eleeski

Wileys makes the best rubber bindings. Rubber bindings give excellent support. But rubber bindings cramp your feet if they are tight enough to perform well. For tricks, you need to be taking long sets to learn. A sloppy rubber boot might give you the time on the water but you will suffer from the lack of support. Hardshells give reasonable comfort and great performance. Get a hardshell! If you really don't want the cost and maintenance of a hardshell, consider a lace up boot. The Radar Vector gives good support and is quite comfortable. Personally, I don't like to release so I can run the Vector laces tight. I also add some foam shims over the heel to customize it for my skinny ankles. Wileys are also very heavy. This matters in tricks. There are reasons most trickers aren't on rubber boots. Abandon the Wileys on your trick ski to help your learning. Eric

Stan used to be an excellent slalom skier as well. With good hips, can his slalom come back as well? Mine was the rear leg. Any front leg hip replacements out there? Eric

Trick with Stan in Marysville. I'll collect on the NZ exchange. Eric

The new 200 is obsolete for tournament pulls - but you still will see them at Class C tournaments. The new boat advantage for pure slalom in the course is minimal. ZO is critical - even for casual skiing - but available on both boats. The new boat is a noticeably better trick or wakeboard wake. Worth the money there. Either boat is ridiculously expensive. How important is the extra price? Either way you are getting a toy, not an investment. Which will give you more pleasure? Will the extra money cause a hardship? (Don't touch it if will!) Which fits your skiing uses (do your kids wakeboard?)? Not worth the money if money's tight. Absolutely worth it if the money won't make a difference in the rest of your life. Not sure even a new 200 is worth it if money's tight compared to a Gekko or a sweet used boat (MC 197 with ZO). Enjoy the new boat - whichever you choose. Eric

The trick to a good dock start is to hit it early. But only go about 8 mph. Once the skier hits the water transition to normal acceleration up to speed. Trying to time the start to just the right amount of slack is too critical. Just get the boat going slowly and it's easy for the skier to time the jump. One footed slalom starts are straightforward this way. Two footed jump offs are trickier and you are likely to get quite wet but still doable. WO starts on a trick ski work great using this technique - even with inexperienced drivers. Eric

@BraceMaker I drove a tractor with a seat pressure switch. It was horrible. Simpler solution there, wear a seatbelt on your tractor. Safety equipment has to make sense. Not sure what Indiana girl you are referring to. Since I've NEVER seen anyone actually use the kill switch lanyard while skiing in a ski boat, I haven't heard of a save from a lanyard while skiing. It's possible to operate a ski boat in conditions where the lanyard/kill switch would be needed (keep it in your boat!) but I'm not going skiing in those conditions. Picking up a released trick rope with a lanyard on my wrist is ridiculous (and unsafe). Especially when I'm doing it 15 times in a set if we are working on something critical. Again, one size fits all rules do not work. Sorry for the thread drift. Clean your battery terminals and check your kill switch. You might also check the ignition key - I had one fail in my old 04MC. Jumper directly to the starter solenoid to make sure your starter is good. Eric

@Than_Bogan had an interesting comment about asteroid impact risk. Getting thrown from a ski boat and being saved by the kill switch is probably less likely than being extincted by an asteroid. And there are a lot more ways to get sued out of everything than disconnecting your kill switch. To be sure, kill switches have their place. PWCs, whitewater river boats, stand up consoles and boats facing extreme water conditions need reliable kill switches and deployed lanyards. But one size fits all rules make for problems (like ski boat kill switches that prevent starting when they fail). @BraceMaker is right, replace your kill switch immediately when it fails. I've seen too many taped together splices which work well for the day but fail a while later. The stock kill switches are well engineered parts that have reasonable lifespans and should be far more reliable than the weekend splice. Make sure you do a quality repair - so the engine runs reliably when you need it. Eric

Darn, didn't qualify.

I haven't started to look at the MC harness but the new harness kit that came with the American Skier had a confusing amount of plugs. Still, the adapter harness for the single puck was designed to for unplugging the triangle plug to the ecm, plugging the adapter harness in both male and female sides as a jumper and doing the same with the power rectangular plug. I clearly see the female triangle plug from the adapter harness open and a male triangle plug open from the boat harness (although I can't see the wire colors on the boat plug to make sure they match). I also see a male power plug open on the adapter harness. It's possible that your ecm is not getting connection and your puck is not getting power. Explains the symptoms. But your wiring harness could be different. Note that it's very confusing. Splices are hidden in the wiring harness. Some plugs are redundant or for occasional maintenance use. That's why I made a simplified harness for the American Skier (which has no plug to upgrade - so much for that idea). I haven't looked at my MC yet to try to figure out it's hookup ( @Xpropman it will be a while before I get a chance to look at it - in the meantime, I'll just use the spare old style puck). Note that the triangle plug really has only two wires used, the blue/red and the blue/white and the rectangular power plug has only three wires used, the red, black and pink. The white/red and white/black wires were dummies on my harness. Good luck and keep us posted on your progress. Eric

@Not_The_Pug. OK, I'll send it to you so long as I get to use that fancy boat you have while you are dealing with mine. @bojans The plugs for the original double pucks will be empty with the new retrofit harness and puck. But in the bottom picture, it looks like you have some plugs unplugged. The adapter harness is a jumper for the twisted blue wires and the power feed. They all need to be connected. So you didn't have signal or power to the new puck and the programming failed? Try again with all the plugs connected. Not that I can figure out ZO. But I did wire up the American Skier ZO with a homemade harness that eventually worked. I'm getting less enamored with the idea of Rev S seeing your issues. Eric

@Jboss Don't stress over the Pandas - @Horton gives out infinite numbers of those. The issue is important. Those of us who have had noise problems in the past can share what we struggled with - which might be relevant to you. If your lake is 4 miles in on a dirt road past the airport (like my current site) rock whatever pipes you want. Please replace with stock mufflers (or better) if you ski a course in the morning in front of the lakeside homes. Eric

@Xpropman If I have the cable adapter and the antenna, do I need to bring the whole boat in to get it programmed or will just the head work? Is there a difference between my 2011 Indmar in the MC and the 2010 200 motor in the American Skier or will both heads get the same reprogram? I think the American Skier is Rev S but now I'm not sure (it is the single puck). Was that an option to have a single puck with Rev R? It doesn't have a six pin connector. The MC does have a six pin plug under the dash (but it is a Deutsch grey 6 pin connector). Is that where I would reprogram? Or should I just replace the failing puck and enjoy Rev R? On a side note, what was MC thinking? Twelve screws holding the instrument panel in place. Only two unscrewed from the front. Had to drill out the other ten! Inaccessible Nylock wingnuts holding the screws for the panel. Crazy! The panel now unscrews from the front - like it should have originally. Eric

Can I (you) just remove the ZO head and take it somewhere for reprogramming? I have a failing puck so it's time to upgrade making this thread pretty relevant. Eric

My buddy's Tesla has more "grunt" than any car I've ridden in. A surprising amount of road, gear and engine noise but no exhaust noise to generate lots of acceleration Gs. My mom's Cmax hybrid needs some background noise to know it's on and ready to go. A purring kitten? Not a Harley's worth! Watch the South Park episode on Harley riders. Eric

Engine noise is a particular irritant to some people. It can trigger a noise complaint. Ski boats generate a fair amount of noise unrelated to the engine. So the authorities will measure significant decibels from the quietest boats and restrict water use. It happened to one of our sites. For the sake of our sport's tenuous access to water, don't poke the bear by modifying a stock quiet boat. Eric

The O2 sensors have failed on our 08MC after storage causing a similar limp mode. But I'm not sure your 05 has O2 sensors. Fuel filter issues are also common. Get a dealer to read the codes. Eric

Check everything. But that is a common failure mode for my cables. Some strands in the cable break or corrode and jam into the cable sheathing. It can turn so I can safely get home. I've actually cycled it enough with some oil to get it loose enough to finish a couple sets. But a new cable is an immediate need. They aren't that expensive. I have a spare in my boathouse. Remember to use a rope tied to the old cable to pull the new one back through. Pain in the a$$ job but doable. Eric

Or just spend $60 on gas and a magic marker for a placement trial and mark the setting that gets you a PB! Eric

First, you are moving your binding to "factory" settings from your current settings? Same ski? One you like? Make sure you mark your current settings (with a marker or scribe line) so you can come back to your baseline. The variations between rubber boots and hardshells are significant as to where the ankle bone is placed ( @lpskier correctly noted that it is ankle bone placement that matters - but that is a very difficult measurement to perform accurately). Furthermore, the characteristics of rubber vs hardshells will change the optimal placement. Finally, personal preferences call for wide variations in placement. So stressing over 1/8 in your situation is not productive. Use the measurement technique that is easiest and most repeatable. Ski it and note how it feels. Move it and ski it again. Don't be afraid of big movements (1 inch or 3 cm) - actually try some rides with that much variation. If nothing else, analyzing binding placement will give you a much better feel for the ski. Far more valuable than a set it and forget it approach to a vaguely specified measurement. Perfect early season skill building. If you find new settings that you like, mark them accurately! Eric

@whitecaps gypsum would make my clay lined lake that is mostly above grade leak more. Lakes below the water table or with lots of flow through won't be hurt at all. Gypsum increases crop yield so I'm a bit puzzled as to how it works to keep growth down. But every lake is unique so whatever works. Eric

It's not critical regardless. Some skis have fin slots that go all the way back. There's no load there. That is a MINOR cosmetic blemish. Who looks at their skis that closely? The screen on my phone has more defects. Just ski it and enjoy it. On second thought, the ski is shot. Send it to me for proper disposal. Eric

One use for gypsum is to increase percolation in cropland. Be careful using gypsum in your lake if you are water limited. Eric

@jhughes Where'd you find the old motor? Was it a perfect match? How much? Run well now? Does it have an e-controls computer so it could work with ZO? Looks like a fun project. Eric

@akale15 You could buy my lake project in Mecca. Lots of building happening in the Coachella Valley / Palm Springs area so you will find work reasonably close. You will cook in the summer's brutal heat. Barstow is hotter than .... in summer, cold in winter and windy the rest of the time. Rough remote place to live. Bakersfield, well people in Fresno acknowledge that they live in the armpit of California. At least they are better off than Bakersfield. So you can figure out what anatomical part Bakersfield is. Given California home prices, people do live in Barstow or Bakersfield and have horrendous drives to work. Might as well enjoy skiing in that situation. Eric

Lift increases leverage. Stiffer boots increase leverage. Narrow skis increase leverage. Icy snow needs strong edging. So we sharpen our edges to race in stiff boots on narrow skis with binding lift. For bumps and powder, you see softer boots, fatter skis and no lifts. Water is quite soft. We have beveled round edges, skis that ride deep, wide skis and some rubber bindings. Excess leverage is not useful for waterskiing. I have experimented with lifts on a slalom ski. It's a subtle effect but not particularly good. Going super flat also wasn't magic. Molded Intuition liners with orthotics gave ankle and foot stability - which translates to better performance. A rear boot/toe should be at the level of the front door. Not for leverage or getting closer to the water but just for balance. Obviously, different length legs or foot/ankle issues might call for lifts or wedges. Lifts aren't that helpful. Non skid gives good feel and grip - which might be more important than any geometry advantage or disadvantage. Of course, a 1 meter lift makes the course narrower - if you have the skills to control the ski. Eric