“We’ve had [a 2019 Yamaha FX SVHO] in the hands of our development team – Bruce Clarkson, Mark Nystrom and Jesus Garcia – for a while now,” RIVA Racing’s Dave Bamdas prefaced. “Getting performance out of the SVHO (Super Vortex High Output Yamaha Marine 1,812cc Marine Engine) was easy with our Maptuner X software, but getting the speed and more importantly, the handling right took some doing.”
Bamdas was careful not to echo some sentiments swirling around the performance tuning threads online. Doubters and naysayers blithely crow that the new Yamaha FX platform is slow, some going so far as to call it a step backwards. “Not so,” Bamdas defended vigorously. “But to get the ski to stay consistent at higher speeds took quite a bit of testing and development to get right.”
In the past two years, aftermarket performance enthusiasts have become spoiled by the immediacy of 80-plus-mph speeds provided by the Yamaha GP1800 – and now GP1800R – with solely a couple of modifications. “We were hitting 78 miles-per-hour with pretty much just an ECU reflash,” Bamdas recounted. “It didn’t take much at all. And we hadn’t even touched handling components. [The GP] didn’t need it.”
The new full-sized, 3-seater FX though, proved not as responsive as its smaller sibling. From the showroom floor, both craft clocked reasonably identical (sustained) top speeds: a fraction over 68mph. Although the new FX borrows heavily from the GP’s successful hull design – particularly below the splash-deflecting chine – the added 50-pounds (769 vs. 818-pounds) and length (131.9 vs. 140.9-inches) does increase the FX’s running surface, and thereby surface tension (ie. drag), considerably.
1. HANDLE BARS AND GRIPS
The Blowsion IJSBA World Finals acts as the industry's largest gathering of watercraft racing's aftermarket companies, race sponsors, and pro racers. In that way, the World Finals is our sport's largest trade show. It is here that consumers and racers alike can check out new 2019 parts, apparel, custom builds, and all things watercraft for next year. This is also a good time where competitors can catch up with all of their sponsors or potential new ones.
At this year's event, RIVA Racing has set up our best trade booth ever, boasting a full line up of our aftermarket racing parts, our new 2019 Yamaha & Sea-Doo Custom Builds, plenty of fresh apparel, and a hands on display of the watercraft industry's #1 tuning device, the MaptunerX. RIVA Parts Technicians will be standing by in our tent for any watercraft or parts questions so feel free to swing by!
2. MATS AND SEATS
At this year's event, RIVA Racing has set up our best trade booth ever, boasting a full line up of our aftermarket racing parts, our new 2019 Yamaha & Sea-Doo Custom Builds, plenty of fresh apparel, and a hands on display of the watercraft industry's #1 tuning device, the MaptunerX. RIVA Parts Technicians will be standing by in our tent for any watercraft or parts questions so feel free to swing by!
For stand-up riders, tray mat material and design is a game changer. Depending on your riding style, you can have custom mats made to help you leverage better turns. I personally prefer mats with a small camel hump in the front dash, and a kick wedge in the back. A camel hump keeps your feet from slipping out from under you when you are railing a turn, and a rear kick wedge allows you to use your feet more effectively – letting you control turns with your toes and heels.
While mats are typically more crucial to a stand-up rider’s performance, a runabout rider can still improve their grip by replacing their OEM mats.
3. HANDLING COMPONENTS
Before you start busting into the engine bay, I highly recommend starting at level zero. If you build up your engine too quick, you may not be able to handle the horsepower. Handling components can drastically improve your riding, and prepare you for bigger, badder engines in the future.
For runabout racers, rear sponsons, intake grates and ride plates are a great place to start. Rear sponsons attach to the rear of the runabout, just under the bond flange, and will help your ski maintain stability in turns, and give you extra grip. The combination of rear sponsons and a great ride plate will help keep your runabout from breaking loose in the turns. This will allow you to carry as much speed as possible through your turns, while the competition is letting off the gas. An intake grate attaches to the bottom of the ski, near the drive shaft and intake. An aftermarket intake grate will pull more water into your pump housing and help keep your ski hooked up – eliminating air time and keeping your ski driving hard and fast in various conditions.
For stand-up riders, ride plates and sponsons are the most important handling components. Front sponsons improve the stability and cornering of your ski, allowing the nose to drop into corners easier, so that you can power through your turns.
The biggest struggle a stand-up racer will ever face is keeping the back end of the ski from breaking loose in a turn. Ride plates are a great place to start. There are lots of different kinds of ride plates on the market, and no single one is perfect for everyone. Depending on your height and weight, you might need to experiment a bit before you commit to a ride plate. Generally, they are all designed to do the same thing, keep the rear end of your ski in the water.
The most important thing to understand about handling components are testing conditions. You may love your brand new ride plate at 6am when the water is glassy clean, but hate it a 4pm on a Friday when the lake is a bathtub. It’s important to evaluate what conditions you will be racing in, and base your decisions on the conditions. You may need a different ride plate for racing offshore P1Aqua X than racing at the World Finals in Lake Havasu.
The best thing you can do is try lots of set ups and combinations, and find one that works best for you. What works for someone else, may not be for you. Take it from me, as a ninety-pound Jet Ski World Champion, I can tell you my set ups are a little different than my 150-200lb competitors. Learning more about what other riders maybe running is great, but you won’t know for sure if it will work for you unless you give it a try.
