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Just bought a surfjet

Needafunboat

Needafunboat

Active member
I just picked up a mint surfjet. I've been looking at them for a while and rode one back in the 80's for about a half an hour. I can't wait to get it out on the water, I think they only go maybe 25 at the most but I remember it feeling pretty fast since you're right on the water.

Anyone else have one? Any advice? Any good part sources or upgrades? It has no fins and a really small "rideplate".

The guy still had 6 bottles of the original case of surfjet oil he gave me. I'm not sure what this is, but I'd guess any good synthetic (or semi) 2 stroke oil would be better than this stuff from the mid-80's! The motor compartment is totally clean. The bottom of the board is in absolutely great condition and the top has about 3 small scratches on it. Compression was about 153 / 155 on the 2 little cylinders. It has a case and a wheel kit.

With an pair of "jams" and a pink/turquoise life jacket, I'd be straight from 1988!

I'm not sure how it was used because it looks like it hasn't really ever been beached - maybe with the light weight the bottom doesn't get beat up. In any case, it's a nice find and should be a cool, easy to move toy that will go on the roof without any problem!
 
I remember trying one of those a few times in the late 80's-early 90's on White Lake in NY. There was a place that rented them by the hour along with boats and jetski's. It was pretty cool but quite a bit tougher than the stand-up jetski's. If you want me and my wife still have our old flourescent green and pink matching wetsuits that would go along with that.
Enjoy!
 
That looks like it would be fun. As much time as I have spent on the water, I cannot believe I have never seen one before. I'd love to give it a run. Bring that out to JobbieNooner!
 
Wow, I'm surprised that you guys weren't all over those little goofy pieces of 1980's history! I figured Big Red would tell me it made me gay (which would be totally reasonable in this case!), Mark would help me adjust the TPS on it and know exactly how it was made, Winter would have one that was as fast as his crazy jetski, possibly with a big block in it...

Anyhow - Ross, you're welcome to give it a whirl any time we we're at Bradford and you'd rather boat there than on Torch... I probably won't haul it out to Torch because I think it would be really bad in rough water.

AND there are 3 more for sale within driving distance of me! I think 2 in MI and one in maybe Chicago or IN. Check craigshelper. The 2 are 2 for $750 (or $500 each), but they "need to be serviced prior to running". The other one was $600. I paid $950 for mine, but as mentioned, it's mint and I think worth it. I saw one in MI last year for $700, but it was sold pretty quickly.

From my 1/2 hr on my cousin's, 20 years ago - I remember the hard part being getting it to turn at low speeds - you have to lean and gas it - the jet is fixed straight so it won't turn like a jetski.

I'll keep you all posted and maybe put up some funny video of me making a fool of myself this summer!
 
surf jet

they made 3 lengths,, short, med & long, the shorter the board the harder to ride & the short ones turn on a dime.... my buddy has 4 runners( diffrent lengths) & more parts boards, he built a custom 4 place hauler & brings all 4 up north for the summer .... they almost were not allowed to be built because of coast gaurd approval..... so the made a hose kit that screwed into the jet pump so the surf jet could be used in a lake or swimming pool as fire equiptment,..... they are fun..... i have a springer spaniel that loves to ride on the long board with my buddy.... he does say it makes it prettt tricky when she moves around.....Kurt
 
As a die hard surfer for 35 years, I've always wanted a SurfJet but couldn't bring myself to buy one. There was a guy still producing them new in 1999...he was marketing them at the Miami Boat Show. Don't know what ever became of them....
 
That thing is cool but i did see on ebay last year a canoe that had a chain saw engine propelling a jet drive. it said it was factory built it was like early 70s
 
JUPITER PULSARE said:
As a die hard surfer for 35 years, I've always wanted a SurfJet but couldn't bring myself to buy one. There was a guy still producing them new in 1999...he was marketing them at the Miami Boat Show. Don't know what ever became of them....
Click to expand...
Here ya go: http://www.surfango.com/
I guess they have dealers, too.
112lbs, closed loop cooling, and 4stroke power on the new ones. The bad: $3400 :eyecrazy:

This would be sweet to bring along on the boat! Looks like a blast:bigthumb:
 
Rode it today!

Well, I rode it today. With a full wetsuit, the water really wasn't too bad. After I adjusted the throttle cable (was only running at like 1/2 throttle), it was really fun. I can still tweak the linkage and probably get some more out of it. Funny thing is that the motor probably wasn't run at full throttle for the last 10 years!

I need some non-slip on it for sure. When you lean really hard, you slip right off.

It's one of those things that take a little while to get used to, but then is pretty easy.

Not sure how hard you can cut on it - I got the drive to cavitate pretty easy. I think with some experimentation and keeping my weight back more it will carve reasonably well.

My buddy's 2 ~ 14 yr old boys and his 11 yr old girl all rode it well. Although the kids grew up behind a ski boat.

$3400 for a new one is a does-not-compute for me, it's fun and light and can probably be hauled (with some care and padding) INSIDE of your boat to the lake, but most people could probably do more with a nice used jetski for $3400. For $500 to $1000, a used one is a fun little toy. I can probably figure out how to ride a kid on the front.
 
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