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| The following personal watercraft pages were originally written in 1999. Kawasaki just introduced the Ultra 150 and it was the fastest production PWC ever. A good running stock Ultra would do 64 to 67 MPH on glass depending on the individual example. It held the title from 1999 until 2003. In 2004 Sea-Doo came out with the 215 HP RXP. A properly running stock RXP will do 67 to 69 MPH. It is the fastest production PWC ever (2004 - 2006). Kudos to Sea-Doo for raising the bar. PWC speeds are only accurately measured with a GPS or a radar gun after numerous passes are averaged together. The built in speedometers are usually quite optimistic. I am looking forward to see what will come out in 2007. And now, on to the original story from 1999....
It all started in 1995. I bought a new '94 Yamaha Superjet and my friend Bobby had a '94 Yamaha Waveblaster. My friend Curt had a '95 Yamaha Waverunner III GP and my friend Bryan had a '94 Sea-Doo XP. The Yamaha's were faster off the line, but the Sea-Doo had more top end and would pull away in a drag race. Bryan started putting down our Yamahas and talking about how superior his Sea-Doo was. This continued until 1996 when my girlfriend, Sandy, wanted to get a PWC that she could ride without falling off. After reading everything I could find, I decided on the new Yamaha Waveventure 1100. Stability was very important to her, good bottom end and top speed was important to me. It was easily the fastest boat in our group and it beat every '96 Sea-Doo XP that I raced, except one. (The damage was done, I had a taste of power and I wanted more. My search for the ultimate Musclecraft had started. I was having too much fun drag racing boats and other PWCs on the Waveventure.) This shut Bryan up until 1998 when he bought a new Sea-Doo GTX Limited. In a race, the Waveventure was even until about 35 MPH and then the GTX would pull away. Another friend, Lee, bought a '98 Yamaha XL 1200 and it also was a little slower than Bryan's Sea-Doo. (But exactly even with the Waveventure.) So we all had to listen to Bryan brag until spring '99. That's when I bought the new Kawasaki Ultra 150. It was the world's fastest production personal watercraft ever in '99. A good running stock '99 Ultra should do between 64 and 67 MPH. There are many production tolerance variables and some will be faster than others. I lucked out and happened to get one of the faster examples. The 2000 model still retained that title. Everybody was surprised that I didn't buy another Yamaha, they are all very brand loyal. I have never been brand loyal with anything, I buy what I feel is the best for me. Two weeks after I bought my Ultra, Bryan and his girlfriend, Donna, bought a '99 Sea-Doo XP Limited. That was Sea-Doo's fastest model and there was no way they would buy anything other than a Sea-Doo. To make a long story even longer, my Ultra easily beats their Sea-Doos in all conditions. From glassy water on the King's River, to big chop on Lake Havasu, they can't keep up and Donna rides the XPL very well. (And she is about 100 pounds lighter than I am.) I'm not bragging here, I'm just stating the facts. It was nice to not hear Bryan bragging anymore. Now I was hearing that of course my Ultra was faster, it's engine is 225 cc's larger. If Sea-Doo made a three cylinder engine, it would be the fastest on the planet. The reason for this long, boring story, is that I wanted to explain the inspiration for my Ultra page. It was showing up on some search engines and people e-mailed me asking what it was all about. I threw it together one day just to give Bryan a hard time after he sent me an e-mail with his new AOL screen name: Ultra150Not. I replied to his e-mail with a new screen name of my own: UltraRulesTheH2O and a link to my new Ultra page. I designed it to enrage him, since he is such a Sea-Doo fanatic. It is just a flashy, cheesy page, without any real content, and it takes a long time to load if you don't have broadband. We have been friends since 1976 and we like to taunt each other. I don't feel that the Ultra is the ultimate PWC for everybody, it's just the best choice for my needs. I seriously considered the (all 1999 models) Polaris Pro 785, Yamaha GP 1200 and the Sea-Doo XP/GSX Limiteds before I decided on the Kawasaki Ultra 150. By the way, I still have the Superjet and the Waveventure and I have never had a single problem with either one. I'm keeping the Superjet and the Ultra until two-strokes are outlawed, they are both such a pleasure to ride. So no matter what make you own, ride safe, smart, fast and have a blast! |
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