2003 Yamaha XLT 1200

Project ski #2 has now come to a close. I was pleasantly surprised at how this one turned out. It all started with the original SeaDoo XP, which came on a single trailer. It is fun going to the lake and being on the water, but not by yourself! Not only do you not have anyone to share the fun with, it is dangerous to be out on the water by yourself in case of emergencies. It was then I knew I wanted to set out in search of ski #2, along with a dual-ski trailer to carry them on.

I was browsing through Facebook Marketplace and found a nice guy who was actually looking to get a nice single-ski trailer and offload his dual-ski trailer plus a Yamaha XLT 1200. What a coincidence, because I was literally looking for exactly what he was trying to offload. As it turned out, we negotiated and wound up making this swap at the boat ramp which cost me $200 out of pocket! I would say that’s one helluva deal to give him my restored trailer plus $200 cash for a comparable galvanized dual-ski trailer plus a 2003 Yamaha XLT 1200 in running condition 🙂

As luck, or lack thereof, would have it, that particular trailer wouldn’t fit in our garage 🙂 Long story short (as this post isn’t about my ‘oh shit!’ moments, but more about the restoration success lol), I sold that trailer for $700 and bought a dual-ski trailer that would fit for $500, which netted me essentially a free jet ski 🙂

The first thing I did was take it to my mechanic to have it inspected to assure it was, indeed, in solid working order. As it turned out, two of the 3 cylinders were okay, but the 3rd cylinder was completely seized up. Even though only 1 cylinder was damaged, I took this opportunity to do a top-end rebuild with used parts I found on Facebook Marketplace coupled with a new set of rings. Once the top-end was done, I got her back home ready to do the restoration.

Essentially, all I did was remove all the decals and traction pads, sand it down, prime & paint, then reinstall new traction pads & graphics. I was going to go the route of the BMX-style handlebar setup; however, this particular ski has a manual trim with 2 cables, so it didn’t really lend itself well to using a BMX-style setup. It is now completely restored and ready for the water come spring! I still have to take it out to seat the rings properly, so I can’t wait for spring to do that 🙂

I have two more SeaDoo’s currently at the shop, so once those are done, I will be working on those two in tandem. Come April, my goal is to have 4 fully restored & functioning ski’s riding on two restored trailers. Certainly I will sell one set, if not all of them.. Time will tell.

Done…for now, stay tuned…

Restoration Video

Restoration Pics