near our buddies or close enough to other so they can see us and out skis,,, It is just human nature and all but impossible to prevent.

I live in FL but am a member of Toronto Ski group on FB as there is good info there as well.

One of the Very Experienced riders was in a collision about a week ago One ski sank and the other floated but was destroyed. He was life-flighted with fractures to his skull, (but not life threatening from what I have read). The point is, he was a very experienced rider and something happened. I still do not know if it was his fault or the fault of the other rider. But bottom line,,, it does not matter whose fault it was. What matters is, something went wrong and he is now in the hospital....

I am like Spim, checking my mirrors all the time and looking back over my shoulder.
Click to expand...

ya, one of my ride groups just had that, guy tore his shoulder up big time, hooked a sponson, went from a smooth left turn into a hard left turn in about 1/2 a second.. sideswiped another ski.

Bottom line, the pack was riding too tight, we had 4 ski's on our saturday ride and were easily spaced 60 yards apart, each.
 
These are all super helpful tips so I appreciate everyone's input. We are definitely very cautious but yeah accidents can and do happen. We made sure to stay pretty far apart last night and stay away from other boats especially while we are still learning. My husband is pretty confident on his already with really tight turns and such....me, not so much. I have a long way to go. But I am in no hurry, so I will just keep practicing!
 
I was in the Coast Guard for 23 years. When I was teaching new boat drivers, the one thing I always said to them was, "Approach things only as fast as you are willing to hit it,,,"
 
While riding motorcycles isn't the same as a Jetski, a lot of the "rules" are the same and they're covered very well above. I've got roughly 300,000 miles on various motorcycles I've owned over the years as well as a good amount of experience on the water in boats and on ski's. Like we say in the motorcycling world, it isn't a matter of IF something goes wrong, but WHEN.

As such, I carry a first-aid kit on my Ski to include a tourniquet. My cell phone is always charged and I have apps that allow me to record my location and notify authorities in case of an incident with GPS coordinates as well as common names of nearby landmarks, if any. I also carry a large towel. I also have a small .38 revolver in a ziplock bag in case I'm broken down and an alligator gets too close. I'm properly licensed, of course, and carry all pertinent documentation.

These things are all about enjoying your time on them. However, I'm also as prepared as possible.
 
Coastiejoe said:
Experienced the "hook" myself about 3-weeks ago at 66 MPH... I was racing OCOD to the bridge and cut it sharp around a marker buoy,, Needless to say, the ski went straight and I went right. Ended up about 150 ft from the ski...

Fastest I have ever left the ski,,, I think I skipped like 6 times before I was going slow enough to puncture the water..
Click to expand...

I witnessed this, he was flying through the air :thumbsup:
 
Jonny M said:
I witnessed this, he was flying through the air :thumbsup:
Click to expand...
[MENTION=75843]Jonny M[/MENTION] I still owe you a shirt,,, I have them in a box here. I'll look later today,,

That "extra" ride off my ski was the first one in like 5 years... And I still have NEVER rolled a ski,,, I'd like to keep it that way.

I knew you were behind me and I was thinking,, Thank God John is back there as he can pick up the pieces once i finally land. In my mind, it was MUCH worse than the reality. I did pull a tendon in my right hand, but that was fine in a a few days. We rode for so long and hard that it took a week for my body to recover,, I KNOW how you must have felt as well..

It was a good day, I am glad we met up..
 
About 6 years ago I hit the water somewhere between 60 and 70 MPH, landed on a wake on my left side hard, spent a week in the hospital with 4 broken ribs, punctured left lung, lacerated spleen. Was tethered to a vacuum lung pump. Water is pretty hard at that speed, most people are lucky and tumble and roll, I wasn't lucky.
 
Glassgirlw said:
Y'all are making me very nervous lol. I'll just stick with the learning key for awhile longer I think [emoji3]
Click to expand...

Nervous isn't a bad thing while learning. It keeps you safe.

That said, don't let us scare you. We got off track a bit and tossed out some horror stories.
 
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I figure being nervous will give me a healthy respect for the new toys. While it's a blast on them I know they can be dangerous so figure I will just take it easy and work my way up
 
Hawk388 said:
While riding motorcycles isn't the same as a Jetski, a lot of the "rules" are the same and they're covered very well above. I've got roughly 300,000 miles on various motorcycles I've owned over the years as well as a good amount of experience on the water in boats and on ski's. Like we say in the motorcycling world, it isn't a matter of IF something goes wrong, but WHEN.

As such, I carry a first-aid kit on my Ski to include a tourniquet. My cell phone is always charged and I have apps that allow me to record my location and notify authorities in case of an incident with GPS coordinates as well as common names of nearby landmarks, if any. I also carry a large towel. I also have a small .38 revolver in a ziplock bag in case I'm broken down and an alligator gets too close. I'm properly licensed, of course, and carry all pertinent documentation.

These things are all about enjoying your time on them. However, I'm also as prepared as possible.
Click to expand...

dayummmm,

I bring 2 ice cold beers and a bag of beef jerky :)

Glassgirlw said:
Y'all are making me very nervous lol. I'll just stick with the learning key for awhile longer I think
Click to expand...


ya, sorry we got off track, with all that said, 99 out of 100 rides go absolutely perfect nobody falls off, breaks down or get's hurt, I just like to figure out ways to avoid being mr 100.

Same rules, stories apply to boats, motorcyles, bicycles, hiking, recreational sports, pretty much anything that doesn't involve a couch/remote.
 
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