I'd like to buy my first jetski, and have been offered a 1992 Kawasaki 550SX and double trailer for $500.

The ski has not been maintained well, and will need a new battery and spark plug at minimum, but other than that runs well.

Is $500 a good price? How much is just the trailer alone worth?

 

depends on the condition of the trailer but $500 doesnt sound bad for the combo in running condition. Im guessing its a 2 stroke... a little TLC and ride the crap out of it, get your moneys worth. 2 stroke skis like to be run hard and put away wet. If its been sitting, i would flush the fuel and put new in with the right mix (very important).

 

Just know before hand that it is a boat, and as such will require money & time in the future.

 

i live down in the keys and we see them for sale real cheap even free all the time make sure you look at the pump (jet drive) many times they will run fine but the inner walls of that et housing will be very coroded and the holes will fill the hull with water if you know anyone with one of those cameras on a whire from home depot use it. Take a miror and look real close all inside there for corotion even use the camera in the plug wholes. My budy got one for 350 bucks and he put like 2 grand in the thing when he was all done Hope this helps Maby yuul get lucky with it good luck man

 

Reminds me of the 2 happiest days of boat ownership; the day you get the boat, and the day you sell it.

 

Break
Out
Another
Thousand


i like this one to

 

The three F rule is the best!

 

I always hated working on the jetskis. It makes it real handy to have a battery cart with jumper cables handy because the tiny battery usually dies before the thing ever gets started. Always tuning, flooding, pulling plugs, ect. We were careful not to ingest any debris or rocks into the impeller. It does not take much before the impeller is worn out and you do not transfer any power out the back.

These were old 440 and 550 two-stroke jet skis from the late 80s. We rebuilt each engine several times we had them, but they still felt pretty tame. I would love to take a spin on a four-stroke either turbo or supercharged. Those things will pull off your swim trunks!

 

I've spent my fair share of time dealing with jetski batteries:


This is my friend's other ski, which he gave away. He is obscured by smoke, not water:


Here is the actual boat in question, W sticker included free of charge:

 

Be ready to keep putting $$ into it and watching the value fall. Older machines don't seem to be worth much since the power is so low on them compared to later models. I personally would not be interested in anything prior to '98 or '99 even if it was free.

 

6 years ago I paid 900 for my 93 750 SS with a new engine. I paid another 250 for a trailer. I beat the hell outta that thing with no costs. Add oil and fuel and roll on.

 

The new yamaha FZR is rated at 74MPH from the factory... pretty quick for a ski and on the water as well.....

is that ski oil injected? if it is i would suggest premix the fuel and dont rely on the oil injection pump to do its job. the pump fails and you get no lubrication to the engine which means your fun is over... other then that, like others have said, ride the snot out of it and get your 500 worth. sounds like a good deal to me.

 

74MPH... Hollyyy cow. I've cartwheeled on this '92 550 forcing water into orifices that didn't need to be cleaned that thoroughly. Top speed is what, maybe 35? It's hard to tame full out on a little bit of chop. I have to stand as far forward as possible to get the front end from jumping up and down, which makes balancing tricky.

I once caught a glimpse of something interesting out of the corner of my eye while running full out. When I turned my head to see, it was a bunch of topless women, the ski got away from me, and the water took my shorts.

Lots of fun memories on that piece of junk ski. Maybe I'm just getting sentimental in my old age.

 

Maybe it's just me but a jet ski that can't do more than 50 to 60 mph isn't that much fun. It's the extra power when pulling out of 360's and playing around that makes it fun not the all out go fast in a straight line.

Ride one with at least 150 HP for a day then go back to the pre '97 models and see how much you still like it. Night and day difference.

I'm just an "old fart" that never grew up.

 

so did you buy this one yet? good luck and have fun