1998 Tigershark TS770??

[fishdog4449]

I have the opportunity to buy a 1998 Tigershark TS770 for 300$. Now, I know everyone says stay away from Tigers, but hear me out. I have been looking for a older, cheaper sit-on to work on this spring and hopefully enjoy this summer. Now, the hull, electronics, and engine are in great, running shape. However, the engine needs to be put back in the ski and reconnected to impeller or impeller shaft. The manual is included, and I have experience working on outboards, boats, and cars. Basically what I am wondering is, how hard would it be to stick the engine back in this thing should I decide to buy it? Will I have to retime/sync the engine and is the ignition system very complicated? Also, will the manual include information on stuff like connecting driveshafts, impellers, etc?
Wow, lotta questions but thanks guys!

Specs:
Length 111" (282cm)
Width 43.5" (110cm)
Height 36.5" (93cm)
Weight 410 Lbs. (186kg)
Cylinders 2
Displacement 768cc
Bore/Stroke 83mm/71mm
Horsepower 80
Carburetor 1-BN38mm
Pump Type Jumbo Jet w/molded intake
Pump Stator Material Die-Cast Aluminum
Impeller Material Stainless Steel
Fuel/Oil Capacity 12 Gal/5 Qt. (45.4 L/4.7 L)
Gauges Speedometer, Fuel, Overheat Light, Low Oil Light
Hull Material AME 5000 Fiberglass
Mirrors Standard

 

[DC20]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

Had a Lemon Shark, the quality is not there and if it needs a crank you will be sorry. Look for an older Kawi or Yami that's in your price range.

 

[DJ]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

We had a TS of that vintage for a while. It was always reliable and not ridden hard so it was OK, for us. We maintained it religiously.

Along with the TS, we had a Yam. (760) and a Sea Doo (800), as I recall the model numbers.

The Yam. was, by far, the most unreliable PWC we've ever owned. Not to mention that it "porpoised" miserably.

The Sea Doo was flawless, by measure.

The TS was fun to ride but slow, by comparison to the other two. I liked it! It had a kind of "funky" exhaust note that I found nice.

As a matter of fact, the Yam. and Sea Doo were stolen one night. We found the Yam. 100 yards away because it failed to start. We found the Sea Doo two weeks later (upside down and empty of fuel). We brought the Sea Doo home, cleaned it up and it fired right up. That was one tough PWC.

That's just my experience.

 

[tmh]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

I have a TS 770L 3-seater. Goes close to 50 mph and very fun for a 3-seater. Ours has been reliable for the 4 years I've owned it. It's rode very rough and hard for a week straight (family vacation) then only a few other times per season.

I wish I could give you info on the engine issue, but I kow nothing about that. it's very hard to get into the engine compartments (cramped) but I assume that is the case with most PWCs.

Parts are still available so don't worry about that. I've ordered some from this site. http://www.brownsleisureworld.com also eBay.

For $300 you could easily make your money back with a profit if you give up and part it out! go for it.

 

[fishdog4449]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

Wow thats for all the advice!
I think I'm gonna go ahead and get it and part it out if i can't repair it. The engine only had about 10 hours on it before it was disassembled. So If all the parts are there, it should run. The hull is in great shape as well.
TMH, the speedo on it does go up to 55 or so, hope your right!

 

[fishdog4449]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

Will I need new rings because the pistons were taken out of the sleeve, or will I be able to re-use the old ones??

 

[fishdog4449]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

here is a pic of the ski in question

 

[watermellonI]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

Yes put the new rings in it, it wouldn t make sense to get it all together and running only to find you should have

I have a ts 770 3 seater and it does well, but I keep up on the maint.
and mine runs about 50 too

Thought that was a little slow till I lost at about half throttle one year, When I came to my senses and swam back to the ski I figured that s quick enough!

 

[fishdog4449]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

Ok, I will do that. I hopefully will be picking it up either this weekend or next week, and I will post when I start working on it.

 

[watermellonI]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

I m not sure how much experience you ve had on a ski, but you may want to keep in mind a lot of bad rude jet skiers have earned just about everyone on a ski a bad name, I fish, boat and ski, jet ski. I have had bad experiences with nutcases on jetskis myself (while fishing)
When I m on my ski I dont bother people and do my "tricks" (use that term loosely) off by myself somewhere. I just want you to keep in mind a lot of boaters just don t like people on skis.

 

[Mike H]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

Looks like mine

 

[fishdog4449]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

I m not sure how much experience you ve had on a ski, but you may want to keep in mind a lot of bad rude jet skiers have earned just about everyone on a ski a bad name, I fish, boat and ski, jet ski. I have had bad experiences with nutcases on jetskis myself (while fishing)
When I m on my ski I dont bother people and do my "tricks" (use that term loosely) off by myself somewhere. I just want you to keep in mind a lot of boaters just don t like people on skis.

I hear ya there they can be very obnoxious and rude, especially the kids riding daddys new 70MPH jetski without any clue about boating! We call them "jet fleas". But yes I do observe proper boating etiquette while on waverunners / jetskis etc. I usually use the waverunner just to go to friends houses down the river or just cruise around; aside from the occasional 180, I'm not a trickster on a ski.

 

[fishdog4449]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

Looks like mine

Exactly like it! How does yours run for you what kinda top speed ya get?

 

[Mike H]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

Some whare around 50 to 60 But you want to keep it down
to around 30 to40 just a nice cruseing speed
You dont want to beat it up When you do thing
WILL START TO GO WRONG !!!!!!!!!!! Trust me on this

And one thing more it only a ONE seater not 2

Mike

 

[fishdog4449]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

I've kept my speed WAY down because of all the accidents I've heard of involving high speed PWCs. My friend split his skull open and almost died after losing control of a Seadoo and hitting the water @ 60 mph. I also am going to baby it b/c parts are expensive and I want bearings and rings and etc to last as long as possible.

 

[stratos201s]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

I'll give you $75 for the speedo and tach and necessary hardware. My number is 843 934 9825 name is joey. I'll also pay shipping of course. Also do you have pics of them? How close are you to sc? I actually need a hull.....mine don't have a title but everything works well and it's clean.

thanks in advance

 

[stratos201s]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

are you in va? I loved in chesapeake for a few years. Originally from sw va. I'm currently in navy in charleston, sc. Are you interested in selling the hull. I need the title basically. haha I would even trade you one without the title so you could still part it out.......My shark is up and good to go so I need a title or find someone who wants one without title that knows where to get one.....if you're interested it is for sale if you don't want to part with your hull. My email is green76vett@hotmail.com or my cell 843 934 9825 thanks

 

[ts770owner]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

Does anyone know where I can find a service manual for a 1999 Tigershark 770L (3 seater, 85horsepower) watercraft? I've inherited two of them and they've been used 1 time per year so they are in excellent condition. I'm just getting ready to replace the battery and fire them up, but want to have a service manual handy if/when I need to make any repairs.

 

[burnrubber]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

I have the same tiger shark as you , had it for 3 years now , it is a "loner ski " i let my friends that dont own a ski use it when we do lake trips.
It has always started up instantly - ran perfect - super reliable !!! seems to be almost indestructable with amature friends of mine driving all over the lake .

However , it has a bouncy ride in any type of light chop , has a constant battle with "PORPOSING" and when a 200 LB Plus man like me gets on it , it seems to be more under water than above water untill you get some speed up .
Yes it was in expensive and good for loaning out to friends , but it has a very small hull and is not user friendly for the most part in my opinion.

A very small person could ride tight circles around another skier with this super manuverable little corvette of a ski , but all in all its not very comfortable under normal lake conditions.

If it is glass smooth out , yeh , its very fun , but that isnt normally the case .

Look for a larger hull if you want to really enjoy your self under typical water conditions.

 

[7glastron7]

Re: 1998 Tigershark TS770??

i say dont get it, my family purchased one it worked out fine, (different model though 1998) once it we had it for a year it stopped working, brought into a shop a few times spending over 3k, and they never solved the problem, my uncle worked on it and its almost done i thing the thing is compeletly rebuilt now and i still dont trust it last time i drove when my uncle said it was "fixed" it stopped gave up on me, then started to smoke on me... look for an older honda those are fun. or a seadoo