SpartanSki

Has anyone replaced the fuel pressure regulator on a 03 Monsoon 335? I'm in the process of redoing a good portion of the fuel system on my 2003 sportster (tank is out, replacing filter and fuel lines) and I've seen mention of the fuel pressure regulator causing the loss of power issue I'm having. I was just going to pull it off and clean it out or at least inspect it, but it's tucked under the metal engine cover and pretty inaccessible. The 6 bolts on top of the cover didn't help to remove it, do I have to disassemble the entire throttle body as well to get it off?

I'll add myself as another datapoint to this experiment. @jhughes‌ I'm about where you're at, 15off fairly consistent, 22 less consistent, 28 I don't get a whole lot of shots at it. This morning I decided to forget the first two loops and go straight to 28 @ 30 for the first set, 28 @ 28 for the second. The first thing I noticed was a rushed gate, I was over turning and biting off more than I could chew and ended up giving a lot of angle back. Second thing was that with the abrupt finish to the turn compared 15/22 I was getting folded up and losing my stack. Third, if I didn't hold on through the wakes I wouldn't cast outbound enough to break free of the boat, I think that was my ah ha moment. I think this is a pretty good experiment, 28 sure highlighted my flaws quickly and there was no muscling out an ugly pass. But when I got it right it rewarded me with probably the best 2-3 I've ever had. Bottom line this showed me a lot and very quickly, but more so it removed a lot of the frustration and was a hell of a lot of fun.

I only skied my first tournament last year, and really enjoyed it. I'm planning to get more involved and hit up more tournaments this year. Having more experience at the tournament scene will probably help my decision and decide if I want to trade lake life for tournament life. @Icarnes, we've been looking in the Raleigh, Durham area, and the site in mention is in Smithfield.

My wife and I have been toying with notion of moving south to get away from the Michigan winters. We've been looking at several states but have landed on NC as a good compromise for location, weather, jobs, and family. While the big mitt has rough winters, it does have tons of lakes making lake front living pretty affordable to a middle America family. In my search for lake front in NC, I stumbled across a great house on a wooded lot and to my surprise it was on a tournament site, and I wasn't even actively looking for tournament sites. So my first thought was to jump in head first. But my wife is hesitant brought up a lot of valid points. I grew up on big lakes, and while my current one is a great blend of big lake life with small ski site, it's still a 3 lake chain of more than 400 acres. So while we'll have that perfect course on this new tournament site, we lose out on the overall lake life aspect. Now I don't suspect anyone is going to say they regret moving on to a tournament site, but are there things you notice/miss/didn't anticipate coming from a big lake? I use my lake for a lot more than just slalom, and our course is tucked in a corner that has all cat tails on one side and shallow sandy shoreline on the other, conditions are about as good as you can get, except the tourny course obviously. Weekends are out for skiing (too crowded and the course has to be down, big +1 for the tournament site) but that is when then pontoon comes out with music playing and coolers are stocked full of beer. I also have little ones (which I would like to get into tournament skiing eventually), so how well does it work out for them? So what are the ins and outs, ups and downs to living on a tournament site?

Yup, considering I skied my first tournament this past weekend. I'm just a 15offer, so following some good advice I got on here I slowed the boat down to 30 for my opener. I never miss 30 in practice...I almost did game time but I eeked it out. Did I run my practice PB? Nope, but that follow up full pass at 32 still felt pretty awesome, even if I overturned and slacked out on the gates on my 34 attempt...whoops. While I have "run" 15@34 in practice, that full pass at 32 felt somehow a little sweeter.

Thanks Shane, I guess I'm just getting hung up on some advice to "drive through the wakes", whether that was an actual motion of pushing the ski out in front through the wakes or is he just telling me to not be a wuss and back off my edge. Getting some lessons at the end of the month and wanted to work on fundamentals beforehand, so we can concentrate on more specifics of the course.

I'm a 15off hack, can run it pretty consistently at 32mph, sometimes at 34 and have dabbled at 22 at 32mph. While I think I can muscle out some ugly runs, I need to fix some serious deficiencies if I ever want to the short loops. I'll get some video up eventually (if I dare show how bad things really are). But I still have a problem with a defensive posture on my offside, front leg locked, rear bent, bent forward at the waist, etc etc. I know I need to be stacked better, that I'm working on. My question is regarding ankles, knees hips shoulders alignment and the transition after the second wake. At this point, is Seth just relaxing his pull on the line or is he actually pushing the ski out in front of him? Or is that something I need to even be concerned with? I guess my question is, should I just be in a locked strong but static position through the wakes, or am I physically trying to push the ski forward through the wakes? Hope this makes sense.

@richarddoane, my son's not old enough for Kilo Kai yet, so that might not work. @ToddF, I actually have a print of that framed above my bar, Bill does amazing work.

Does anyone have a good overhead shot of someone running a course? My 4yo son wants a ski themed cake for his birthday party and I don't have a good photo to give the baker as a reference. It would be easy enough to sketch something but if someone has a pic like this but bigger, that would be awesome.

@killer - It's EFI, 330 monsoon - we only run premium and no sunoco ethanol mixture crap, a week old maybe? And yes it rarely has more than 10 gallons of gas in it. - Changed the fuel filter 2 weeks ago. The one at the stern under the vent grill, is there another one? - Haven't checked pressure on the pump, that is a good idea, can you rent pressure testers for that? If there is a screen on the pickup hose inside the tank then draining through the fill side is the only viable option for removing debris right (without removing it)? And still no guarantee that I got it all. Has anybody used an inspection camera for something like this?

@Jody_Seal thanks but ouch, I was afraid someone was going to say that. Rumor is, removal of the Sporty's tank is an awful endeavor.

I have a 2003 Malibu Sportster and every so often it bogs and loses power. Pull to neutral, then go and it's fine. I had an earlier issue where it would bog on the start so I cleaned out the intake screen on the fuel pump and that went away. But this started the other day which leads me to believe I have something in the tank, it gets pulled up to the pump causing the boat to starve, pull to neutral to relieve suction and it drops whatever is in there (at least that's my theory). So the question is, do I have to remove the tank, or can I pump it out using some type of external pump, a drill pump for example?

I'd love to but this work thing gets in the way. What times are available?

Thanks guys, I'll give it a try. Ed, what is your preferred method to tension? We put up the entire course where we want it and throw the end anchor. Then we have a second rope that attaches to the end anchor and we drag a short way until tight.

I lost one of my river anchors for my EZ slalom course during a recent move (how I lost a giant chunk of metal, I don't know). Has anyone used a blade style anchor for the first anchor? Since we're dropping it and tensioning the course, can a standard blade anchor be used, and as the course is pulled tight won't it "set"? Or am I better off dumping down some more weight. It is a silt bottom if that helps. Thanks Blain

@Roger, same here. .Net developer, went from giant companies, to smaller ones, back to big one, miss the days of flip flops and liquor in my cube. Quite a few baller pilots. Any of you CFI that want to ride right seat while I practice landing?

@colo_skier, sent.

I sent you a private message @Wolfeie since I'm not sure what the rules are on posting links to online shops. They do have size 12's in stock on their site.

Wow, that was a quick reply thanks John.

Is there a difference between the front and back strada bindings? I know the plate is different, but is the boot itself different? There is a shop online blowing out 2011's for 100 bucks, and they only have "fronts" in my size. But since I plan on using the sequence plate that shouldn't matter right?

I have a 2011 Senate that can be had for 200...plus shipping. So yeah, 250 is a good deal.

So a friend has a 2013 A3 he is willing to sell to me for dirt cheap (relatively speaking) before it goes on ski-it-again. However, I won't have a chance to ski it until the spring (couple feet of ice in the way). So the question is, as someone who is just getting into 22off at 32-34mph, is it too much ski for me? The size seems about right, I think I'd be a 67 if I were skiing 36 and this is a 68, I figured the longer length would help if I slowed down for practice. But I also run the risk of being "hey look at that guy that just missed 15off on an A3"... My original plan was a Senate C but this might be too good of a deal to pass up. Thoughts?

First of all, I can't believe it is the end of the season, and why did Michigan get so cold so fast? I just got lessons last week and I need to practice dang it! Second, @rpg, where abouts are you? I'm in Clarkston and have one if you are near by. Then again, if you were near by I'm pretty sure Skier's Pier will rent/loan them.

Ski adjustment/measurement stuff. How do I measure my binding placement. How do I measure my fin, etc etc. I'd love to post the answer but I don't know...

...Hmm, maybe I'm in the wrong sport.