Which of these 3 skis would you guys buy. Need some opinions of those who know.

[RockyRiver]

Just found this site and am stoked to see all the info on here. I am just getting started so I need a little advice from those who know. Would love to have new machines but just cant afford it right now so we are buying 2 used units just to get our feet wet. Me and my Wife will be riding them and we have looked at several but narrowed it down to these 3 that are sale locally. 1. is a 97 XP in mint shape and has some R&D bolt ons. 2. a 99 XP Limited in mint shape as well mostly stock. 3. a 2000 RX Millennium Edition in very nice shape. Note that these will be for me and my wife and or occasional buddy to ride so if you could buy 2 which 2 would you go with. we will be riding mostly on the Ohio River. Thanks for your knowledge and thanks for accepting me into the community!!!!

 

[Minnetonka4me]

The XP and XPL are 1 person skis, very hard to ride 2 up. The RX is a good happy medium of 1 person fun and 2 person stability.

The 800 motor in the 97 is more reliable than the 951 in the other two skis. You really want to listen for piston slap in the 951s, if you hear it that means utter destruction is imminent. Its the death of many a 951, usually resulting in broken cases.

 

[LouDoo]

For 2up riding definitely the 2000 RX-ME.

Lou

 

[CReynoldsMIZ]

The 97 is a great ski. I Always liked the look of the 2000 millennium rx as well

 

[Spimothy Leary]

price would dictate decisions somewhat. (and if hours are pushing up towards 200 thats a big negative)

if you plan on riding solo on two ski's... you "could" go with both xp's,,, the 787 version will be slower but probably last longer, but both will be better for riding solo, (2 can be done but its difficult) and both are excellent river cruisers. (actually all 3 models are) but if your wife is like mine, she'll hate the XP, unless she's a real tomboy.

most women seem to prefer stability over sportiness.. guys tend to lean the other way. so RX for wife, XP for hubby, and i'd go with the faster newer xp myself, the 97 is nice but its sluggish with the 787.

if there is any chance you'd be riding double, and/or if your both new to pwc's, and your coming in under budget i'd get the newer xp and the RX, the rx will be more stable and the wife might appreciate that, see above.. I might go with the older XP if its a few hundred less, and it should keep up with the Rx for the most part but won't be fast by any stretch. There is a big difference between the two xp models top speed wise... 55ish vs 62... and the holeshot on the 97 is not a holeshot, its very disappointing, same goes for midrange power, its lacking, although bolt on's might help a lil' bit.

both xp's will be kind of sport models, and kind of tippy, take some getting used to... the RX will have a shorter learning curve, but its not as "fun" as the XP's, but it will come in handy if taking out a friend or a kid with you and riding double. and it will give you a lot of extra storage, both xp's come up short on storage, rx has better storage.

Whats your budget and what are the ball park prices on these skis ? 6K ?
(reason, i'd recommend paying at least $1,000 less than your budget if you get the two 951's to give wiggle room for repairs), actually in general i'd always recommend staying $1000 under budget, stack 10 100's in your underwear drawer then when something breaks you'll have the money and won't be all pissed off.

mechanically inclined or dependent on a shop for basic repairs. ?

get your budget up to 10K and can come down to florida, buy my his/her set and you'll be rockin. (and then I can go buy the honda in orlando that I want lol)

 

[SabrToothSqrl]

the RX is your only choice for 2 up.

you won't get 2 on an XP...

I'd go for the RX.

 

[Spimothy Leary]

the RX is your only choice for 2 up.

you won't get 2 on an XP...

I'd go for the RX.

I don't think he specifically mentioned 2 up as a "priority", just mentioned wanting two ski's for himself and wife, which IMO implies two solo riders.

With that said... I'm still share the same opinion, the RX is a good choice, or in general a good choice for ski #1, since even if 2 up isn't expected it still comes into play (at least it does for me) but in general, the RX does many things well, it cruises well, provides ample storage, provides stability that the XP doesn't. (myself, i'm NOT a fan of the RX, I find it quite boring, but that doesn't mean its not a good ski) It does a lot of things well, but nothing exceptional, and what it really doesn't provide is what would be considered bulletproof reliability. However, NO ski that isn't new and under warranty provides bulletproof reliability, and even then all a new ski really provides is no cost repairs, and a significantly reduced chance of failure/down time, but doesn't eliminate it.

I myself have ridden ski's that date back to 96 with 787's and 951's, beat the piss out of them, and have had multiple seasons of trouble riding, even when putting close to 200 hours on them, but every ski is different, what we're really talking about is "in general" 1 model might be considered more reliable than another due to the general reliability of the power plant. So much depends on on who had it last, did they keep up on maintenance, how hard they were ridden, and the same applies on the new owner. miss a couple of opportunities to grease a zerk fitting and your going to have issues...

You could easily find one problematic 787 that looks awful in comparison to 10 951's, but all things being equal if you had 100 787 ski's and 100 951's, 3 years from now most likely you'd have more 787's that turned out to be solid runners. But each indvidual ski unfortunately must stand on its own merits, not the reputation in general, and if reputation was #1 priority, then the 717 is actually the one to rank up top.

anyways...

for me, I think in general the Rx is an excellent choice #1 because its a "good" all around ski, but on the fun factor scale its about a 4 since I consider myself a seasoned rider (a new pwc rider would think its a 9.9) then its a matter of choosing which fits best for #2, and IMO the newer faster XP is the better overall choice based on performance issues, not factoring in reliability, since reliability is so dam unpredictable.

If its a young couple, the wife is an adventurous spirit, no kids, and on weekdays they both ride motocross, then i'd suggest scrapping all 3 models and finding an XP and an HX

 

[Coastiejoe]

If these are the ONLY choices and you are happy with them, then I would buy one XP and the RX.

The XP ski is fun but not nearly as stable as newer 2 and 3 seater skis. So buy the best XP based on hours, condition, and engine quality. It all cases, if at all possible do a test ride and at a minimum do a compression test to see the internal condition of the engines.

 

[jammin777]

or you can take a peek at the possibility of the a gsx which is a great in between a (xp and rx) stable and yet very fun. the gsx in 96 and 97 came withe the reliable 787 and the 98 -99 came with the 951.the 99 -200 also came with a 787 rfi which is fuel injected.

 

[DA080682]

Definately ride the ski's before you buy one so you know what your getting into. Riding two up on a 97+ XP is not impossible as I do it all the time. My wife prefers the XP for the suspension seat as she has some back/neck problems. I personally prefer the 787 over the 951 from a reliability stand point. But, as many have already stated, maintenance is most important if you want reliability. If the ski's were put away wet without blowing out the exhaust and fogging then either of them may be a rust ball inside.