Jet Ski

Jet Ski is the brand name of a personal watercraft (PWC)[1] manufactured by Kawasaki,[2] a Japanese company.

Released in 1972, the stand-up Kawasaki Jet Ski was the first commercially successful personal watercraft in America (after reaching a license agreement with the inventor of the Sea-Doo, Clayton Jacobson II when his license agreement with Bombardier expired).

[2] The Kawasaki Jet Ski was the only commercially successful PWC for almost 16 years, from the introduction of the WSAA in October 1972 through the reintroduction of the sit-down, runabout-style Bombardier Sea-Doo in 1988.

The design concept distinctive of these original craft included a fully enclosed impeller for safety, self-righting, and self-circling features.

Without a lanyard the self-circling allowed the rider to swim back to the idling craft after falling off.

It featured a higher capacity axial flow pump and a powerful 635cc two-stroke twin engine in a modified V-hull design for increased maneuverability and stability.

Kawasaki introduced the SX-R 800 (JS800A), which increased displacement to 781cc, in the form of an in-line twin 2-stroke engine, generating 80hp.

[8] Due to US EPA restrictions, Kawasaki released their final two-stroke stand-up, and discontinued the JS800 SX-R.

It was 8 feet 9 inches (2.67 m), 550+ pounds (250 kg), powered by a 160 horsepower (120 kW) inline 4-cylinder four-stroke engine.

[10] Kawasaki produced various models of the Jet Ski starting in 1972, beginning with the JS400 and leading up to the current JS1500.