2006 FX HO Cruiser Tips Over

[johnrah]

We purchased the ski used last fall, had the steering cable replaced and put i tup for the winter.

About a week ago, we began to ride the ski. On June 10, we were dumped in the lake at idle speed, calm waters, nothing silly going on and no water in the ski. I began to turn to the left and the ski just tipped over. We did not lean too far (as a matter of fact, my wife usually leans the other way) and did nothing unusual. The ski tipped over and we both went in. The ski was easily righted and we climbed on to return to dock.

On June 12, I rode for a while and noticed three things: first, the ski pulls to the right. When I hold the handlebars perfectly straight, the ski goes to the right—it does not go straight. Second, when I begin to accelerate and turn to the right, if I let up on the accelerator, the ski lurches to the left (straightens up) and seems to want to throw me off. And last, when you turn to the left, the ski wants to keep on turning and feels like it might fall over.

When riding, sometimes it feels as if you loose momentary control. Then it is fine. The ski does not feel stable and we are concerned about riding it.

We are aware of the weight distribution factor and not over-leaning at low speeds. We have ridden other PWCs but never have had this happen or felt the ski was unstable.

Any thoughts before heading to dealer?

Thanks.

[Technical Support]

Re: 2006 FX HO Cruiser Tips Over

That is a big ski, it should feel very stable, has the hull ever been repaired?

[susanrah]

Re: 2006 FX HO Cruiser Tips Over

Thank you for your interest. I am Susan, John's wife. We actually had it tip over with us in the fall. Took it in to dealer, they fixed steering and then we put it away for the winter. In early spring we took it to a fiberglass man who is very good. the yamaha dealer has used him for years. It had a bad scratch on th bottom which the man who inspected it for us had said was from someone beaching it. The fiberglss man noticed right away that it was from the trailed being adjusted incorrectly. he fixed the scratch. When we had a similar thought about the hull we called him and asked if he saw any evidence of any other repair. he said he hadn't.

We took it to the dealer two weeks ago today. I had called yamaha and tried to explain the peculiear behavior--they referred us to the dealer though now they tell him they won't pay because the engine runs well.
They didn't even look at it until this week. When they finally rode it they agreed it tried to dump them off. they worked on the steering (again!) and they replaced the stabilizers(which were perfect),. they rode again--no improvement. Today they were to look at the stringers and something else but the mechanic was hurt. maybe tomorrow. Then they say they are done. we have a beautiful machine with low hours, a perfectly running engine that basically falls over. No one knows why. We are not getting to use it and may lose all our money.

I watched a man come into our cove on a jetski the same size as ours, Ie had two children with him. He came in at idle speed made a complete hard turn and headed out in his own wake trail. It didn't lean, tip or seem to ove in any way. That is what we were doing each tie it fell over only our turns weren't as sharp. On my son's VX110 I did that many times in our coves that we so tight because of the drought the last couple of years. never did it feel unstable. It is not as heavy as this one. Someone who understands these machines must have an idea for us.

Thank you.

[susanrah]

Re: 2006 FX HO Cruiser Tips Over

Update,
They looked at the hull, It is balanced and correct weight, not been wrecked and repaired, except for the scratch we had fixed. The guy that looked at the hull noticed that the nozzle was pointing more up that it should have been. They are going to see about aiming it down as it should be. Could this make it tip over? It ran fine and would go quite fast. The mystery contnues and we have no jetski for the 4th.

[susanrah]

Re: 2006 FX HO Cruiser Tips Over

Thank you for everyones patience. Yesterday ( and the day before and I think the day before that) the dealer said they were going to test drive after adjusting nozzle. Today they talked to Yamaha( it was my understanding they did this 2 weeks ago). The Yamaha tech said to disassemble pump and check that out. We begin again with no improvement yet.


A contributor to another discussion site has a theory that when the top and the bottom of the hull were put together the foam(?) was left out at the factory. This might explain why someone traded or sold a beautiful practically new jetski. It would have had the same problem from the beginning and they may not have known that this shouldn't happen. They never took it in for any warranty work. It runs so well.

Thoughts?

[susanrah]

Re: 2006 FX HO Cruiser Tips Over

The dealer has no idea what's wrong.,The dealer has the ski and the Yamaha rep can't come for about a month. He has all of Florida and some or all of Georgia. Two huge states with coasts! We're trying to decide whether to leave it with dealer or get them to put it together and bring it home until the appt with the Yamaha rep.

I talked to Yamaha today.Nice but no help.