We often take our health for granted. Whether it be doing simple things around the house to adventuring to new places, we sometimes forget how other people’s lives are a little more difficult. The saying, “Bad things happen to good people” is true as many good people are held back with health issues. While many of us are not doctors, there are ways to help those who are effected by health problems.
One person who has been effected by health issues is Cole Tumey. Tumey is a 18-year-old kid who is in need of some help. With his health condition, he has to travel to UF Health Shands Hospital three times a week for dialysis’s. Over time, this constant commute has made brought in multiple expenses along with all of the hospital bills.
While The Watercraft Journal is an online magazine, we have over 350,000 readers who help make this magazine better each day. We are asking all of you to help in whatever way you can to help out our friend Cole Tumey. Also, a huge shout out to anyone that did donate at the original fundraiser held at Cody’s Original Roadhouse. Over 300 people showed up and donated baskets, took part in the raffle and said kind words to Tumey.
As a result of the fundraiser, an all-expense paid trip to the Pro Watercross National Championship in Lake Charles, courtesy of Jim and Palmira Bennett was given to Tumey. Jim Bennett qualified for the Championships and thought that bring Tumey along with his parents would be a trip of a lifetime. Bennett also put up signs on his toy hauler saying that Tumey needs a kidney and a contact number. That is how Team Cole was formed.
Shortly after, multiple other companies such as BMS Racing, Broward Motorsports, Dean’s Team and many others joined in to given Tumey the ultimate experience. It’s amazing how so many companies in the same industry were able to come together so quickly and make the three day event, a trip of a lifetime for Tumey.
For more information about Team Cole, check out their Facebook page. If you are able to do so, please visit their GoFundMe page and donate whatever you can. Anything will help! If you know anyone with a Blood type B or O that would be interested in donating their kidney to Cole, text Yawn at (325) 598-9260 to receive a packet!
We’re still a month away from the official domestic reveal of the complete 2020 Kawasaki JetSki lineup, but the leaks, rumors and predictions continue to pour in (which has made for an insane time here at The Watercraft Journal). And no, it’s not just Kawasaki Europe and Thai dealerships letting loose a bevy of pictures revealing the new colors, or even the rare pair of spy shots of the redesigned STX – but now we’ve got not one but two official United States patents revealing new technologies that hint at what could be in Kawasaki’s future…
Since Kawasaki’s European website has nearly the entire 2020 lineup posted, we’ll go ahead and outline the changes for the Ultras first: The top-of-the-line Ultra 310LX comes in Ebony Metallic and Carbon Gray with Kawasaki Green highlights; the 310X is now in Ebony and Candy Steel Furnace Orange; and the naturally-aspirated Ultra LX is awash in Ebony and Pearl Citrus Yellow. Interestingly, both the Ultra 310R and SX-R return not only in last year’s colors but even the same decals. Conspicuously absent is the STX-15F…
Before we go further, let’s recap what we’ve reported thus far in chronological order: In early January we published that attitudes within Kawasaki were supposedly grim – at least, as far as the future of the personal watercraft division was concerned. Simultaneously, chatter of a Spark-fighter had trickled through, wholly negating the claims of the division’s potential closure. The “Spark fighter” was revealed to be the redesigned STX-15F as evidenced by a pair of grainy photographs taken during a test run. Closer examination showed changes to the hood, seat, cowling and steering.
Overlapped images showed the same hull and deck as the previous STX. Other visual cues indicated an onboard sound system (ie. Jetsounds) fixed to the cowling, near the front of the footwell, similar to the BRP Premium Sound System available for Sea-Doo’s ST3 models. In the images, a manual reverse lever was also clearly visible. Sources close to Kawasaki shared to The Watercraft Journal that the new STX – rechristened as the STX-160X – would operate via a modern fly-by-wire engine management system (KTRC), identical to that used by the 310-horsepower Ultras.
Employing such hardware would also allow the new STX-160X all of the options found on the supercharged Ultras, including Cruise Control, SLO mode and electric trim control. (Interestingly, adding such engine management would leave the Ultra LX and SX-R 1500 as the sole remaining throttle cable-operated PWC in Kawasaki’s lineup.) Fatefully, our initial report had two trim tiers being offered in 2020 (a base and luxury model) but a copy of the California EPA form revealed three trim options, giving Kawasaki not just a new entry model, but a whole entry series.
Like the Ultra series using its horsepower output as part of its name, so too does the new “160” series. We speculate the tiers to be the “160X”, a bare-bones, red-on-white unit we spied earlier this year; a racy “160R” for the more sportier rider; and a top tier “160LX” with all of the trimmings. Per the photos, the stadium-style, scalloped bench seat provides the rider with a higher seating posture; but we believe that the seat could very well hold a secret.
Here, the rear seat can be latched down as normal. When unlocked, it can either fold up vertically to reveal a large, deep-set storage bin beneath it, or slide up and outward, and off of the ski completely. The schematic shows how easily the folding seat operates and how large the proposed rear storage promises to be.
Albeit unconfirmed, we surmised that the new seat could be exclusive to the STX-160X given that such a storage container simply couldn’t fit inside of the engine compartment of the Ultra 310X’s. Although our sources couldn’t confirm our suspicion, they did allude to another patent that could shake up not just Kawasaki’s lineup but the industry as a whole: electronically-controlled braking.
According to public record, this unique PWC braking patent was first awarded to Kawasaki back to August 31st, 2017. The patent has since been renewed twice, most recently on March 2nd of this year. The design illustrates a right-hand-side, thumb-activated braking lever (instead of the left-hand-side finger-operated trigger) similar to those currently used on Kawasaki’s KFX and Brute Force ATVs.
Per the diagram below, the brake is a true electronic engine override that even cooperates with Kawasaki’s existing off-throttle steering assist program. This design retains all of the driveability in the driver’s right hand – forward, neutral, reverse, and cruise control. Mechanically, the thumb lever looks to override the accelerator, communicating to the engine control unit to deploy the reverse bucket once deceleration conditions are met – all determined within fractions of a second.
While grainy low-resolution versions of the above diagram have appeared sporadically on forums and social media channels over the past two years, few have really been able to look at the proposed design in such detail. Frankly, we think this is exactly what Kawasaki needs to rapidly regain some much needed market share. Nevertheless, it bares stressing that companies can hold on to patents for decades without using them; and neither this braking system nor the hinged seat have been confirmed for 2020 or beyond.
Thus far, all we do know is that the four ’20 Ultra models shown include a manual brake lever, as well as the prototype STX-160F seen in the spy shots. While we’d like to think that the STX shown is the lowest tier model and the other two higher tier STX models will feature the new braking system, we simply do not know. Up to the time of the final domestic reveal of Kawasaki’s 2020 lineup, we won’t really know for sure – but until then, we sure have gotten a lot to be hopeful about.
By now Hurricane Dorian is making its way up the Southeastern coast of the United States. Unfortunately for many residents of the Bahamas and nearby Caribbean Islands, the intense storm has left extreme devastation in its wake and many residents have been stranded.
The Bahamas government has issued an urgent plea for boat and PWC owners to assist in the rescue efforts. Some local residents such as D’Sean Smith have stepped up to help rescue people who are trapped in their homes.
Smith has been riding his watercraft around to pick up locals who need help. He has been at it for the last couple of days but the overwhelming amount of support needed is taking a toll on him. Thankfully many others have also pitched in on the relief efforts.
For more information on this story, see the full CBC report here.
Uh oh! You start to feel that familiar surge of acceleration begin to wain; your supercharged Sea-Doo just ain’t packin’ the punch it once had. Believe it or not, the factory centrifugal supercharger does require maintenance just like the rest of your machine, and the team at Broward Motorsports Racing has exactly what you need!
If you’re the daring do-it-yourselfer or have a shop that you trust, you can now pick up a complete kit to rebuild your supercharger packed with all of the quality Sea-Doo genuine parts and metal washers you need to return your runabout back to its former glory and increase its reliability for many more hours to come – all for $369.99.
And just like The Watercraft Journal reported earlier, you can now purchase your performance parts using BMR’s payment program. If you choose to use their Affirm service, this kit will put you back a meager $35/month. So get back on the water faster!
Some of the best memories are made on top of a PWC. Whether it be riding with friends or a solo mission, exploring new areas, going for a cruise or racing a friend, it’s a lifestyle. While it is fun, being safe out on the water is something many people take for granted. With all of the safety features on the PWC’s, crashes will still occur.
Unfortunately, two riders in St. Augustine, Florida were involved in a PWC crash two miles north away from the inlet. As a result, one of the riders was found in the water unconscious and in cardiac arrest due to a heart attack. A group on a pontoon boat close by was able to rescue them onto their boat and call for help.
The first responders were at the beach promptly to bring both of the riders to Orange Park Medical Center. The second rider involved in the crash was evaluated given his non-life-threatening injuries. There was a third person who was involved in the crash was evaluated at the scene and was released due to minimal injuries.
Riding PWC’s is fun in every aspect but be sure to be safe while riding around others. Accidents can happen so quickly so watch your speed, know where other boaters are and do not drive too fast. We wish the riders a speedy and safe recovery.
You gotta leave it to the international dealers to leak official information and photography weeks (and sometimes months) early. Thankfully, The Watercraft Journal’s army of 350,000 loyal readers were Johnny-on-the-spot this week after we revealed part one of our major revelations for the future of Kawasaki JetSkis (part two will be published on Friday, September 6th – so stay tuned).
Now, it bears noting that international dealers do not get the full array of vehicles offered every year. Most notably, the Ultra 310X Special Edition (SE) is almost entirely exclusive to the North American market. Likewise, other models can be excluded from international dealers’ grasp due to a bevy of reasons. Either way, the images we have for you here do not comprise the entirety of the 2020 lineup.
We were alerted earlier this week that the Muang Samut Sakhon, Thailand dealership, MF Marine Kawasaki had posted a handful of medium-quality images of three Ultra JetSki models: the 2020 Ultra 310LX, the supercharged Ultra 310X and naturally-aspirated Ultra LX. Upon closer inspection, all that these images reveal are direct carry-overs from the previous model year, besides coloring of course.
Even more amazing is that MF Marine Kawasaki has taken delivery of select 2020 units already! Below we included a video produced by the dealer giving a detailed walkaround of the ’20 Ultra 310LX. You’ll also spot a quartet of uncrated green-on-black SX-R 1500s, leaving us to believe that the venerable standup JetSki will remain untouched from 2019.
Thankfully, our eagle-eyed readers were able to grab the uploaded images before they were taken down from the Facebook page, giving us a look at the new graphite-gray and Kawasaki green 310LX, a very attractive “Hugger Orange”-styled 310X and a brilliant yellow LX. While the new coloring is enticing, all three of these units reveal the same left-hand, manual reverse lever – which is a bit of a letdown.
Of course, the unmentioned elephant-in-the-room is the final reveal of the redesigned STX and its three new trim levels; as well as the Ultra 310R, 310X SE and SX-R 1500. We’re hotly anticipating the new STX and have high hopes that it ignites a newfound fire of excitement for Kawasaki. And with Monday’s reveal of an articulated seat patent and Friday’s upcoming bombshell, there’s a lot to look forward to from the company that started it all.
Psychologists have detailed how the daily commute can literally shave years off of your life. So it’s understandable when Jersey City resident David Pike began to reevaluate his 90-minute commute to Brooklyn each and every day.
“My company, New York Trolley, is in Brooklyn, and every day it would take me 90 minutes; I’d have to take the bus to the subway to the path to another bus and all the while I’m just looking across the harbor like, ‘I just need to go there, how can I do it?'” he told Good Morning America.
Now, rather than traveling through Manhattan, which took an hour and a half, Pike goes around it, cutting his commute down to a scant 15 minutes – thanks to a used Sea-Doo GTI.
“I went on eBay bought a jet ski – and now it takes me 15 minutes; I just cut straight across the harbor,” he told reporters. Pike said he parks the Sea-Doo at the Brooklyn cruise terminal, alongside the kayak dock.
When asked about rough weather or the colder months, he shrugged, “We’ll see. I have a wetsuit and a dry suit, so I’m planning to go through November.”
Pike continued, saying “it’s so much fun,” but added that he’s “not alone out there.” “The harbor’s really a hive of activity. There’s cruise ships, paddle boards, tourist boats, seagulls, so I feel like I’m in good company,” he said with a smile sitting on his Sea-Doo GTI.
With the 2019 redesign of the FX WaveRunner platform, many enthusiasts were surprised to see Yamaha relocate the fill cap from hidden beneath the hood to the runabout’s front left fender. Critics have noted that the cap’s relocation not only breaks up the new Yamaha’s clean lines, but also makes refueling at dockside stations cumbersome as they now must double over the handlebars to reach the cap.
Yet, the largest concern comes from the watercraft’s tendency to “burp” fuel out when filled too quickly, resulting in spilled gasoline on the watercraft’s paint and plastics. This “burping” effect is caused by the rate of fuel flowing into the tank clashing with the tank’s ability to evacuate air back out. On the previous FX platform – as the same with the current VX series watercraft – the filler neck was vertical, permitting fuel to freely flow in as air quickly escaped out.
Now, with a nearly horizontal filler neck, escaping air has to fight against the rapid flow of fuel pouring in, resulting in back pressure forcing pockets of air to erupt out of the top of the filler neck. The build up of back pressure is exacerbated by a plastic one-way check valve located inside of the fuel tank’s intake port.
Featuring a plastic float that slides up and down a long sleeve, the check valve tube is specifically designed as a safety feature to keep fuel from sloshing up the filler neck in case of rollovers and while aggressively cornering. Interestingly, this very same check valve – PT# F4L-U773D-00-00 – is found in ALL Yamaha WaveRunners equipped with the 18.5 gallon tank – proving that the fuel spillage is not the fault of the check valve alone, but a combination of both it and the horizontal filler neck.
We’ve found that simply throttling the fuel flow can keep most spills from happening, but oftentimes, fuel docks have twice the fuel flow as your regular gas station – and a trapped bubble of air can surprise even the best of us.
Thankfully, there’s a quick and easy (and free) solution: removing the check valve. All that’s required is the use of a 1/4-inch nut driver or a short flat screw driver, and about 3 minutes of your time. As always, begin by disconnecting the negative battery terminal. Next push in the white plastic push-tabs holding the divided bulkhead separating the bow storage from the engine compartment.
The push tabs should be reused, so remove all four and with them each of the two black interlocking panels. Next, you’ll see the filler neck connecting the fuel cap to the tank. You don’t need to remove the whole tube, just where it connects to the tank. Obviously, it’s best to be doing this with a near-empty tank of fuel – so be aware of how much gas you have before starting.
With your nut driver, back the hose clamp off and slide it up the tube. The filler neck should wriggle off with a little coaxing. Once removed, place it out of the way so you can access the fuel tank. Inside of the tank will be the check valve tube, which literally sits inside of the tank. Go ahead and pull it out, careful not to spill any gas inside of your watercraft.
Next, simply reverse your steps, replacing the filler neck, divider bulkhead and the four push pins. Finally, reconnect the battery. To prove our work, we returned to the nearby gas station and topped off the tank. We found zero leaks inside of our engine compartment or weeping around the factory gas cap after driving to the launch ramp. Equally, we saw the same results after riding around the lake.
Of course, it goes without saying that the check valve is a piece of factory safety equipment and was designed and installed for a specific purpose. Although we have already returned the check valve back into this WaveRunner, we wanted to illustrate how to safely and easily remove it.
It’s been a heck of a year when it comes to leaks for the 2020 Kawasaki lineup, which if you’re a glass half full-type of thinker, means that there are a whole lot of folks eager to see Kawasaki come back to the market swinging – and we mean really batting for the fences. And despite threats of the brand’s waning interest in the personal watercraft segment, two major reveals published by The Watercraft Journalearlier this summer have shown a refreshed STX-15F touting some interesting redesigns.
As illustrated above, the 2020 STX-15F is not a complete redesign of the 16-year-old platform, but a slight refresh to its top deck, hood, steering and seating arrangement. We also have confirmation that the JetSki’s running gear will be updated with the existing fly-by-wire engine management and throttle hardware – putting it in pace with all existing Ultra machines, be them naturally aspirated or supercharged.
We also have confirmation of three tiers of the STX: a basic entry level; a more optioned unit with Cruise Control, Eco Mode and other drive features; and a heavily-optioned unit equipped with a revised Jetsounds onboard sound system and a thickly bolstered, tiered LX-style seat. Unfortunately, photographs reveal the continued use of a manual reverse lever on this unit, leaving most to believe it to be standard throughout all of the lineup.
That’s not to say that Kawasaki doesn’t have some new tricks up its sleeve. The Watercraft Journal was recently alerted that the manufacturer of the original JetSki applied for a new patent back on August 23, 2018 with the United States Patent Board granting legal ownership of US Patent No. US 10,279,876 B1 on May 7th of this year. The patent is for a split, articulated two-piece seat that literally bisects to reveal a large storage compartment beneath the rear seat.
As shown in the images above (and detailed in the complete 11-page US patent document included below), the seat doesn’t appear all too different from existing two-piece benches sold currently. The driver’s saddle locks into a female receiver at the front and secures to pin-style latch in back. Yet, the front seat shows a slotted track that can receive the two guides protruding from the front of the rear seat. These guides slide into the tracks easily, and allow the rear seat to be unlatched and hinge upwards to access the rear storage tub.
Equally, the openings at the tops of the tracks permit the rear seat to be effortlessly slid out and off of the JetSki as well. By all observations, this new feature is not expected to require much in the way of added plastic material or additional weight to the seat or craft – maybe an extra pound or two. The below schematic shows in detail how the articulated seat is designed to operate as well as illustrates the new, very deep rear storage compartment (a bin we believe will only be available on the naturally-aspirated STX models).
At this time, we have no more information on this new feature apart from what we can speculate. Kawasaki’s freshening of the STX is a welcomed one and we hope will revitalize the brand’s efforts towards competing in the marketplace alongside Yamaha and Sea-Doo. We’re enthusiastic to see the rest of the lineup roll out in full detail with an unconfirmed reveal in early October. Until that time, we’ll keep an eye out for any further leaks and keep you posted.
There was definitely a different feel in the air and on the water for the 2019 Pro Watercross National Championships. For more than a decade, this season-ending, tour-capping event has taken place in Charleston, WV – home of Hidden Trails Motorsports and the Frame family. This year, however, Pro Watercross head honcho AJ Handler shook things up, announcing in the Spring that the National Championships would be moving to a new venue. Originally, Bryan College Station, Texas, was announced as the new home of the Pro Watercross National Championships, but unspecified complications led to a last minute change, and on July 19, Pro Watercross announced that the Aug. 10-11 National Championship would be held in Lake Charles, LA.
“Lake Charles hosted the Pro Watercross group in 2013, and we feel honored to have been given this opportunity to further our relationship with the event for the next three years. The community enthusiastically supports sporting events in Southwest Louisiana, and we appreciate our relationship with the City of Lake Charles and the hospitality community in Calcasieu Parish,” said Eric Zartler, sales director at the Lake Charles/Southwest Louisiana Convention & Visitors Bureau. “The community is ready to cheer on the competitors during the 2019 National Championships.”
The community helped usher in a successful shift of the annual season-closing race weekend. Handler and the Pro Watercross staff definitely pulled all the right strings, and put in the work (probably more than many of us, as non-promoters, realize) to pull off the last-minute venue change after Bryan College Station officials informed Pro Watercross that they would have to cancel the races already scheduled and on the books for early August. Within 72 hours of Bryan College Station’s cancellation of the races there, Handler had secured a three-year contract with Lake Charles, beginning with the 2019 Championship in less than three weeks.
The temperatures at Lake Charles over the National Championship weekend soared, with the heat index reaching into the 100s, but that heat was a fair match for the scorching hot racing taking place on the track. “Tour points are close in several classes as we head into the National Championships,” Pro Watercross announced the week prior to the Lake Charles races. And from the intensity of the racers behind the band in moto after moto, from Pro-Am to juniors and every class in between, it was clear that these athletes came here not to race, but to win.
“A contingent of hot young riders kept the heat on; Revin Harris led the pack with some brilliant rides as did Devin Farthing and, of course, the dynamic duo of Hayden and Taylor Skellet,” Pro Watercross race announcer Kurt Knollenberg told The Watercraft Journal Friday. “Matthew Richuck showed he is ready to mix it up with the best in the world as he proved in Ski-GP battling the Motzuris brothers on a borrowed ski; just imagine if he had his own!”
“Runabouts provided some excellent racing with Troy Snyder and Brian Baldwin getting pushed further than ever before by D-Mack and Graham Hunt, Charlie Smith and Gentleman Jim Bennett,” Knollenberg continued. “Newcomer to Pro Watercross this year, Tory Snyder showed the rest of the field what they will have to deal with in Naples, Florida at the World Championships this October. No review of this year’s championships would be complete without including the wonderful stories of Cole Tumey and his fight to live while searching for a kidney donor and the help the Pro Watercross family provided to get Cole to his first race!
“Thanks to Jim Bennett and everyone who assisted, Cole was beyond stoked and we hope to raise awareness and funds for him at Naples. Another great story was Cheyenne Parler a wonderful girl born with autism who found that she loves Pro Watercross racers, especially the kids and she is the #1 fan of Valentina Lezcano! Valentina had the crowd tearing up at the awards ceremony when she had Cheyenne accept her awards and repeat her acceptance speech on the podium. Needless to say, it was one of Cheyenne’s best days ever. The intense racing action and the outpouring of love for two new members of the Pro Watercross family made this my favorite National Championships so far, can’t wait to see everyone in Naples for what promises to be a truly incredible end to 2019.”
“Watercross National Pro National Champion titles (in Pro-Am Ski Stock, Pro-AM Runabout GP, Pro-Am Ski GP, Pro Freestyle and Pro-Am Runabout Box Stock) are based on tour points from the five rounds, plus the National Championship races,” explained Jennifer Handler. “For the amateurs, the Pro Watercross National Championship is a stand-alone event, with the title based on the results of the Lake Charles races only. However, for those amateurs who are able to follow the tour, they are also able to win a national tour points championship.”
The Pro Watercross National Championship results are available online HERE. For a full album of photos from the race, visit www.watersedgephoto.online.
