Quick Help new member

[pholt]

I have had a ton of boats and jets ski's, new to the jet boats. Bought a boat the other day, seller said it was a 2000 1800 Challenger 240 h.p, well got it home it is a 210 h.p not the 240 optimax. Here is the auction I bought it off. I paid full tilt for this boat.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140233675540#ebayphotohosting

Question what is the difference in performance? I am sure the opti uses less fuel.

I have owned MANY bass boats and the 2000 year optimax outboards were not very good. we called them "optipops" since they blew up so much, that was not a good year for the opti, was it not a good year for this boat? I assume they are the same outboard?

Anything I should know about this boat.

Is it true you can not flip the boat in calm water? I about bought a sugar sand a few years ago and they said it was impossible to flip. I already did a sub in this boat, it filled the boat with about a foot of water and off we were again. It pumped it out in about 30 seconds. I just want to know the limits of this boat and not cross them, with my kids in it.

the boat runs great, say's it has 35 hours, it is in great shape, just a few little items that need to be fixed, just trying to get the feel for what I need to do and watch out for.

Also, I ran this boat up to 40 mph, with the bimini top up, it did not seem to be under any stress, are they made to be ran at speed, it was nice to be out of the sun!!!!


thanks

 

[kustomkarl]

I had a "custom" made Bimini for my 08 200 speedster, that doesn't have a brim on it like the factory one and also had it triple stitched. It is narrower too and is good up to speeds of 55+ but it is special made. The factory ones will not take the abuse of high speeds...that's why I had it special made.

Karl

 

[legojones]

I have had a ton of boats and jets ski's, new to the jet boats. Bought a boat the other day, seller said it was a 2000 1800 Challenger 240 h.p, well got it home it is a 210 h.p not the 240 optimax. Here is the auction I bought it off. I paid full tilt for this boat.
http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140233675540#ebayphotohosting

Question what is the difference in performance? I am sure the opti uses less fuel.

The 240 that was available for that boat was the 240 EFI which is not an Optimax. From my research the 240 is pretty much bullet proof but it eats gas and oil at a much faster rate than the Optimax. The early (2000-2001) optimax's were prone to blowing powerheads. The best thing you can do to prevent that is use the Optimax 2 stroke oil and change the plugs every year if they need it or not. Also add Mercury Quickleen to your tank periodically to keep carbon from building up. Carbon is the enemy of this engine!

Check out this link for a very indepth review of the 200HP Optimax.

Check with ebay or the seller to see if you can get some money back since the boat was misrepresented in the ad.

Remember that the vast majority of early optimax owners had no serious problems, maintain it well and you'll probably have no problems either.

Kevan

 

[pholt]

Ok?

Did I over pay for the boat? The boat is in great shape 35 hours, is the 240 that much better than the 210? I had a gambler bass boat with a 250 ProXB, I bet money that is the 240 they put in this boat. It is a EFI gas monster.

I was told the 250 proXB was a mixture of parts from the 225 and the 300x, it was a hoss, it pushed my 21' gambler over 80, but it loved the fuel and yes, they said it was nearly bullet proof.

I was wonder the difference in performance between the
210 and the 240? I was told very little, this boat will run 54 with 3 people in it, and it gets there in a Flash, it will throw you out turning, it does porpose a little, but I think I am going to order that place diverter to fix that. Just opinions on the boat and the price.

I as a multi bass boat owner figured this big v-6 has to work less, than the two small rotax engines. I love Rotax, but 2 engines in anything spells problems to me, at least anything that I have owned with two engines has been a headache, if it is under warranty great, but after that I have had no luck, just twice the problems. So I chose the Merc.

 

[legojones]

I was wonder the difference in performance between the
210 and the 240? I was told very little, this boat will run 54 with 3 people in it, and it gets there in a Flash, it will throw you out turning, it does porpose a little, but I think I am going to order that place diverter to fix that. Just opinions on the boat and the price.

If you are happy with the boats performance don't sweat over the difference between it and the 240.

Before you look at getting trim tabs or a diverter, check out the trim plate attached to the bottom of the jet. For some reason they come out of the factory with the plate adjusted all the way up. Loosen the screws and adjust it all the way down to see if it helps your porposing problem.

Kevan

 

[pholt]

Plate

Yes it is all the way, up does going down help it. I will try.

 

[Gunsrunner]

G'day, I've had no prob's running with my bimini up at top speed 53mph, the only problem i have is that it slows me down.
One thing i have noticed though, is that my bimini seems to be lower than most of the pictures i see.