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The official "What did you do to your jet boat today" thread.

Ribbon Delete. Wow, words fail to explain how thrilled I am with the performance now. Spent the morning wakeboarding after completing the Ribbon Delete and installing new air filters. This should have been the first mod on my 1.8’s. We mostly boat at an altitude of 2,000 feet or 3,600 feet at Lake Powell. After deleting the Ribbons, the boat is now performing as advertised. Top speed before delete was 44 mph, today we consistently hit 49 at WOT (3 adults, bimini deployed and 3/4 fuel). The acceleration is so much better, I had to dial back the throttle when pulling up boarders. The engines were clearly starving for oxygen. No more.

Next mystery to solve is why the port engine at WOT tops out 200 rpm slower than starboard. Had the same problem with my 2005 and MR1 engines.
 
Ribbon Delete. Wow, words fail to explain how thrilled I am with the performance now. Spent the morning wakeboarding after completing the Ribbon Delete and installing new air filters. This should have been the first mod on my 1.8’s. We mostly boat at an altitude of 2,000 feet or 3,600 feet at Lake Powell. After deleting the Ribbons, the boat is now performing as advertised. Top speed before delete was 44 mph, today we consistently hit 49 at WOT (3 adults, bimini deployed and 3/4 fuel). The acceleration is so much better, I had to dial back the throttle when pulling up boarders. The engines were clearly starving for oxygen. No more.

Hi @AZ Native. I've been thinking about doing this but also a little concerned about warranty, etc. Our home lake is at 5,800 feet. We did get the impellers pitched via the dealer. I forget what its called at the moment, but its the rubber ring thing. Did you remove it and replace with something else or are you just running without it?
 
I wouldn’t begin to advise you on warranty but at your altitude you desperately need to perform the Ribbon Delete. I can’t see what boat or year you have. If it’s the 1.8 engines that’s what I have. I inserted the Riva kit which is simply a machined aluminum ring that fits in the rubber sleeve surrounding the ribbons. You reuse the sleeve with the kit. It ensures you keep the airflow smooth after the throttle valve. They run $40 each. I used Amazon. The ribbons and sleeve came out easy so you don’t have to ruin them. I don’t know why but I’ll keep the ribbons on the shelf. The pic shows the old ribbons and the package from the kits.
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I wouldn’t begin to advise you on warranty but at your altitude you desperately need to perform the Ribbon Delete. I can’t see what boat or year you have. If it’s the 1.8 engines that’s what I have. I inserted the Riva kit which is simply a machined aluminum ring that fits in the rubber sleeve surrounding the ribbons. You reuse the sleeve with the kit. It ensures you keep the airflow smooth after the throttle valve. They run $40 each. I used Amazon. The ribbons and sleeve came out easy so you don’t have to ruin them. I don’t know why but I’ll keep the ribbons on the shelf. The pic shows the old ribbons and the package from the kits.
View attachment 77406

Are flame arrestor filters needed?
 
Todays mod. . . .

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Are flame arrestor filters needed?
no.

EDIT: If you feel you need one, or think you might have an inspector tear your boat apart to find out - there are flame arrestor filters readily available that fit in the OEM filter box.

--
 
Ribbon Delete. Wow, words fail to explain how thrilled I am with the performance now. Spent the morning wakeboarding after completing the Ribbon Delete and installing new air filters. This should have been the first mod on my 1.8’s. We mostly boat at an altitude of 2,000 feet or 3,600 feet at Lake Powell. After deleting the Ribbons, the boat is now performing as advertised. Top speed before delete was 44 mph, today we consistently hit 49 at WOT (3 adults, bimini deployed and 3/4 fuel). The acceleration is so much better, I had to dial back the throttle when pulling up boarders. The engines were clearly starving for oxygen. No more.

Next mystery to solve is why the port engine at WOT tops out 200 rpm slower than starboard. Had the same problem with my 2005 and MR1 engines.


I ran into someone at Wahweap from Colorado that every year, the week after Memorial day, I see them slipped near the fish docks. I spent some time with them this last year and explained the huge benefit of removing those stupid ribbons. I was half tempted to have them come over and tie up behind my houseboat and we'd do it together. They come from Colorado to Bullfrog, launch and drive down to Wahweap and then go back to Bullfrog and go home. What a difference in fuel economy and speed they would have gotten! I told them about this site and suggested they join up.
 
Battery upgrade :)
 

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no.

EDIT: If you feel you need one, or think you might have an inspector tear your boat apart to find out - there are flame arrestor filters readily available that fit in the OEM filter box.

--

They are technically required. We were inspected, inspector asked about them and I let him know they were integrated into the throttle body and I wouldn't be disassembling the boat for inspection. He said okay and carried on. I can't imagine anyone would really make you show them unless you really pissed them off.
 
Finished my tube air pump install, and installed led cup holders and 2 small LED's on the swimdeck.

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So after the Free XM radio trial over the Memorial Day weekend, I realized I liked having it in the boat as much as our vehicles. So I made the call to Sirius XM to see what kind of deal they could cut me for our very short boating season.

Of course they tried to sell me the largest plan for full boat (funny) and I said, I just wanted the music channels and would be willing to pay for three months with no contract. As we are lucky if we get anything more than three months.

She set me up with the Select plan (all the music and sports channels) for $30/6 months. So with all fees it was $38.50 for 6 months. I made the one-time payment, so that they would not keep my credit card on file. She said, I can suspend it in September for 5 months and use the remainder next spring. Or cancel, and she would send me a pro-rated refund.

I'm good with $38.50 for the summer. Anyone who says XM radio sounds tinny, or like crap, owns a Kia with a crap stereo. It sounds awesome in our boat, and our cars.

Is this for the streaming service on your phone or through the actual head unit on the boat? Also, do I need a separate XM tuner for my 2016 or is already built in?
 
Is this for the streaming service on your phone or through the actual head unit on the boat? Also, do I need a separate XM tuner for my 2016 or is already built in?

This was for the XM tuner built into the Aquatic Marine head unit that came stock in our 242LS. We have streaming already from our other XM accounts. But our data is limited. So for this price, we don't have to deal with data, or connecting a phone. It's working great so far.

Check the details on your particular head unit. I can't imagine that the newer radios don't have the XM tuner built in if ours did in a 5 year older boat.

Good luck!
 
This was for the XM tuner built into the Aquatic Marine head unit that came stock in our 242LS. We have streaming already from our other XM accounts. But our data is limited. So for this price, we don't have to deal with data, or connecting a phone. It's working great so far.

Check the details on your particular head unit. I can't imagine that the newer radios don't have the XM tuner built in if ours did in a 5 year older boat.

Good luck!

Are you sure it was built in, or was the tuner included? There is pretty much nothing out there with a tuner built in. My SX210 calls for the standard SXV300 tuner, as does pretty much everything these days.
 
That is correct, it is an external tuner, but to be clear, the controls are integrated into the head unit. So that was a trick question. Many radios had integrated XM, that required you to add an external tuner. That was the old school way of doing it back in 2010, when our boat was made. Now, these are almost always 100% integrated and software upgradable.

The reason stereo manufacturers did this, was two-fold. First, they needed to keep the ability to pull that radio for security purposes. The radio ID was locked to that tuner, in case the radio was sold or stolen, as it was tied to an account. Secondly, the early XM radios may have required software updates, and connectivity to stereos was not as sophisticated as it is today allowing us to update software/firmware through USB, Bluetooth, and straight up internet connection.

Let's be real, it was one more way for them to charge us for something not everyone was going to use. Check your radio out from the manufacturer, not Yamaha. You will be able to find out what you need to get it working. If it requires a tuner, it will also need the antenna mounted on a deck area that has Southern exposure.

Good luck
 
Yeah I guess it may depend on the unit he has. I could see the big Connex screens being like a factory car radio, with the tuner built in. The other option is like mine, where my radio is made from Polk, and a tuner is not built in. Both scenarios make perfect sense.

Due to the fiberglass, he should be able to get away with mounting the XM antenna in helm. We do this in cars with fiberglass roofs, and even more visibility in a boat so it should work fine.
 
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