Welcome to my Superjet Project Journal. I'm building this journal for three purposes.

First, to entertain. I think some people might enjoy reading through it just to share in my experience.

Second, to inform. I will build this into a running journal starting the first day I bring the ski home and showing each modification made. Hopefully, it will prove useful to some readers out there who are new to the world of stand-up skis and want to see what is involved with modifying a ski. I don't claim to be an expert or to be showing you the RIGHT way to do things, I'll just be showing you what I did.

Third, for myself. There will be some notes thrown in that are just so I can record specific information and have it available to myself whenever I need to refer to it.
Note : The icon means I actually went riding that day.

If you like this journal, let me know. Click the envelope icon in the upper right to send me a message.

Let's get started.......

First Impressions on the First Ride
March 30, 2007
I took the ski out on our maiden voyage today at Buckeye Lake. I rode for about 45 minutes. The water was not bad at all with a full wetsuit.

The ski ran great. It appears to be tuned pretty well....it was smooth from idle through wide open throttle. I didn't notice any hesitations or surges. The stock pole and bars have got to go soon...it needs to be way shorter and I need some different grips ....those stock ones wore a huge blister. Even so, I am overall very pleased with the new ski.

Disassemble, Disassemble
April 1, 2007
Well, it only took three days. I'm already taking the ski apart. Time to shorten the handle pole. I took the pole off tonight. I have read that people have shortened the pole while still on the ski, but I just thought it would be so much easier to mess with OFF the ski. Besides, I don't think the handle pole spring was on there correctly....it didn't appear to have any tension on it and the pole SLAMS down on the hood if you drop it.....that's not right. The pole wasn't hard to take off ....I've had the pole off my Kawi countless number of times. Hopefully it goes back on just as easy.

How To - Shortening Stock Superjet Handlepole

I also ordered a set of ODI Rogue Grips for the ski so I will have them when I get some new handlebars (and ordered a new pair for my Kawi....the old ones have practically disintegrated, but they are five years old). Ordered some new Yamaha boots, too. My Slippery Matrix boots fell apart last year.

This weather sucks!
April 17, 2007
It's been over two weeks and the weather here in Ohio is really crappy. We had a week of warm weather at the end of March when I took the ski out for the first (and so far only) ride. Then the weather dropped to freezing and we had snow for a week. It's finally starting to warm back up, so maybe I'll get to go out this weekend.

I ordered an X-Metal steering system that I'm waiting to show up. I've shortened the handlepole by 1.5" and just bolted it back together, replacing the rivets with 1/4" stainless bolts. . I am also going to JB Weld it for additional strength, but I haven't yet. I want to get the new bars on it and test drive it to see if it is short enough. If not, it will be easy to pull back apart and cut off more until I get it right.

New Blowsion Handlepole Spring
April 26, 2007
I got my new handlepole spring in the mail from Blowsion.

http://www.blowsion.com/

The stock spring on the Superjet was letting the handlepole slam down on the hood so hard, it's as if the spring wasn't even there. The Blowsion spring looks like it will help tremendously. Check out the comparison between the two. It seemed to me that the two ends of the stock spring should be much closer together to give the pole more tension. Obviously, that's what Blowsion thinks, too. I haven't installed it yet, but I will tomorrow night, and I'll post up before and after video of the difference that it makes.

Blowsion Handlepole Spring Installed
April 27, 2007
I installed the new spring. Took about 10 minutes to do. I would suggest if at all possible to have a friend assist you.....it would be much easier as a two-man job, because you need to hold the pole vertical while at the same time using both hands to get the bolt through the spring. As a workaround, I just used a rachet strap to tie the pole to my garage door opener track to hold it straight up while I worked on the spring.

How I Installed It
- Get the bolt started in the spring as far as you can (which won't be very far at all).
- Use a socket and start tightening the bolt as you move the pole around to position the spring. The bolt will slowly work its way through the spring as it turns. Putting some dish soap on it might help it slide through easier...I thought about this AFTER I already installed it.
- Once you have the threads showing out the other side of the spring, you can then tap at the bolt with a rubber mallet to slide it further in. I wouldn't tap it until the threads are all the way through to avoid messing up your bolt threads.
- The bolt WON'T line up with the hole on the other side very well. I used a little tiny crowbar stuck behind the spring to put tension on it and move the bolt around until it lined up with the opposite hole, then quickly tapped it in place with a rubber mallet.
- From there, you are home free.....tighten the bolt so it threads into the bracket.
- Don't overtighten the bolt...you don't need to, and you might crack the stock bracket.

Click the image below to see a before and after video of the different the Blowsion spring made.

Went Riding
April 29, 2007
Just went for a quick spin down at Dillon Lake. Wanted to try out the new spring to see how much it helped (A LOT) and also to get the Kawi out for a spin and make sure it was all working correctly after the long cold winter. The Superjet was running like crap today. It didn't seem to have the throttle response that it did on the first ride. However, before I could figure out what was wrong, I wiped out and hit my knee on the ski pretty hard, so I was done for the day.

Added X-Metal Steering and UMI Bearing Kit
May 12 & 13, 2007
My new X-metal steering system and UMI bearing kit finally arrived, and I installed this new steering system over the last couple of days. I added ODI Rogue clamp-on grips and a UMI throttle to complete the package. I installed the system using the MIDDLE steering adjustment. Using the outermost adjustment will require cutting my steering nozzle and trimming the chinpad so the steering cable doesn't rub on it, and I did not have time to do that yet, so I went with the MIDDLE adjustment for now.

http://www.xmetalworks.com

(Pictures, and "how to install UMI Bearing/X-metal steering " coming soon)

First Ride with X-metal Steering. Worked Great, but Found a Fuel Problem
May 16, 2007
Went for a ride to try out the new X-metal steering. I really like it compared to the stock bars. MUCH more comfortable. After riding and evaluating it, I am going to shorten the pole another 1.5" when I get the time. Currently I have a 1.5" shortened pole, then the X-metal steering moves it back another 2.5", so -4" shorter total. I was waiting until I could try out the X-metal steering before I shortened the pole any further.

The ski was having more problems running today. I found if I held the ski at 3/4 to full throttle for a run of about 10 seconds, it started bogging down and died, as if it was running out of gas. So I quit riding for the day until I could figure out what was wrong.

After I got home, I pulled the carbs off the ski to inspect them and check for any blockage or problems. In the process, I verified all of the components in the carbs....this is all I had time to do tonight.

Did a Complete Teardown of the Fuel Delivery System...Found the Problem
May 19, 2007
Since the carbs looked OK, I figured something was clogged up in the fuel lines, so I did a complete removal and inspection of the fuel lines, the fuel filter, fuel pickup lines in the fuel tank, and the on/off/reserve switch. I opened the fuel pump side of the carbs, and the filters were clean as a whistle. The fuel lines were not clogged anywhere that I could find. Air flowed freely through the in-line fuel filter.

When I checked the small check valve on the top of the fuel tank (that lets air into the tank as fuel is drawn from it) I found that it was installed backwards. There was the problem. When I would do a full throttle run, as the engine was sucking fuel it was creating a vacuum in the fuel tank. Eventually, the vacuum got strong enough to prevent fuel from flowing to the carbs, and I started stalling out.

I flipped that check valve around the correct way, put the ski all back together, and took it to the lake. That did it! After messing with some carb tuning, these were the final results I came up with today. The ski was running really strong and responsive on these settings. I'm sure it's not perfect, but it is pretty darn close. Bascially, I set the screws to the factory recommended defaults, then ended up adding 1/4 turn to each of them.

Shortened the Handlepole Another 1.5"
May 20 & 21, 2007
I decided to go ahead and take off another 1.5" from the stock pole, and that will be it.

I did the cutting on May 20, and used JB Weld to bond the pole into the metal boot at the bottom. I let that sit overnight and harden up properly. On May 21, I drilled out holes and put the stainless bolts in place. I then remounted the pole on the ski and got everything ready for my next ride.

Memorial Day
May 28, 2007
Memorial Day, Buckeye Lake, a little jetskiing, no mechanical problems......what more could a guy ask?

Limiting Rope
June 8, 2007
Installed a "temporary" limiting rope. The attach points in the tray and on the pole are really nice (and permanent), but the rope is just some white nylon rope tied to two stainless carabiners. It works for now. Took it out to the lake to try out. I also fiddled with the carbs some more and found turning the top screws out another 1/4 turn seemed to help. Still hestiates a bit on the bottom end.

Deer Creek State Park Ride
June 11, 2007
Went to Deer Creek State Park and rode with some friends from www. x-h20.com. It's a really nice park....might make a good camping trip sometime. We messed with the carbs some more, and found I was still lean on the bottom screws....so, I turned them out another 1/4 turn and that really helped the hesitation. I'll mess with this some more later, but it's good for now.

Worx 201 Intake Grate Added
June 26, 2007
Got my Worx 201 intake grate. Installed it, the parents did some babysitting, and Amber and I took the standups out for a while. It was the first time we had ridden together since having the kids. Dad brought his new Canon Powershot down to the beach and got some nice pics and video. Pics -- Video

Dillon Lake
July 13, 2007

Sandusky, Ohio
July 19, 2007
I was staying at the Kalahari Resort for a conference on Thursday and Friday. I took off about 4:30pm Thursday when the
conference sessions were over, and put in at Dempsey's Access. There were lots of storms blowing through, so the Sandusky bay had lots of 1-2' waves, so I was able to play around for about and hour and get some pretty good air.

Rode over to Cedar Point and watched the Millennium Force for a bit (you can get within about 100 feet of it from the lake).

Caesar Creek, Ohio
July 23-25, 2007
Camped at Caesar Creek north of Cincinnati with the family. Visited the Air Force Museum in Dayton and the Newport Aquarium in Newport, Kentucky. Went riding all three days in the evening, launching from the campground ramp. On the 2nd day, I went for a huge sub and tore the stock chinpad off the ski. For now, I "team uglied" it and strapped it back on with gray duct tape, but I'll work on someway to make it last the rest of the season.