I don't see that, I've had my own on its side, they are ridged with the deck bolted down, split the thing and take the deck off and they have some give.. This using plastic instead of glass ain't new, boats made on the same style have been around for years, kayaks another example (and those things take a beating on rocks).. It's not new technology, just new on jetskis.. Give it 10 years I bet all the manufacturers are doing it and most models will be made from it.. So many advantages over glass..
Spark concernes
- Thread starter qcustoms
- Start date
I don't see that, I've had my own on its side, they are ridged with the deck bolted down, split the thing and take the deck off and they have some give.. This using plastic instead of glass ain't new, boats made on the same style have been around for years, kayaks another example (and those things take a beating on rocks).. It's not new technology, just new on jetskis.. Give it 10 years I bet all the manufacturers are doing it and most models will be made from it.. So many advantages over glass..
What recall is this? My dealer knows nothing of it?
I had heard from a reliable source that if you upgraded/modified the ECU the display would not work correctly, but from all the Vtec stuff I'd have to say they were incorrect.
Yea, that's what I did, I threw even the kitchen sink into my spark insurance, due to these findings - though I've taken my spark out already 5 weekends - and have had an absolute blast on it.. And no problems
But i have to be honest, I am mindful of these cracks, and even the handlebar crack that happened, I bought the emergency kit that goes on the front of the spark, and it think I would use the front storage bin for a PFD rectangular floating device kit for it. BUT I dont ride it like the op rides it, yea I jump waves and have a great time on it, but I don't ride crazy and jump 8 feet in the air.
So I think the spark needs some upgrades, REALLY that I am going to try to do:
1. The throttle lever is flimsy, I think I saw a metal one that some company is producing which I'm gonna get.. The plastic throttle lever feels like I'm going to brake it.
2. The stress points on the hull seems to be happening a lot on the left and right sides of the hull, as we'll as the handlebars, seadoo has to do something about that, but they sell the bumper guards which I should get as well, also a rubber side molding like my seadoo speedster has won't hurt it, I think it can offer some more protection, the handlebar can also get a metal kit for it to increase the strength of it.
3. I believe seadoo can increase the thickness of the bottom hull by at least a quarter inch, I don't think it should cost too much more to implement that.
4. I have to be a more careful rider on the spark, this is not a GTI and so forth. So due to all these hull cracking issues, I don't want to get in an accident on the water, I love it, but I don't want to sink with it (thankfully there are floating materials in the spark).
I knew when I purchased my spark that it's new technology and I didn't expect it to be a perfect machine, I could have gotten a more expensive machine, but I got a starter machine that I am going to customize and make better
At the end, like I mentioned I love riding it, it keeps me coming back to the water because of the ease of it, the great time we have on the water with it, such a low cost of using it (3 - 4 gallons of fuel a whole day) I can tow it with my 4 cylinder camry ($13 bucks round trip to the lake!), ease of launching it & retrieving it, and best of all it's cheap! (Pun intended)
qcustoms
New Member
Well put buddy. I'm the same as you. Iv taken the top off and it's st plastic welded getting webbing put in it. And I'm unaware if the handlebar issue but yea I'm all for swapping to the UMI or similar with the alloy finger throttle. Pm ur find sets maby we can help source our bits maby. First few purchased are the single foot pedal
For rear getting on. And front compartment and ibr.
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For rear getting on. And front compartment and ibr.
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The weight of a boat as compared to he Spark would be substantially different. But,,, it would be interesting to put two of these engines into a hull and see what it can do. Pretty sure it would require twin engines based on load to performance formulas,,,
IDoSeaDoo
Well-Known Member
The 97 speedster came with twin 720's, giving it around 170hp total, and I can attest that IT WAS A BLAST. It was literally the most fun I've ever had with a steering wheel. Only problem(s) was reliability, noise, and CONSUMPTION. You couldn't hope to finish a day on the water without the fuel light coming on. My buddy had the '95 speedster and sold it for said reasons. The spark engines can be hacked to 109hp, and while they too will be guzzlers at WOT, I bet it would be awesome at cruise. The twin pumps make a huge difference. Nobody around here can wait to see what my single pump Challenger will do with the 185 horses from the 4tec I'm putting in her...
Would love to see that..
I've always liked the Speedsters, they seemed like the closest thing you could have to a sports car on the water. I'm intrigued by the thought of replacing the old engines with in them with something more modern, maybe as a down the road project when I am finally fully retired. If a person was to consider taking this on, were there any model years that may be better than others for the conversion, if I had to buy one anyways? Would newer=better because of continuous improvements made to the hull, etc, or were they pretty much basically the same other than options like colors, motors, etc over the years? Maybe things like accessibility to the motors, being able to more easily drop in newer style motors in the newer hull designs? I have no idea. This might be a good thread to start on it's own, if one already hadn't been yet, I haven't done any searches. Thoughts?
IDoSeaDoo
Well-Known Member
Here's my thread on this project.
http://www.seadooforum.com/showthread.php?69006-Challenger-4tec-Upgrade
I'm pretty sure all 2-stroke boat hulls will need at least the 4-stroke intake tunnel glassed in. I'm going to chop up an 03 GTX body to paste down in there. If you want to see a truly awesome thread on a cool sport boat build, check out this thread:
www.**************/forums/showthread.php?t=77896
Edit: The stars are supposed to say gr3en hu lk. Sorry admins, I don't mean to advertise the competition, but this thread is really worth clicking on
http://www.seadooforum.com/showthread.php?69006-Challenger-4tec-Upgrade
I'm pretty sure all 2-stroke boat hulls will need at least the 4-stroke intake tunnel glassed in. I'm going to chop up an 03 GTX body to paste down in there. If you want to see a truly awesome thread on a cool sport boat build, check out this thread:
www.**************/forums/showthread.php?t=77896
Edit: The stars are supposed to say gr3en hu lk. Sorry admins, I don't mean to advertise the competition, but this thread is really worth clicking on
Wow, just finished reading it, that took a while. Even though it's now a couple years old, that was one impressive build, he was nothing short of a possessed man on a mission! I couldn't believe his dedication to it, and got it working just as he had hoped it would. From the last posts, it appears that he was going to sell it to help pay for his next project, I hope not, but if so, I can't wait to see what his next one will be! Well, if nothing else, it is a bit inspiring, and compared to what he did, the engine swaps should be a piece of cake. Well, sorta. For him, that is. For me, well...
