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You never know what you come across sometimes even here in the desert!
I was given a few ski's a about 18 months ago. They were abandoned at a storage facility. An immaculate JS300 & JS440, a super stock 440 & old yellow "440" with the head missing, the engine appearing to be seized & last registered in 1993.
I was about to throw the "440" out in the trash when I noticed that the last 2 digits on the HIN were "73" indicating manufacture date 1973. The the stator cover said 398cc.
I though 1974 was the first year for the standup with serious production not starting until 1976. I didn't even know they made a 400cc jet ski.
With further investigation I discovered that Kawasaki made their first run of about 530 jet ski's in 1973 comprising of 2 models. The traditional flat bottom, which all our current ski's are based on, and a few experimental V-hull design. These prototype 1973 craft were made by hand using hand laid fiberglass. From 1974 they were SMC formed.
The 1973 models were popular for racing as they were lighter than the later 1974+ models. So a lot of them got modded with addition of the the 440 motor, etc. The V-hull was very unstable so not many of them seem to exist any longer.
The ski I have is a WSAB 400 V-hull & is #114 produced! Whats more it seems to be very rare as it does not have the fuel filler cap on the front nose!
It's only real value is sentimental however I plan on restoring it.
As this is one of the very first ski's produced that started this fantastic sport that we all enjoy, I'll take it out to our spot for anyone to have a ride before placing it on display at Skiwi. Maybe we'll even see Momar on a 2 stroke one more time.
Just thought you guys might be interested in a little bit of history & a rare possession that Las Vegas has been hiding away for the last 20 years.
I was given a few ski's a about 18 months ago. They were abandoned at a storage facility. An immaculate JS300 & JS440, a super stock 440 & old yellow "440" with the head missing, the engine appearing to be seized & last registered in 1993.
I was about to throw the "440" out in the trash when I noticed that the last 2 digits on the HIN were "73" indicating manufacture date 1973. The the stator cover said 398cc.
I though 1974 was the first year for the standup with serious production not starting until 1976. I didn't even know they made a 400cc jet ski.
With further investigation I discovered that Kawasaki made their first run of about 530 jet ski's in 1973 comprising of 2 models. The traditional flat bottom, which all our current ski's are based on, and a few experimental V-hull design. These prototype 1973 craft were made by hand using hand laid fiberglass. From 1974 they were SMC formed.
The 1973 models were popular for racing as they were lighter than the later 1974+ models. So a lot of them got modded with addition of the the 440 motor, etc. The V-hull was very unstable so not many of them seem to exist any longer.
The ski I have is a WSAB 400 V-hull & is #114 produced! Whats more it seems to be very rare as it does not have the fuel filler cap on the front nose!
It's only real value is sentimental however I plan on restoring it.
As this is one of the very first ski's produced that started this fantastic sport that we all enjoy, I'll take it out to our spot for anyone to have a ride before placing it on display at Skiwi. Maybe we'll even see Momar on a 2 stroke one more time.
Just thought you guys might be interested in a little bit of history & a rare possession that Las Vegas has been hiding away for the last 20 years.
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