So what do you guys think of the new MB B52's?????

Here we go again. I have an appointment today at 4:30p.m. to go demo a MB B52. Does anyone have any experiences with this boat? Any info. you might have would be great. Thanks....

http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/150400.html?1082586970

Here's a little bit of info...

Thanks for that.....

What I'm really looking for is how is the wake? How would it compare to a Wake Setter? You know the juicy stuff.

I have rode in a couple 04 B52s and think it is great. What you need to do is see for your self and be the judge but I think you will be impressed with the size and quality of the wake.

I agree with Tom. I rode behind and drove one this past Sunday. I certainly liked it, but you should really see for yourself and find out if it suits your needs.

Good Luck!

Like I said I'll find out today at 4:30 p.m. But I thought I would see what all the wonderful wakeworlders thought first.

Well, if you're looking for some opinion, I'll give my two cents-
The shape of the wake is much improved over the '03 with the removal of the spray pockets. The 2speed tranny is also improved, still a slight jolt, but nothing like before. Fit and finish is excellent. Very solid through double ups, and I'm sure as solid in rough water, but I wouldn't know. Huge V-drive storage compartments. Some people may want to add extra weight, but that's just personal preferance. Handles like most other V-drives.

All that is just my opinion, FWIW.

Later

i dont know anything about them. but they are the sickest looking

We really like our 04 V3.

wow. that boat is sick. 60K though. DAAAMN}}

Shawn,

How did the demo go?

Well we demo'd the boat on Tues. The boat was very nice, great quality, well built, great features and options. But even with the ballast completely full (all 2,100lbs), the wake was pretty small. Although it did provide decent pop, its definitely not a world class wake. And when the only reason we are considering to upgrade is for the sole purpose of building a bigger wake. So looks like VLX here we come!

i was lucky enough to get to ride behind one last summer...those b-52's ares the sickest boats...

Shawn, there are big storage tanks in the back for a reason. Aren't you supposed to add more weight there?

Sean, The whole point of demoing (spelling?) this boat was to compare it to a VLX. And yeah I do realize that you can add more weight, but its my uncle who is actually buying the boat. The whole reason behind getting a new boat is that he is sick of dealing with sacks all the time. Not to say we won't load the heck out of it. But when the whole family and everyone is with us we still want a good sized wake with out the sacks. And the truth of the matter is that if you load a VLX with stock ballast and the B52 with stock ballast, the VLX is a much bigger cleaner wake. That is what we are looking for.

Well sounds like you already made a good decision because you like the VLX.

Shawn, you need to make sure that Fred rides behind an LSV. Pat says tanks full and wedge down, it's one of the biggest, cleanest wakes he has ever ridden. You guys need to make a trip up to Paso.

When I was at the LA boat show Cobe said that He got 4000lbs in there and still got up to a speed of 24 mph, this is because of the 2-speed tranny. He also said that the fuel consumption that you will save is around 30%. That will save a lot of money with the way gas prices are right now. If you can wait until the boat show season comes around again, you will save no less than 10,000 on the price of the boat.

Shawn wrote - "the wake was pretty small" WOW - not sure what you didn't see that we do but "pretty small" may not be completly accurate ?
Shawn wrote - "it's definately not a world class wake" Well you must be a world class rider/driver with world class experience to state that so clearly, I am not so I won't comment about that but we do enjoy the "decent pop" it makes.

Actually, Shawn's ridden behind the best boats on the market tournament weighted, so I'd kind of trust his opinion on wake size and shape. Although Shawn, you didn't sack the crap out of it, which you probably will have to with a VLX/LSV also.
Really all that matters is how his family and himself feels about the boat. If he is really stoked on the VLX and has his mind made up about the B-52, then he should probably go with the VLX. It doesn't matter that you might believe that the B-52 is the best boat out there because it probably is for you. Personally, I liked the B-52 when I rode up at Wet Wednesday in Oregon, but I haven't been behind one in years.

dont know about the 04 but the 03 B52 is exactly how Shawn described it..that 2100 lbs is very misleading because the b52 has so much floatation in it to meet CGA for the rating it has that it only like adding 1000lbs ..

you need to still sack it out like other boats but with a VLX you dont have to sack the crap out of it..stock options with ballst etc head to head the VLX has a much better stock wake..with four people,the wedge and the MLS full it has a very nice wake..

so obviously then if you sack them both out they both get better but since the VLX was better to begin with it wins IMO..

the B52 may be a bit roomier but with price ,wake,and proven performance the VLX would be my choice..

Clete - Don't get me wrong the B52 is a bueatiful boat with all the right options. But I believe they have a lot of R&D left to compete with the big boys, ie: Natique, Mastercraft, and Malibu. When I say pretty small, I'm comparing it to 3 other boats (ones I've ridden behind in tournaments and friends boats) #1 Super Air Team Edition, #2 Wakesetter VLX (which are the two I consider to be world class wakes), and #3 our families Sanger V210. There is no way that the B52 wake with stock ballast even compares to #1 and #2 under the same conditions. Also when we load our V210 Sanger (which has no ballast tanks)with 2 full sacks and 2 phat buddies, the wake is bigger than the B52 with the all 2100 lbs. of ballast. But again this has just been my experience.

Sean - Thanks for the support and the compliment. I hope all is well with your knee and hope to see you out there soon. Oh BTW I wish I had a profile picture that looked that cool.

Jeff - Well maybe if you stop putting on these events that keep me in town, I could. Just kidding, but yes, we do need to make that trip. We need to sell our boat first though, or at least ready for sale. Anyways see you Saturday.

if anyone makes a trip to shasta w/ there b-52..i'll be beggin for a ride

Shwan - I understand your perspective, I am not trying to make the wake more than you experienced. Just don't have the same experience or expectations (it appears) at this point. I agree the VLX is a great choice also.

Nick - I will be in Shasta May 27-28-29 and again June 21-24.

Remember that the 04 B52 (at least the V3) is different from the 03. The wakes aren't even comparable.

clete, i sent you an email

Nick - Please resend - I blew it away - oops

i had an 02' and didn't like it!, own a x-star now, waaay better, my opinion nothing compares to MASTERCRAFT, i have not been behind an 04 but the 03 was better tanh the 02, like people are saying go out and demo it.

According to the owner of the dealer. MB has changed the hull every single year. That tells you something.

I have spoke with several people now claiming the new hull for 04 is the best ever and makes the wake much steeper and alot more kick to it? Did Cobe say the 4000 lbs was in addition to the 2100 ballast tanks or was that total?

Anyone with pics of their 04 hull wake?

Tells me they are willing to make the changes that you mentioned earlier. Sounds like riders and drivers like the changes this year. That's a good thing right Shawn. What does that tell you ? You didn't say ?

Our newest addition....loaded

2 speed with ZR6

Nice. Congtrats and enjoy.

Well I have the feeling that everyone thinks I'm bashing this boat. I AM NOT. Here is my deal; we have a 02 Sanger V210. We are very happy with it, except the fact that it has no ballast. When we have the family on the boat, we want to be able to make a good sized wake without having sacks and lead all over the place. So since the MB B52 claims to have 2100lbs. of ballast, it was worth a try. So we demo'd the boat. The boat itself was awesome no doubt about it. The boat was well crafted and had all the options anyone could ever want. The coolest thing I thought was the fresh water cooling system, why don't more boats have these? But remember the only thing we interested in was the wake. More specifically the wake without any additional ballast (such as: sacks and what not). Now the results were that with all 2100lbs of ballast the wake was still smaller than our V210 with only 1300lbs of sacks in it. So in our case it’s not worth selling a 2 year old perfectly good Sanger V210. So now we are taking other routes and building a custom ballast system in the V210. BTW the boat we demo'd was an 2004.

Clete: To answer your question. The fact that they have changed the hull every single year, indeed does tell us that they are willing to make the necessary changes. On the other hand it proves my point stated above, that they still have a lot of R&D left to do to be able to compete with the big boys such as: the Super airs, Wakesetters, and Mastercraft. If I was indeed to buy a B52 and spend $45,000 on one, and they changed the hull the next year I would be a little bummed. As I've stated before these are my opinions and they are based on my experiences with all of the above stated boats.

Congrats Dave & Lina that is a beautiful piece of work you got there. I like that you got the tandem axle trailer, the one we demo'd had a single axle.

You have a 210 and are worried about wake size?!!

Sack that b*tch out and rock&roll man! Those things can put out insane wakes!

Check out this thread:
http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/3183/170757.html?1085115061

And this pic:

Definetly nice boat Dave&Lina.

Shawn, It's been my experience that most manufacturers offer a closed cooling system as an option.
In the midwest, B-52 VX3's are going for mid to upper 50's and up.

Chavez - Yes I've seen that fake pic many times. I guess no one can read because, I'm not worried about the wake of the 210. This whole post is about comparing the above mentioned boats running stock ballast with out additional weight.

That pic is the real one before it was "shopped"

If you want any advise building your ballast system send me an email, I built a fully automatic hidden system in my 210.

Junkee, up here in Paso Robles they have a B52 Team selling for 44k, not 60.

My personal opinion will certainly affend a lot of people, so I'll keep it to myself.