My new VLX arrived today...
 

The new boat arrived today! I haven't been over to see it yet with my own eyes, but Active Water Sports sent over the following pics!

I'll go get her on Thursday, then go directly to Brian at Exile for some tower candy. :D

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p.../delivery1.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p.../delivery2.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p.../delivery3.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p.../delivery4.jpg

Time to take her clothes off! :eek:

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/T2tmvruicrw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

So sick!!!

Looking good!

nine iron - time to change profile... beautiful ride!!!

Congratulations I hope all goes well for you.

That's a sexy sight!

BOOM! Can't wait to get your updated pics. We know you don't F around!

That's a sharp boat and i like the white Boatmate trailer with black wheels!

Sweet lookin' boat!

Looking good!

Thanks for all your kind words. I'm pretty excited about this one. I should be picking her up on Friday.

Quick question for you all...

I am really debating what color speaker cans I should get for my white G3 tower. Exile offers black and chrome. I'm not a fan of the chrome. The black might look good since there are other black accents (wheels, side of boat, interior, bimini, etc.), but what do you think of white? I could have the cans powdercoated. Do you think that would look good, or lame.

I know... kind of a stupid thing to be thinking about at 11pm. Thoughts...?

Black might look good. You have a mostly black boat with a white trailer. And that looks good. A mostly white tower with black speakers could look great, too! Otherwise cover them with white shrink wrap tape, take a step back and see if you like white better. Then have the cans dipped white at that place where they do the Duck helmets....

I think black cans would look sick since you've got some black accents.

I say black cans

I think white would look great but I have read on many forums people complaining about keeping them clean while towing (bugs)...

Ridiculous. Absolutely awesome.

IXFE, love your new boat color scheme. And, NO to Chrome.

Aesthetically I really like the look of 4 9s on the tower. Here is how mine turned out: http://www.wakeworld.com/forum/showthread.php?t=793084. I think it would look pretty sweet if you painted the grilles on these glossy black and hung them on your white tower. Some decent paint with clearcoat would hold up just fine on the tower. I wouldn't worry about powder coating any of it... But that's just my $.02

Great looking boat!

Thanks everybody... I'm headed to AWS to pick her up after lunch. I've been talking to Brian at Exile and he also recommends black speaker cans to match the bimini and other black accents. But we're doing the mounting plate (aka adapter) in white to match the white tower that it sits flush with.

CDoog... your MXZ is sweet and making me with that I went 100% Exile instead of the factory in-boats/sub. Love your metal flake too.

Hopefully more pics later...

Hmmm. Maybe I will run down to Active Watersports Before lunch and let my cat run around inside of your compartments for a while????? That cat pee will smell good once the summer sun comes out........
Maiden voyage this weekend? I think I am going to play hookie on Monday with the weather forecast and try to get out. Let me know if you go out. We will probably go downtown.

Unfortunately we are slammed this weekend with baseball tournaments and dance competitions. But, I like the idea of a Monday run. I'll let you know.

And yes... I LOL'd at your little cat joke. ;->

Well... I picked her up on Friday. Would you believe it rained and hailed on my way home??

AWS was good to me... they spent the time to plastic wrap around the boat so I could drive home with the cover on w/out worrying about rub marks. It only took four grown men to get the new Evolution cover on... that shiz is thick and tight! They say it should stretch out.

Here is a pick I took just before pulling out of the AWS shop...

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...X/87f47e9b.jpg


Once underway, I immediately noticed that the boat tows much nicer than the MB did. Maybe it was the fact that the VLX weighs 400 lbs. less than the F21. Maybe it was the wide, low profile trailer tires. Certainly the brakes on both axles helped and was also noticeable (CTW trailers only have brakes on one axle). Whatever it was, I noticed it.


Here is the obligatory mirror shot...

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...X/cb930627.jpg


When I got it home, I had to hustle to get it in the garage before another dose of rain hit. My door is 8' tall, and the F21 used to fit with ease. The VLX was close, but it made it w/out having to remove racks or the tower hoop. So close that the folded racks brushed up against the rubber seal on the top of the door opening. :eek:

On the other hand, once inside the garage I could raise the G3 tower all the way up with 6" to spare. The MB tower wouldn't go all the way up so I had to hang it with rubber coated chains using those eye-bolts you see. My garage ceiling is 10'6" tall.

Here is a pic in the garage. You can see that I have to remove the platform and store it on the fridge. She barely fits in the rear... the wedge is just inches from the furnace duct on the back wall. Would you believe we also fit a Denali XL and Jeep Grand Cherokee in this garage?

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...X/4c056b90.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...X/eed210c2.jpg

Overall, I couldn't be more pleased with how this boat turned out. In person, the white/black theme is stunning, imho. Is it a white boat or a black boat? You decide... :p

More pics soon (with a real camera at a real setting). But first things first... EXILE TOMORROW!!

omg one of the sickest looking wakesetters I've seen. Congrats man

Looks awesome!

Very very nice. Love the trailer and wheels. That garage fitment sure is tight! Enjoy, I want to see more pics, especially once you get it back from Exile.

That is a sharp boat. Nice choice with the colors.

That's a hell of a nice looking WS! Congrats.

That looks absolutely fantastic. The trailer is beautiful. Consider me jealous.

Beautiful looking boat. I love the colors you picked.

Does BU offer snap in carpet?

Very nice!Also love the color.

Yes, they started offering the snap-in carpet in 2010, I think. But they still carpet the seat bases so that throws people off.

Look closely at my interior... you will notice that between the carpeted seat base and the snap in carpet there is a 1" gap.... that's the fiberglass floor peaking through. Most people choose a white floor so it's really noticeable. I chose a gray floor to make that gap less noticable.

I was super nervous about that choice, but I think it turned out nice, and it looks different than most other Bu's.

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...0VLX/photo.jpg



By contrast here's a more traditional Bu interior with a white floor...

http://farm5.staticflickr.com/4113/4...e26da615_z.jpg

Hey, GD...

One thing you and I have both mentioned about the Bu vs. MB interior is the lack of rear facing seat behind the driver. That was one of my favorite features on the MB and I always wondered why other boats didn't add that relatively easy change.

Well, I was in the new boat the other day with my wife. It was her first time to climb in and give her opinion (she generally stays pretty disconnected from my boat flipping). She's 5'8" and sat down in that rear corner with her legs stretched out forward toward the drivers seat where I was sitting... her first comment was, "This feels bigger than the MB... I could never stretch out my legs like this in this seat in our last boat." I came to the conclusion that while nice, that rear facing seat in the MB does eat up some of the seat surface potential. An adult can't stretch out there w/out bending your knees in the MB.

So it's a trade-off... where the MB gives one rear facing seat, the Bu gives you a little more room for butts or legs stretched out. Not a big deal, but worth noting since it comes up from time to time.

It might be interesting to take a tape measure to the interior of these boats. The Bu does feel a little bigger/wider inside than my F21. And the sun pad is certainly bigger. Also, the bow is noticable deeper than MB. Just some initial observations now that I have the new boat in the garage.

What is your process for removing the swim platform and how big of a PITA is that?

Woops... Looks like my free photobucket account is maxed out. Looks like its time to upgrade.

As for the platform, it's no big deal. Just pull two pins and lift the platform off the brackets. It's really no different than any other wake boat (except mc who has a cool swing down platform). It's a small price to pay to keep the boat inside our own garage.

You can do it with one person, but two is easier. The platform isn't so much heavy as it is awkward due to its size.

YUP. But, IMO, rear faced seating is fantastically more important in a "tow" boat.

upload your pics to http://premium.craigupload.com its my website, and i dont have any bandwidth limitations :)

If rear facing seating is so "fantastically important" why did you buy a boat that gives you exactly ONE incremental rear facing seat? Why not Nautique or Axis who are known for their rear facing seats?

Not trying to start a debate on this... you know how much I love the MB's interior layout, including that seat. I just never understood why rear facing seats are necessary to watch a rider? By that logic, how on earth do the rest of your passengers (the ones not sitting in that particular seat) manage to view the action? How hard is it for passengers to swivel their bodies / heads? Somehow we've always managed w/out rear facing seats... the Bu will be no different.

Is it a nice feature? Sure. You betcha. Is ONE rear facing a seat a deal breaker? Maybe for you it is. But not for me, especially recognizing that I get something in return for losing it.... 10-12" more butt space.

I will say this... My 10 year old son (age 7 in the pic below) is going to miss that spot... he "bombed" that area as his own from day 1. ;)

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...B/DBC_3580.jpg

i never realized Axis was known for their rear facing seats...

Thanks for the tip. Unfortunately, even if I could go and upload all the pics from this thread, I can't update the links in this thread due to the 10 minute edit rule.

However, I created an account for good measure and will use it going forward.

I was referring to the "chillax" seating. It allows two passengers to sit on a bench facing the rear.

http://www.ldbwakeschool.co.uk/images/axis1.jpg

My Supra 21v has this. Love it!

DBC, that is the "slide-box" seat, the "chillax" seating is in the walkthrough where the cushions fold up for a bow front-facing seat, and a cabin rear facing seat, but yes, it is nice. You can have 6 adults facing backwards... 3 next to the driver, 2 on the slide box bench (but they will not have a seat back, MC and nautique do and it is a cool feature), and one behind the driver. the driver seat is close enough to the bench end that the person behind the driver can use the driver seat as a seat back.

Back to your point, I never even thought about the leg room aspect as to why EVERY boat doesn't have the rear facing seat back behind the driver like MB and some others do, makes sense, and it is a trade off. As it is said here all the time, no perfect boat.

here is my boat with both chillax seats up, showing my front bow sack, then the other pic is a before and after shot of the rear facing chillax seat from the internet

To be clear, I was only saying that, for me, the rear facing seat behind the drivers seat is "fantastically more important" than allowing a passenger to sit forward facing behind the driver with their legs stretched out. This was my opinion toward your comparison. But, if you want me to compare it to other features, then I see rear faced seating as a nice feature towards the end of the list of wake, ballast, build, drive, tower, comfort, styling and price. I would put this in the comfort space. So, CC has some clear pros and cons there as we know. Lets get back to being excited for your new boat. It really is a sweet boat and you made some great choices.

^^^ understand now. thanks for clarifying. :)

I also have a VLX, no way i would ever want to give up that interior room for a rear facing seat.... also there are lots of time i want to swivel my drivers seat around and i feel like that would be right in the way!

I'm only posting this for clarification I'm not trying to hijack or start anything. To my knowledge its the only brand that has a seat back for every rear facing seat.

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/n...Picture081.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/n...cture082-1.jpg

http://i303.photobucket.com/albums/n...Picture084.jpg

If I owned that CC, I would enjoy that observer side flip up seat but rarely use the middle bench in a rear facing configuration since I tend to run with 4 or 5 people. With 4 on the boat and 1in the water, I only need 3 rear facing options. In 2004 or so, I suggested that flip up side seat to the west coast sales dude (holding up their lift out side seat at the pleasanton boat show). Not sure if I had an impact on the innovatiion or not but I like it. I wonder if CC patended it.

Moomba/Supra had ALL the rear facing seats on their Mobuis XLV years before Axis copied them. Not trying to start a fight, but they had the "Chilax" seat, the rear moveable seat (That also comes with the option to add on a back rest) and a flip up seat behind the driver. The area below the "chilax" seats is also closed so you can step on it, not wide open to the bags like on an Axis.

I think rear facing seats are great. No one ever complains about them, that's for sure.

Yeah I am not sure, but pretty sure Supra kind of started the double up seating. I can remember 2003 models had double up seating and I am sure they probably had it before then....

OK lets go back to the new VLX that just arrived. Funny how easy it is to get off track....

Ya, that VLX is awesome. I like everything about it. I really like the Grey Gel coat between the carpets, I think that looks great. Can't wait to hear DBC's opinion of the wake compared to his MB.

Last thoughts (hopefully) on seating differences...

This is going to be fair and balanced, I promise. I'm at work, which is a product development environment, so I have that mentality right now. We debate stuff like this all the time.

I think we can all acknowledge that rear facing seats serve a functional purpose, but any product guy knows that when you make products "transformable" or try to design for lots of different usage models instead of optimizing for one, you have to make trade offs. This is true in all product catagories. It's up to each of us as consumers to decide if the flexibility is worth the trade off.

In this case (and the pictures above prove this out), a transformable seat takes away storage and requires a "harder" more "angled" interior (as opposed to "soft" and "rounded") to accomodate all the moving pieces. Nobody should take offense to that. There's nothing wrong with that. That's just a trade-off you make if you want the versatility of a boat that offers both lounge and rear-facing seating.

On the other hand, the Malibu looks to be designed with one usage model in mind... extreme comfort. The seat bottoms are deep, the back rests are comfortably angled, and the cushions are super thick. I hardly expect any passengers will complain in my boat either. If they do, they will find themselves back on the dock 5 minutes later. :eek:

Here's an analogy from another product industry I am fond of... Digital SLR cameras. Some guys like zoom lenses while others prefer prime lenses. Zoom vs. Prime is the classic trade-off that has been debated since the first zooms arrived on the market decades ago. Zoom lenses are more flexible but give inferior picture quality and aperture. The engineers who design zoom lenses simply can't optimize the optics for every possible focal length. On the other hand, a prime lens is less flexible, but you can achieve a wider aperture and know that your optics have been optimized for the lense's focal length. Thus, picture quality is better. The trade off is you have to use your feet as your zoom (similar to wake boat passengers pivoting their butts and heads toward the back of the boat).

Trade-offs in everything, except Miller Lite which tastes great while still being less filling. :rolleyes:

Miller Lite is disgusting.

/ discussion

^^ +10

^ +10 for miller lite.....quantity not quality :)

In this economy, how can someone afford to get a new boat every year? In my opinion, it seems like the second you purchase a new boat, you are going to owe more on it than it is worth. What is the trick to always have a new boat?

Pay cash...

Or make a couple hundred K per year.

Two more factors...

Don't pay sales tax (i.e. live in Oregon)

New boat prices go up every year which keeps used boat values very strong.

As posted on Exile's FB page... here are pics from tonights 11pm sound check. :D

As you can see, I decided to stick with black cans, and couldn't be happier with the contrast.

I will be picking her up tomorrow... Thank you to Brian and his crew of pros!

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...X/e4b3713b.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...X/69438b4f.jpg

http://i124.photobucket.com/albums/p...709283a7-1.jpg

The stickers on the back are also seemingly in contrast to what otherwise is a very classy looking boat.

nice, the grey looks good and as u said it blends in nice! i was just on the malibu site building a boat.. what colour grey is your floor?

I believe it's "Light Graphite" but I'll have to check the P.O. when I get home.

k thanks