Krash Industries Introduces The First $12K Turn-Key Freeride Ski (Video)

It wasn’t but two weeks ago that The Watercraft Journal broke the news on Krash Industries’ revolutionary new KV997 two-stroke powerplant. We thought there wasn’t much else that Krash Industries could do to revolutionize the freestyle/freeride industry we were proven wrong. But, lo and behold, today we now have the first ready-to-ride aftermarket jet ski priced at $12,000. Yes, you read that correct: twelve thousand dollars (USD) for a completely assembled, ready-to-ride aftermarket jet ski. Shocked? We were too.

Gone are the days of splurging $25,000-plus for a carbon hull, a hand-built engine and all the parts that go with it. The surmounting costs just to remain competitive in this sport were getting out of hand; so Nick Barton of Krash Industries pushed to offer something that could flip, barrel roll and otherwise perform directly out of the crate, and had the reliability of brand new OEM, and only costs a little more than a brand new Yamaha SuperJet in bone stock form.

Nick explained that customers who previously bought Krash’s “Starter Kit” for $8,500 can purchase the KV997 for only $3,500. But, the motor package will not be available separately for people with other hulls. You either buy the package or you don’t get the beast, which we are sure many people have been thinking about.
Not only that, initially the units will be sold directly to customers but towards the end of 2017 and in 2018 the Krash skis will be offered in your local dealerships across America. The only catch is that Krash can produce limited numbers of 2-stroke KV997 in its naturally aspirated form, and must continue to show progress with the EPA towards its Direct Injected unit.

Understandably, getting the new Krash skis in the dealerships requires quite a bit of help. Nick notes that Steve Laham – famously known as the founder and owner of Butch’s Ski Shop located in Grand Rapids, Michigan – specifically has been a tremendous help with his connections in the industry to get the Krash skis in to dealerships.

For the various kinds of riders, Krash is offering this entry-pricing on all of its hulls – the Reaper, Predator and 50 Cal – which will all continue to be produced in Thailand. However, the motors and all internals will be made with the skis assembled by Nick and the Krash crew in Australia. Therefore, every single ski will have to go back through Nick before arriving to the customer.

As per our previous announcement, the motor itself will produce between 70, 100, 120 and 160-horsepower thanks to the DC-CDI Ignition that comes with four preset maps. The KV997 can toggle through the pre-set maps with just a simple rotation of the switch. Equally, the flywheel is set facing away from the case with the pickup on the rear, making a total loss flywheel swap an a bolt-on. Being a unique design, we found the the cylinder design most interesting, as the carburetors feed air and fuel into the cylinder at a 30-degree angle, wrapping around the crank.

The engine itself is worth revisiting: displacing 997cc’s the KV997 has a 82mm stroke and 88mm bore, a domed head, 4340 forged crank, Black Ops 48mm twin carbs with carbon reeds, four Stage Power Valves (1 boost port and 2 auxiliaries, and 1 main exhaust port per cylinder), Power Pipe (B-pipe styled head pipe and a longer chamber, bored to 60mm). The rest of the ski package is equally noteworthy: a 17L gas tank (4.49 gallons), 148mm setback pump with trim, stainless steel impeller, aluminum pole, OVP steering, DC-CDI Ignition System and a 7075-T6 flywheel (weighing 1.2kg).

In addition, Nick said that Krash will be offering kits for performance upgrades for the ski as well. One kit he specifically mentioned was the “Rev Kit” which will include: High compression dome kit, jetting kit for Black Ops 48mm carbs, a total loss flywheel and a repitched impeller.

Going back to price, Nick said he knows that people will see the price and ask, “Why so cheap?” His answer is simple: he wanted to bring something to the sport that didn’t cost a fortune. “I looked to the modern car industry and found the answers. I figured if you could by a brand new car for under $12K then you should be able to get a freestyle ski for about the same”.

And, coming from other motorsports, he couldn’t believe how much jet skiers were paying for skis, parts and nearly everything else. “I kept seeing young guys get into the sport on older skis and then spend a ton fixing [it] only to have it break constantly. I would then see them exit the sport and were turned off because of cost just to keep their ski on the water. I wanted to be the one who changed that,” said Nick Barton.

Hence, bringing the enthusiasts a ready-to-ride ski that requires no building, and is ready to go flip off a wave the day you purchase. Nick mentioned that he had this vision of going OEM quite some time ago. Ironically, Krash has done so much in that little time frame. Three weeks ago was the 6-year anniversary of the launch of the JB-1 hulls. Six years later and look how far they have come.

We can expect to see the Krash Industries skis shipped to the general public and hit the United States near the end of the summer months. However, pre-orders are being taken now. The Krash-sponsored riders will be getting their new skis shipped to them at the end of April.