So...I feel like I’m going to the dark side here as I’m a Seadoo fan boy, but I’ve always been generally intrigued to see how a Yamaha classic 2 stroke, from the 90s golden era, stacks up against my beloved 90s Seadoos. When this 26 year old, 1996, 1100cc Wave Raider came up, it was too tempting to say no...
So I bought a 1996 Yamaha Wave Raider, and whilst it’s in incredible shape, my mission, as it is with all skis on this channel, is to get them back to 100% pristine, show room, OEM condition. This Raider is in great shape but I will be restoring a number of bits, including fully restoring the trailer. Check this video out for the full low down on what’s coming in this series and what I will be restoring.
This was my first ride on a Yamaha Jetski period, and my first time on a Wave Raider...and it was a blast. The ski ran like a dream and jumped the waves like a boss; it was like this ski had never left the water. Check out my first impression of this 1996 Yamaha Wave Raider.
In this episode the focus is around giving this Wave Raider its first deep clean, getting into all those tight/hard to reach spots, using detailing brushes and generally cleaning the jetski from top to bottom. After a number of years in storage, there was a lot of dust and dirt in places across the ski.
Episode 5 is a snappy entry to the series, it focuses on how to change a damaged VTS control grip, on a Wave Raider 1996 1100cc. From my understanding, the principle however should be pretty similar for a number of other Yamaha models, around this period. The grip style was used on a number of Yamaha models. Whilst a simple task, this episode should give you a good idea of what’s involved in doing this task. It’s a small part but makes a big difference to the overall restore.
I always hate it when I see a classic clean jetski, sitting on an old rusty trailer. In this episode I kick off restoring the Wave Raider trailer, starting with changing the old, worn out, plastic trailer wheel fenders. I talk through how to colour match and custom spray your fenders to match your jetski colour way.
In this episode I cover all of the modifications and things I will be restoring on the 1996 Yamaha Jetski trailer. I lift the jetski off the rusty old jetski trailer and begin the restore. I cover all of the new parts I will be fitting and give you the ultimate part picks for bringing your old jetski trailer up to like-new condition.
In this episode I visit the metal fabricator (Brivan Extension Steels Ltd) where we add a winch post to allow me to add a winch and new jockey wheel, to the existing old jetski trailer. The original trailer only had a snubber block but no winch, which makes launching and recovering the jetski super hard...When I bought this 26 year old Yamaha Wave Raider, the jetski was immaculate but the trailer on the other hand, was covered in rust.
In this episode I’m prepping this old Yamaha wave raider jetski trailer ready for powder coating. This 26 year old trailer is covered in rust and before I visit the powder coaters in the next episode, I need to prep the surface to get a good finish at the powder coaters.
Now that I have removed all of the rust from this 26 year old jetski trailer, now it’s the task of trying to take it apart! HOWEVER a lot of the bolts and nuts are rusted in place as the trailer is so old. In this episode I tackle disassembling the jetski trailer ready for taking it to the powder coater in the next episode (EP11)
Now that the trailer has had all of the metal modifications, adding the new winch post, plus I have fully prepped the old rusty surface, in this episode we are taking this 26 year old Yamaha wave raider jetski trailer to the powder coaters, where we transform this old trailer into a stunning showroom, powder coated jetski trailer.
So we made it! After many months of hard work, modifying, prepping and powder coating this 26 year old trailer, this episode I finally put back together this fully restored jetski trailer. From top to bottom this jetski trailer has been restored down to every nut and bolt. In the process making metal fabrication modifications such as, welding a new winch post onto the old assembly, then fully stripped the main frame and ancillary parts, which were then sand blasted, before everything was then powder coated in a pure gloss white, to colour match the hull of the Wave Raider.
Ok guys so it’s been a minute...But here we go. I have finally filmed the last 2 parts to this trailer restore, kicking things off with this penultimate episode which is modifying and creating custom carpet bunks vs. the original rubber bunks. In this episode I cover from start to finish, how to modify adding new timber bunk bases and then securing bolts, finally showing how to wrap the timber with marine grade carpet.
It's the final episode in this trailer restore mini series, where I have taken a 27 year old 1996 Indespension trailer that came with my 1996 Yamaha Wave Raider 1100, and transformed this rusty mess trailer into a showroom fully custom, powder coater trailer.
So the next ski on the list was a classic example of right place right time. I have to be honest, I initially only envisioned wanting Seadoo. Seadoo were the skis I grew up on and love the brand, therefore when this Raider came up, it was a mixture of intrigue for the unknown of another brand, coupled with the excitement of the great history I knew Yamaha had with PWCs. And of course, this is again a 1 owner, low hour, pristine example.
There really isn't anything quite like the raw beast mode power of the 1100 triple in this raider... Yes its untamed but boy is it a blast to ride!
The Wave Raider in its own right is as iconic as the XP and for many holds as much importance as the XP's, so I had to find out for myself.
The Wave Raider back in the day rivalled the Seadoo XP with the great racers like Chris MacClugage riding the Raider and Chris Fischetti on the XP, going head to head.
At the time when I found this Raider I was completely pro seadoo, but always wanted to feel what Yamaha comparable models had to offer vs the XP's.