Bimini Top Cover Tore... $307 replacement?!!!

[topherbd16]

So we were rolling up the bimini top and putting the cover on after getting out of the water yesterday. The cover tore and the zipper head flew off... two failures my wife and I had a good laugh at.

I looked at Yamaha Parts Warehouse and they want $306.99 for the cover?! We stopped laughing.... Talk about an upcharge for splitting the parts up.
Camping World, Overtons, etc. have them for $54.... but has a 1 star review.... now I'm laughing again.

Anybody have advice? Forget the cover and just use bungee chords on each end and one or two near the middle? We had a 45 min hwy drive home and just unhooked it and set on the floor of the boat. Worked fine, but not planning to do that from now on.

We will be sewing and trying to get the zipper to work again, but is there a cheaper replacement out there that is good quality?

$307 for this cover...... hilarious

 

[Babin Farms]

For $55 I’d try it

 

[jsg73]

+ 1

 

[WestMIJet]

Just take the old one down to your local canvas shop and they can copy it. I’m guessing it will be a lot cheaper. Based on the work I had done around here I’m thinking more like 100-150.

 

[sunbyrned]

Good question about whether it’s needed or not. There are plenty of tops out there without covers. I will say that mine still has some end pieces that hang outside the cover and started to frey so I ended up putting some heavy twist ties (not zip ties) around the ends which fixed that problem. I wonder how bad it could be without the cover altogether.(?)

 

[VitaminSea]

Sorry to hear. I am not a fan of bunny cords under tension for the Bimini. Have you considered something like this? I use the larger size on the Bimini as a reinforcement for the boot and the medium sized ones work for extra dock lines and such.

Amazon.com: Reusable Fastening Cable Straps and Cable Ties Set 20 Pack(8"-12"-18") by YiwerDer, Adjustable Multi-Purpose Hook and Loop Cord Ties to Keep Cords Organized and Tidy: Home Improvement

Amazon.com: Reusable Fastening Cable Straps and Cable Ties Set 20 Pack(8"-12"-18") by YiwerDer, Adjustable Multi-Purpose Hook and Loop Cord Ties to Keep Cords Organized and Tidy: Home Improvement

www.amazon.com

 

[WiskyDan]

I had to replace mine and the Yamaha OEM replacement was $180 which wasn’t too bad but it was the wrong color - grey instead of red.

I went to a local canvas place that made me a heavy duty canvas boot for $125 and a screen printing place that I frequent put the Yamaha logo and name on it for another $25 - all in for $150 and much better quality.

 

[Thunderseye]

The 242 replacement was 400 for me ? piece of cloth.

 

[ShesCrafty]

My experience - running down the highway without the boot covering it, the ends and seams on the bimini canvas will fray and tear, sooner than later.

 

[WiskyDan]

Here’s the old and new bimini covers....

 

[Canuckjetboater]

So we were rolling up the bimini top and putting the cover on after getting out of the water yesterday. The cover tore and the zipper head flew off... two failures my wife and I had a good laugh at.

I looked at Yamaha Parts Warehouse and they want $306.99 for the cover?! We stopped laughing.... Talk about an upcharge for splitting the parts up.
Camping World, Overtons, etc. have them for $54.... but has a 1 star review.... now I'm laughing again.

Anybody have advice? Forget the cover and just use bungee chords on each end and one or two near the middle? We had a 45 min hwy drive home and just unhooked it and set on the floor of the boat. Worked fine, but not planning to do that from now on.

We will be sewing and trying to get the zipper to work again, but is there a cheaper replacement out there that is good quality?

$307 for this cover...... hilarious

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View attachment 126579

@topherbd16 geez, that IS expensive. I'd either get that $54 cover or buy the whole set of canvas for that price!

 

[DRAT]

I’ll report on the Overton’s one in a couple of weeks when it shows up. My original one was fine but it’s in the lake somewhere.

 

[Ronnie]

I bought a generic one online a few years ago, it still in good condition today, just measure the length of the oem model and buy one the same length.
If you tow or boat without a cover/boot you will Increase the chances that the Bimini canvas Will be damaged and /or you may hear a lot more rattling of the Bimini frame. If you think the boot is expensive, take a look at the cost of an oem Bimini top canvas.

 

[topherbd16]

All good points. Thanks everyone! Going to order a generic one for cheap as backup as we attempt to repair the current torn boot. We do a lot of highway towing and I agree it needs to be fully covered.

 

[FLJetBoater]

Does the Bimini cover also attach the Bimini to the wake tower? There was no cover with it when we bought it but we do tow often and I would love to be able to leave it on. How is this accomplished without it flapping all over the place?

 

[NewBoater]

I had to order one myself on boats.net I got it for $211. Still a lot but $100 less than the $311 Yamaha said the replacement would be. I couldn’t go aftermarket just needed it back stock and OEM. One of my neighbors kids was fishing off his dock and his hook went right in my Bimini boot cover and he yanked on it causing a major rip/hole. I tried to repair it but kept getting worse. Him and I have always been cool and still are. I told him I’m not going to tell his parents but just not to cast anywhere near my boat again lol

 

[topherbd16]

Does the Bimini cover also attach the Bimini to the wake tower? There was no cover with it when we bought it but we do tow often and I would love to be able to leave it on. How is this accomplished without it flapping all over the place?

On my boat the Bimini boot or cover just keeps the 4 bar Bimini rolled up and protected while towing. The cover doesn’t attach to the tower. It just zips up over the Bimini/canvas top.

 

[FLJetBoater]

On my boat the Bimini boot or cover just keeps the 4 bar Bimini rolled up and protected while towing. The cover doesn’t attach to the tower. It just zips up over the Bimini/canvas top.

Thanks. Yeah I saw in the manual that it says just to use elastic cords (bungee cords) to attach the cover to the tow connection on the wake tower. Seems a bit cheap to me. If I end up getting a new cover I may get someone to sew some clips onto it that reach around the tower and tighten.

 

[Crob83]

Thanks. Yeah I saw in the manual that it says just to use elastic cords (bungee cords) to attach the cover to the tow connection on the wake tower. Seems a bit cheap to me. If I end up getting a new cover I may get someone to sew some clips onto it that reach around the tower and tighten.

On my '18 195 the cover also attached to the tower which makes it a much smoother and worry free ride. It's the factory cover

 

[Inthrustwetrust]

Factory cover on the newer boats attaches to the tower with a buckle on nylon straps.