Reviews for the Kawasaki STX 12F Jet Ski?

Question

I am thinking about buying one and it you own one, I would like to hear about how it performs, the problems you've faced, and others.

Answer 1

My neighbor has one that he bought new for an out-the-door price of under $9k in 2005, and he loves his.  Currently he has  about 110 hours on it with no problems.  I've ridden it a few times and have been impressed enough to consider buying one of my own. It's quiet, handles well, and has a true top speed of 55 mph based on GPS readings. Gas consumption is pretty good, at cruising speeds of 30-35 mph it gets about 11 mile to the gallon, which drops to about 7.5 - 8 miles to the gallon when ridden hard at wide open throttle.  It can pull a wakeboard with no problem, and handles choppy water pretty well, but has a little bit of a rough ride when jumping waves. About the only gripe I have is the reverse is typical of Japanese manufactures, they mount them on the right side, so when docking or maneuvering the ski back on the trailer, you'll have to let go of the throttle to engage reverse.  Kawasaki does have a sort of "off power"" steering system which compensates for having to let go of the throttle when you do this, which is helpful to those who aren't use right side reverse location.  Overall I think it's a good craft that's competitive with the other low priced four strokes ( the yamaha VX110, the SeaDoo GTI )