Admittedly, we don’t watch a lot of watercraft-themed content online primarily due to so few creators providing useful, informative technical content. There’s no shortage of entertaining YouTube channels but very few who take the time to outline the detailed steps necessary for an average performance enthusiasts to either replicate the results presented onscreen or at the very least, understand the benefits therein.
That is why we found Barrett Buckalew‘s Salty Dog Performance channel so compelling. This Sea-Doo enthusiast patiently takes the time to thoroughly explain the do’s and don’t’s of modifying your supercharged Sea-Doo; the preferred processes (usually citing the BRP factory manual); and the benefits of adding each performance part. Buckalew’s channel has only recently focused on Sea-Doo content, but the couple dozen videos are worth the watch.
To this point, we wanted to focus on Buckalew’s most recent video properly removing the factory camshaft and installing a RIVA Racing performance bumpstick. While Buckalew weighs the factory cam against the RIVA offering (resulting in a loss of 56 grams), this video itself is a tutorial not a before/after results video. He provides torque specs and sequences, part numbers and smart suggestions to ensure that although modified, your Sea-Doo will last as long as possible.
Again, this level of content is rare among so many outlets – for which The Watercraft Journal commends him. Hopefully the video attached below answers many of the questions that some of you may have – and will encourage you to subscribe to the Salty Dog Performance channel as we did.