Jet Skis
"Jet Ski" became foremost the colloquial term for stand-up personal watercraft, because in 1973 Kawasaki was responsible for a limited production of stand-up models as designed by the recognized inventor of Jet Skis, Clayton Jacobson II. In 1976, Kawasaki began mass production of the JS400-A. JS400s came with 400 cc two-stroke engines and hulls based upon the previous limited release models. It became the harbinger of the success Jet Skis would see in the Jetters market up through the 1990s. In 1986 Kawasaki broadened the world of Jet Skis by introducing a two person model with lean-in "sport" style handling and a 650 cc engine, dubbed the X-2. Then in 1989, they introduced their first two passenger "sit-down" model, the Tandem Sport/Dual-Jetters (TS/DJ) with a step-through seating area.
For 1992 Kawasaki updated their stand-up line with the JS750 featuring a more stable hull and more power. In 2003, Kawasaki celebrated the Jet Ski brand by releasing a special 30th anniversary edition of its current stand-up model, the SX-R, which has seen a revival of interest in stand-up jetskiing. The X-2 has also been updated, based on the SX-R platform and re-released in Japan. Kawasaki continues to produce three models of sit-downs, including many four-stroke models.
The four-stroke engines have come on since the late 1990s; with the help of superchargers and the like the engines can produce up to 250 horsepower (190 kW) as seen in the newly released Kawasaki Ultra 250X.
As the riding of personal watercraft evolved through the 1990s, other companies like Yamaha, Bombardier and Polaris joined the sport to make it into a worldwide sport in both racing and freestyle. |
