QC
Supreme Mariner
- Joined
- Mar 22, 2005
- Messages
- 22,783
I am dead serious . . . Thanks to a great opportunity that I received from iboats and from US Marine (Bayliner, Maxum, Trophy & Meridian), I just spent two days in Knoxville testing some of Bayliner?s and Maxum?s latest models. I climbed over, beat up, poked at, pushed and pulled and throttle jockeyed eight different models; everything from the new Bayliner 205 to the Maxum 2900 SE with the new Mercruiser Axius system and up to a 340 Bayliner Cruiser 
Part of the fleet
I was asked to evaluate these newest boats as part of an honest effort by Bayliner/Maxum to get a more realistic point of view than the typical magazine writers can provide. You might recall that tashasdaddy tested the new Bayliner 205 a few months back and my trip was the second installment in a new program they are trying that should help them to tap into all of us that post about boats online. The people at US Marine really understand, and they want us to know that the honest opinions of Bayliner and Maxum owners (and potential future owners) matter to them in making, designing and improving their boats. They have started to see what we all know is here at iboats: a treasure trove of experience and information . . .
First test ride escorted by two US Marine Managers and Drew from iboats (making sure I wasn't Forrest Gump)
They not only wanted to show off some great new boats, but they were seriously interested in objective opinions on things they could improve. On hand were a large contingent of US Marine Management staff including their VP of Marketing, the Marketing Director for Bayliner/Maxum, Brand Managers, Product Managers, Engineers and their own test people. And I have to say that what we shared were not big items. These boats were all constructed very well, handled well and seemed tight and solid no matter what we did to ?em . . . With the exception of the Maxum 2500 SE, which I believe was underpowered and/or possibly propped wrong, the performance of these boats was outstanding. All three of the big Bayliner cruisers exceeded 45 MPH, and with a Merc 5.0 MPI the 205 ran a solid 57 MPH with three guys on board. I am reasonably certain I didn?t break anything, but I wouldn?t promise
205 Instruments at WOT
We did find some small fit and trim issues that need to be designed and/or finished better; a few poorly supported windshields when open, cutouts for sliding cabin doors that were not as tidy as they could be, and a few small hardware issues, one actually amusing one that would cause the galley faucet to turn on when a cabinet was opened . . .
Frankly, our biggest complaint was in the prepping of the boats for our evaluation. Although this is primarily a dealer responsibility, considering the task, they should?ve spent a little more time insuring the boats and features were right. Examples were things like a fairly big pile of sawdust under a bow seat cushion, a couple of stereos with issues, an AC unit on one of the big cruisers was dead, and a really tight set of throttle controls which felt like poorly routed cables. Also, the Maxum 2100 SC, was seriously under-propped and would hit the rev alarm at 5500 RPM with ease, yes they were lightly loaded, but we were there to test performance and it may have even swung four more inches of pitch. Again these are prep items and some of them components, and not to me indications of any quality issues with the boats themselves. A good dealer would catch these items well before delivery and certainly would straighten things out at the 20 hour service.
Check in on this thread for links to specific model reviews that I am posting in the Bayliner and Maxum sections. To sum this initial post up, just look at the thread title . . . I would seriously consider today?s Bayliner. The Maxums had a few more features, and some trim treatments that were nice, but I actually came away favoring the Bayliners. The all Gelcoat colors and simple trim treatments are very appealing to me, no tape, no stickers, just clean graphics, functional interiors and solidly built boats that I would be proud to own.
Part of the fleet
I was asked to evaluate these newest boats as part of an honest effort by Bayliner/Maxum to get a more realistic point of view than the typical magazine writers can provide. You might recall that tashasdaddy tested the new Bayliner 205 a few months back and my trip was the second installment in a new program they are trying that should help them to tap into all of us that post about boats online. The people at US Marine really understand, and they want us to know that the honest opinions of Bayliner and Maxum owners (and potential future owners) matter to them in making, designing and improving their boats. They have started to see what we all know is here at iboats: a treasure trove of experience and information . . .
First test ride escorted by two US Marine Managers and Drew from iboats (making sure I wasn't Forrest Gump)
They not only wanted to show off some great new boats, but they were seriously interested in objective opinions on things they could improve. On hand were a large contingent of US Marine Management staff including their VP of Marketing, the Marketing Director for Bayliner/Maxum, Brand Managers, Product Managers, Engineers and their own test people. And I have to say that what we shared were not big items. These boats were all constructed very well, handled well and seemed tight and solid no matter what we did to ?em . . . With the exception of the Maxum 2500 SE, which I believe was underpowered and/or possibly propped wrong, the performance of these boats was outstanding. All three of the big Bayliner cruisers exceeded 45 MPH, and with a Merc 5.0 MPI the 205 ran a solid 57 MPH with three guys on board. I am reasonably certain I didn?t break anything, but I wouldn?t promise
205 Instruments at WOT
We did find some small fit and trim issues that need to be designed and/or finished better; a few poorly supported windshields when open, cutouts for sliding cabin doors that were not as tidy as they could be, and a few small hardware issues, one actually amusing one that would cause the galley faucet to turn on when a cabinet was opened . . .
Cabin door trim example
Frankly, our biggest complaint was in the prepping of the boats for our evaluation. Although this is primarily a dealer responsibility, considering the task, they should?ve spent a little more time insuring the boats and features were right. Examples were things like a fairly big pile of sawdust under a bow seat cushion, a couple of stereos with issues, an AC unit on one of the big cruisers was dead, and a really tight set of throttle controls which felt like poorly routed cables. Also, the Maxum 2100 SC, was seriously under-propped and would hit the rev alarm at 5500 RPM with ease, yes they were lightly loaded, but we were there to test performance and it may have even swung four more inches of pitch. Again these are prep items and some of them components, and not to me indications of any quality issues with the boats themselves. A good dealer would catch these items well before delivery and certainly would straighten things out at the 20 hour service.
Check in on this thread for links to specific model reviews that I am posting in the Bayliner and Maxum sections. To sum this initial post up, just look at the thread title . . . I would seriously consider today?s Bayliner. The Maxums had a few more features, and some trim treatments that were nice, but I actually came away favoring the Bayliners. The all Gelcoat colors and simple trim treatments are very appealing to me, no tape, no stickers, just clean graphics, functional interiors and solidly built boats that I would be proud to own.
