2010 Kawasaki jet ski STx-15f

[paulswagelock]

So I sold my Seadoo and purchased a new Kawasaki. This has the 1500 engine, not turbo or supercharged. It has the factory fill on it with zero hours. If the weather ever breaks here it will see 10 hours quickly, which is the oil change point. The manual calls for anything from a 10w40 to a 20w50 in my expected temperature ranges.

I have some jugs of Rotella T6 5w40 synthetic left over from the Seadoo. What do you think of that as the replacement oil?

 

[simple_gifts]

funny that the HP and fuel capacity of that exceeds my car....

 

[paulswagelock]

Yes, 160hp and 15 gallons of gas. Will use about 5 gallons per hour cruising. Sounds bad until I compare it to my boat which holds 90 gallons and uses 15 gallons per hour cruising.

Makes my tahoe seem miserly.


And I meant to put this in the boat/pwc section but I missed...

 

[Lightman]

Paul, those 15f's don't work too hard...that oil and most others would be fine. I prefer the Amsoil 0w40 for my 4stoke powersports machines.

They are out of business, but look around and see if you can find a Watercross of Texas sponsons/ride plate/intake grate set. I spent several years racing pwc and that set really works well on that hull!

 

[JTK]

Do those use a spin-on oil filter as well? Man they've really gotten complex! And I thought my 2-stroke Kawasaki 750 ZXi used a lot of fuel? Good Lord! Kawasaki makes a nice riding and handling watercraft. Years ago when I could have fun stuff, I started with an old SeaDoo (1988, 89 maybe?), then had a new Yamaha Pro VXR, than the Kawi. The fit/finish and mechanicals seemed to be the best on the Yamaha, with the Kawasaki second.

Joel

 

[paulswagelock]

Yes, this has the spin on filter, and you need to be a contortionist to get to it.

My Seadoo was an 04 supercharged 1500 with some mods to it, so ~195HP. Big, heavy, and really fast. I opted to 'simplify' by dropping the supercharger, and having the new warranty is nice as well.
I looked at all 3 (Yam, Kaw, and Seadoo) for the replacement. Seems Kaw gives you the most for the money at this level of machine. The Yam was nice, but slow (0-30 in 3 seconds instead of under 2 seconds) compared to the Kaw. That was really the final factor in my decision. I did not want my kids to be bored with a slow machine compared to what I sold. I agree though, the Yam did seem built the best.

 

[JTK]

Yep, very true. It seems you get the most for your money with Kawasaki watercraft. Polaris used to be good that way too, but I've been out of the game for a good 12yrs now. What was the "Kia" of the day, Tigershark? I dunno if they're still in business even.

Yamaha are almost like the 'workhorse' class. Built very well, but not the fastest.

Things have definitely come a long way. My 750 ZXi was plenty fast for me!

Joel