Jet Ski Tips To Save Major Hassles…
Photo © by Craig Nicholson
Related: Popular Southern Ontario Launches
Being an experienced Sea Doo tour rider, I’m embarrassed to screw up. But here are three hard earned Sea Doo PWC launchng lessons for Ontario and throughout Canada. This blog is like reality TV. You get to see the smart (check out my other tips) – and the not so smart. Hope I don’t qualify for the latter category too often!
And don’t think every Sea Doo riding day away from Toronto goes perfectly for me. This launching lesson is one I’d rather forget. But it includes beginners advice for trailering Sea Doo, jetski or waverunner watercraft on self guided jetski adventures.
PWC Launching Lessons About Trailering and Launching…
I had just finished a perfect Sea-Doo tour on my Sea Doo GTX 155 when I learned three important lessons about trailering and launching. I had loaded my Sea-Doo watercraft back on to my 2-bed Triton trailer at the launch and started to pull it ahead out of the water. I must have pushed the accelerator pedal on my tow vehicle too forcefully. Because I heard a distinct “pop” behind, followed by a sickening swoosh of pressured air bubbling up through the water. Apparently, the underwater part of the ramp had a lip on it that scrunched my tire when it hit too hard. The result? A blown the seal around the rim.
PWC Launching Lessons – Scout a launch carefully…
So lessons one and two. Always scout a launch carefully before launching so you know what it’s like. And pull out gradually (in 4-wheel drive if you have it) to avoid hard impacts like this one. It actually bent the wheel rim slightly where it meets the tire rubber. Seal broken, no more air.
Photo © by Craig Nicholson
PWC Launching Lessons – Carry the right spare…
As usual, bad things come in three’s. I confidently pulled out my properly sized lug wrench and fully inflated spare. Only to discover that the tire was the right size, but on the wrong rim. It’s tough to place a 4-holer rim on 5-holer axle!
PWC Launching Lessons – One More…
Need I say more about Lesson three? Always check your spare carefully for fit and size (and correct pressure) – long before you actually need it! Fortunately, I quickly found a local garage that banged my rim back into shape. So it was as good as new for the 180-kilometre (112 mile) drive home. The next day, I picked up the right spare and haven’t had an issue on a Sea Doo tour since.
If you enjoyed this post, check out my other riding tips.
The tips and advice in this article are the opinions of the author, may not work in every situation and are intended only for the convenience and interest of the reader, who has the personal responsibility to confirm the validity, accuracy and relevancy of this information prior to putting it to their own use.