New to jet boats, nervous about retro SportJet parts pricing and availability

[mikentucky]

Hey fellow boaters! My wife and I have a Sea Ray 400 Express, and we are starting to spend weekends beached up and away from it all. It's pretty inconvenient when guests need to come or go, or when we need to run back to "the city" for something...so we're looking to (on a budget) bring along a tender boat to run back and forth with. I'm a big fan of getting an older SportJet or Rotax jet boat from the 90's (something like a Sea Rayder, Baja Blast, Regal Rush, etc.) versus buying a traditional outboard-powered inflatable dinghy. We have access to a nice inflatable for about $2200 but I REALLY want to convince the wife to go the retro jetboat route, so I have to stay in that ballpark on price which knocks out anything nice and running or new.

I've found a really nice condition 1994 Regal Rush with the 120 motor for a good price - I'm actually trading a Phantom 4 drone for it LOL The only thing is that the motor cranks with good compression but doesn't run. I'm a mechanic, so not really worried about the labor part of figuring it out or working on anything....but I've read the horror stories about issues with the 90 and 120 HP versions of the SportJet and worry that parts to rebuild/refurb will be ridiculously priced if available at all. Or that just jerking the powerhead and jet to replace with something updated would be too expensive. Bottom line, I can't buy something that I'll be spending a few grand in parts to get back running.

Thoughts, opinions, suggestions on the expense/reliability of refurbing/maintaining an older SportJet? Thanks!

 

[Ronnie]

Your fears about lack of availability of parts for mercy sport jet motors and pumps is justified. I had a 175 hp sport jet in my first boat and while if performed great it got hard to find parts for even back in 2005. I think seadoo and other boat manufactures stopped using them around that time. The trade sounds like a good one but if the motor isn’t running I’d stay away unless I was sure the parts needed are available and affordable. Consider looking for a mod 90s seadoo jet boat, I’m not sure what model but I’m thinking of the under 15 footer. They came in single and twin (110 hp, 2 cylinder, 2 stroke) engine models, might be sportster. That is if you can swing it within your budget.

 

[Weeb]

A lot of jet boats will push water into the engine when being towed without having installed a shut off valve. So be careful of that.

 

[biffdotorg]

I would agree with Ronnie. If your budget is for an old jet, go with something Rotax or Yamaha powered, as the parts and support available is so much better. These are true SeaDoo or Waverunner engines and have a huge following for parts and support. Where as the MercSport jet powered boats are the "red headed stepchild" of the jetboat world.

 

[Cobra Jet Steering LLC]

Do A search on that here I did a lot of poste about the rectifier brain and electrical issues etc Avoid those as they are a big pain in the rear and once upon a time you could get parts easily but not now If you insist on a jet get a sea doo there are a lot of used and new parts available for those However I would recommend looking for an outboard myself for reliability and the fact that you don't have to throw away the boat when the engine fails just change the engine. Also there were some Yamaha versions out there but again it is an inboard jet not an outboard. Just to be perfectly honest if someone offered me that boat for free I would pass!!! It probably needs a new rectifier and a new brain and more plus you have no idea what condition the pump is in and parts will be very hard to locate today. That has a modified force 3 cylinder power head mounted on a jet pump.

 

[the MfM]

A two stroke Yamaha or seadoo with the rotax engine would be my choice if you want a jet boat. But I imagine the inflatable will be a lot less hassle.