Do the 4-strokes have any “negatives” for new owners??
The high technology used in the new 4-strokes are both their best features…. and their weakest links. These overhead-cam, multi-valved, electronically-managed engines have many times the moving parts of a 2-cycle. All those extra moving parts carry added possibilities of wear and possible failure. The 4-stroke engines used in most PWCs are based on sportbike/superbike engines. These engines have a good reliability record in motorcycles where the vast “majority” of operating time is at lower cruising rpms against the very low rolling and wind resistance that a street-bike offers. However there is little data on the long term wear of these engines being operated at peak-rpm/full-load for extended amounts of time (as PWCs are routinely run) against the non-stop heavy load resistance of the hull/water contact surface area presented by a large pwc. Despite all that, the greatest likely-hood in reliability risk factor for a 4-stroke PWC is that of significant water exposure. For a long lis
