Jet Ski
Jet-Ski is the brand name of personal watercraft
manufactured by Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Ltd.. The name, however,
has become a trademark for any type of personal watercraft.
Jet ski can also specifically
refer to versions of PWCs with pivoting handle poles known as "stand-ups".
Kawasaki was responsible for a limited production of stand-up models
as designed by the recognized inventor of jet skis, Clayton Jacobsen
II.
In 1976, Kawasaki then began mass production
of the JS400-A. JS400s Jet ski came with 400 cc two-stroke engines and
hulls based upon the previous limited release models. It became the
harbinger of the success Jet-Skis would see in the market up through
the 1990s. In 1986 Kawasaki broadened the world of Jet Skis by introducing
a two person model with lean-in "sport" style handling and a 650cc engine,
dubbed the X-2.
Then in 1989, they introduced
their first two passenger "sit-down" model, the Tandem Sport (TS) with
a step-through seating area. In 2003, Kawasaki celebrated the Jet Ski
brand by releasing a special 30th anniversary edition of its current
stand-up model, the SX-R, which has seen a revival of interest in stand-up
jet skiing. The X-2 has also been updated, based on the SX-R platform
and re-released in Japan.
Kawasaki continues to produce
three Jet ski models of sit-downs, including many four-stroke models.
The four stroke engines have come on since the late 1990s; with the
help of superchargers and the like the engines can output up to 250
horsepower as seen in the newly released Kawasaki ultra 250x Jet ski
. Since jet skiing has evolved through the 90s other companies like
Yamaha, Bombardier and Polaris have joined the sport to make it into
a worldwide sport in both racing and freestyle.
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