With the heat turning up, there's no better time to get your boats and Jet skis out into the water. For prospectors like Chris of Nononsenseknowhow YouTube channel, it is the perfect time to scout for grounded units. On a recent upload, he rescued an abandoned 70's WetBike that had been sitting for 26 years.
The WetBike is a motorcycle and jet ski love child. It was first introduced in 1978 by Spirit Marine, a division of Arctic Enterprises, currently Arctic Cat. You can catch a glimpse of the WetBike in James Bond's The Spy Who Loved Me (1997) film.
The WetBike is a motorcycle/jet ski cross for a reason – there's a learning curve involved. Like a motorcycle, the user needs some idea of balance to get it planing.
Chris' find is a 60 hp (61 ps) model that packs an 800 cc, 2-cylinder Suzuki two-stroke engine. He got it for $100.
"This one's been sitting, I'm told, since the mid-90s. Its last sticker was 1996, so probably at least 20 years or so. It's been sitting in the shade," Chris revealed.
According to Chris, the WetBike comes cheap because it's hard to come by replacement parts. They were made between 1978 and 1992.
Like any other grounded unit Chris picks up from his expeditions, the first step to getting them up and running is an inspection. That involves checking fluid levels, wiring, carburetor, and spark plugs, doing a compression check, and finding out if the engine rotates and is not gummed up.
The engine was healthy, but the carburetor wasn't looking good. A rodent infestation had gotten the best of it, and the throttle cable was also locked up.
After hooking up a carburetor unit and CDI box from a JetStar Jet Boat he had been working on previously, the engine roared to life.
Since the gas tank was sludgy and the fuel pump line had a broken nipple at the bottom, he used a make-shift auxiliary tank for the WetBike's first water test.
"That was a horrible experience, and something I have learned is that if you are going to take a WetBike out, it's a pretty hard machine to get up on and to ride, so you better have her in tip-top shape," Chris confessed.
Getting it planing wasn't a walk in the park. Chris endured a series of failed attempts. You can catch that fun-packed action in the video below.
Humphrey is a car enthusiast whose love and passion for automobiles extended into collecting, writing, driving, and working on cars. He got his passion for cars from his Dad, who spent thousands of hours working on his old junky 1970 E20 Toyota Corolla. Years later, he would end up doing the same with a series of lemons he’s owned throughout his adult life. Full profile
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