New X2 arrived and broken in!!!

Well, the X2 finally arrived last week. We picked it up Thursday and went on a camping trip with friends to New Melones all weekend. What a blast. The boat is a DREAM! Here are a few pics of the X2 and one of Peter and Chris riding behind the X2.

sweet boat! you will love it. how are you distributing ballast?

What a beautiful boat, I am lost for words.

Very nice Stefani. Hopefully you have many many hours of enjoyment out of your new ride.

(Message edited by cws_kahuna on March 31, 2003)

NICE

Very nice looking boat!

Congratulations, and nice choice! It's a beautiful boat. I love the MasterCraft styling...

As another former X-9 owner, I think it's interesting that you chose the X-2, Gramps chose the 210/Super, and I chose the VLX. I think I am equally as thrilled with the VLX as you and Gramps are with your boats.

I think it's hard to go wrong with any of the "top three."

stefani - what kind of board rack is the extra one on top? are you able to still lay the tower down?

great looking boat. hope you had a good weekend.

Thanks everyone!

Al O: we put about 6 or so hours on the boat first before we used the ballasts. Then we used the ballasts for a few hours. Then we added a little weight to the bow and lockers. We are still playing around with it but I can definitely email you and let you know what we decide on for weight distribution:-)

BT Lowe: Yes, you are right. You can't go wrong. If you could take a little bit off of each boat, (i.e. Sanger, Supra, Malibu, Nautique.. etc.) it would be a perfect boat!

Matt: We bought a Boss Adj. board rack for the tower. We used it ALL weekend. Even when we only had 4 riders. We did find out that it conflicted with the tower when we folded it down so Jason had to loosen it a bit and turn it so the tower would fold down. It takes an extra two minutes. It's totally worth it!

Thanks again everyone!

Very sharp looking boat love the blue

Congrats!! Glad you guys finally picked it up!

Boat looks sweet Stefani. Congrats on the new addition!

Hey Stefani,
Nice boat same like me. Nice boat on your profile.
How match are the board racks from Master Craft?


www.wakeboarder.be

Stefani,
I'm picking up my x2 tomorrow. We just got 4 inches of snow sunday so no riding. Anyway my dealer told me to wait until 20 hours to totally weight it down. He said we could use the factory ballast until then. I'm guessing that 1,000 in the back factory ballast in ski locker and 500 pounds in the bow should do the trick.

(Message edited by 3puttwilson on March 31, 2003)

Thanks everyone:-) the pics came out a bit blurry as my video camera doesn't take very good still shots.

Koen: I'm not sure how much the board racks were. They were included in our overall price. We gave our dealer a list of options we wanted and just worked the final price from there. The picture in my profile is the picture I got from you. Nice choice in color and boat by the way:-)

Wilson: you must be stoked! Make sure you post pictures:-) I've never heard of a 20 hour breakin period but you should do what your dealer tells you in case there are any problems. Our dealer told us 5-6 without weight, 10 with the ballasts....... If I remember correctly, you got black right? My friend has a reverse black one and it is one sweet looking boat. Congrats!

Stef & Wilson - here's how I've been waiting my 02XStar:

Stock Triple KGB
350# V-drive bags on each side of the engine
600# bag in the nose

With 4 or 5 people in the boat it's a little slow out of the hole but handles very well (no turning lock problems). We generally run 22 to 23 w/ a 70' rope.

The blue looks sweet! I've got the reverse black and I love the boat. Congrats again.

Stef, Jason,
Congrats again! It looks so sweet!
Oh, and thanks for taking MY advice on keeping the X-2 Decal. It was the right choice
(wakesetter decal not withstanding).

Hey Greg: Since you are the photo shop king..... how hard would it be for you to photo shop one of our photos and throw an xstar sticker on our boat? We are still going back in forth. We have the xstar decals now.... they were part of our deal. We would like to see what our boat would look like with an xstar sticker on it!

I am liking that x2 sticker though too.... But in my heart it will always be a star!

Zack- holy crap. That's a lot of weight in the bow! Thanks for your recipe though! We'll be playing around with the weight this weekend. I'll let you know what we come up with:-)

Stefani,
I am getting a MC by design X star sticker as soon as it comes out. I scratched the one i have pretty bad while the boat was docked. i'll show you a pic of what it looks like with the new xstar graphics as soon as i get them. they havemt made the ones that say x star, only X 2-30. I ll probably get the flames or the tribal that looks like the wakesetter.

Nice boat… regardless of what stickers you go with! Looks very good behind the Toyota too. I bet it was painful 6 hours of waiting. Worse than X-mas eve when you were a kid.

Perhaps a dumb question… but is there any significant change between the 03 X2 and the 02 X Star? Hull/ Interior/ Stock Ballast/Options?? Seems like there are a few new 02’s still at dealers…. Any reason not to save a few bucks and get the ‘old name’ model vs. the 03?

OK Stef, I know they're not perfect but this should still give you some idea...
Oh yeah, I went with the '03 x-star logo not the '02







Hope this helps.
G-

Greg: There is a reason why you get paid doing the line of work that you do. These look sweet!!! We ordered the 02 graphics like the ones in Zack's and Al O's profile. But they are pretty similar. Either way, we get the idea. Thank you so much!!!

Jeff: I haven't been in an 02 in a long time. I'm not sure what the differences are. But someone told me that the interior is softer and I do know they toned down the color. Our interior is a soft grey. On our 2001 x9 it was white. It used to be so bright but now it's really nice. The board racks have changed but we aren't sure which ones we like better. I think we like the older ones....

Gimme a sec...I'll set one up

I like the X2 logo better, the xstar logo is too angluar imho.

Shhh...I'm working..

Ha, ha, ha! Dang you're good!

Something more like this?

I do like that better!!!! I think......

Thanks Gregg! Can you make me look 10 years younger and maybe drop 20 lbs?

Oh, wait. Don't even go there!!!

OK, OK, I have been won over...I think I like the x-star best too.

Nice, Stef! Congrats!

Stef, Nice boat! just for giggles,how much was gas at the pump at the lake? Did you get the MCX or the 310TBI

Tom: We got the 350 HP MCX and it rocks!!! My buddy Peter took a picture of it so hopefully I'll be able to post really soon. Gas was like $2.97 per gallon I believe. It's getting really expensive but thank goodness MC's don't guzzle gas too bad.

Thanks Joe:-)

Jason/Stefani, Congrats on your new toy, it looks great. I like the X-Star sticker the best.

Just sold my X-7, and can't decide between the X2 and the SAN. I was ready to order a new SAN, but after seeing pictures of your X2, I'm having second thoughts. I dig the new MCX. The guys at Ski world say it's a big improvement over the LTR. I'm sure you'll get good use out of the extra hp.

Tom:

Tom: We were torn between the two. There are several factors that lead us back to the X2. But you have to take a pad of paper, and write down your own pros and cons. Demo both. Talk to people but not too much, do your research. Get quotes and go with your gut feeling. Customer Service with my dealer and bang for my buck made all the difference for me and Jason. And then after playing with our toy all weekend, well now we know we made the right decision;-)
The 350 hp is awesome. Ski World in Pleasanton has a 350 to demo. But, if you would like to ride with us sometime, we'd be more than happy to give you a pull;-)

Both are great boats:-)

Your boat is VERY nice. The only thing about the stickers that I think might be a bit of a factor is that you still have the X2 in the stitching inside...Might be neat to keep it like that.

Thanks for the pull on Sunday, see you guys soon!

Gramps: Thanks. Now it's your turn to post pics of the final product! What's the latest on your Sante?? Have you taken it out yet?

Patty: True, thanks for reminding me party pooper! Hee, hee. Still riding with us Sunday? Email me or AOL me:-)

stefani - I didn't read all the posts but I think that if you put the x-star logo on there, people would think that your boat is an '02 x-star, not an '03 x-2. Just a thought.

Stefani...nice boat. I am looking to get an extra board rack like what you got. Next time you are out would you mind taking a close up shot of the board rack?

John: Check out this link. The extra rack we got is nothing fancy, but it does the job. It's a boss adj. board rack. On this link about 5 racks down you'll see a picture. I can still take a picture close up for you next time we are out:-)

http://www.mmwatersports.com/able/showprod.cfm?&DID=6&CATID=43&ObjectGroup_ID=434

Thane, thanks. Good point.

I was looking at using the same board rack on that upper bar on the tower. It is not very wide and wasn't sure how it would work/look. Thanks.

Stefani
I picked up our boat last night. We are so excited. The water temp. is still a very cold 50 so not much riding for a few weeks. I took some pics and will post tonight.

john - i just ordered 2 mako racks yesterday. they should be here in a few days. stefani said she has to adjust it every time she puts the tower down. i will have to do something also, but instead the mako racks have something like a pull pin to where i wont have to adjust any screws or bolts. either way, if a rack is where we are all wanting to put them, they will have to be messes with before the tower can be put down.

I'm definitely a fan of the XStar logo myself - I saw a new Green X2 out on Sunday and liked my logo a little better.

I think Stef is right about the interior plushness & colors being a little different but that's all between the 02 & 03.

Stef - you have to run that much weight in the bow to keep it from rising. We've found the key is to evenly weight the boat which gives it a great peak.

Hey Zack,
I have the same X2 and I want to weight my boat with Lead. What do you take? Lead or fat sacs?

Koen
www.wakeboarder.be

Matt, would you send me a picture of it when you get it mounted?

Stefani,
You make me so jealous. Our (new) 2002 X-Star won't be ready until Friday. Then we have to break it in. I can't wait. I have new bindings, new dry suit, new rope, even a new bottle of sun screen. Your so lucky. You'll probably never even read this post because already on the water.
I would trade you my x-star decal for just one pull today. It would be worth a plain ticket, rental car, lost job, and angry fiance, if I could get just one pull today.

john - no problem

my weight last year - regular ballast, plus 2 350# sacs in the back, plus a 700# sac in the front. AWESOME WAKE!

this year (havent gotten out yet though) - removed the hard tanks for more storage and replaced them with 600# sacs. very, very easy to do. a 700# sac in the walkway of the bow. i will let yall know how that works.

i am assuming it should be the same since i believe the hard tanks are 250# each, correct? if so, now i just have TONS more storage space in the back for boards and stuff while traveling to the lake.

Matt, you're correct in that each tank is 250#. Where did you get the fittings for the sacs? I've been thinking about doing the same thing to my X - just wondering about fill/empty speed.

Koen - I just use bags so that I don't have to trailer with all the weight in the boat.

zack - i will try and post pics when i get a chance. i got everything at home depot. i put a clear piece of tubing onto each of the existing hoses so that i could actually see the water moving in/out of the sac. also, it gives a little extra room to maneuver the sacs around. i am not sure of the technical term for the plastic adapters or fittings that i bought, but the fit tightly into the sacs and connect the extra hoses that i bought.

what are you wondering about fill/empty speed? are you thinking it will be slower or faster? i believe i am going this sunday, so i will figure out if the overfill works the same way as the tanks did. i sure hope it does. otherwise, i will just have to keep my eye on it whenever i fill the sacs all the way.

there was another post with pictures of this done a while back, but i cant find it. it was almost exactly what i did. i will post pics probably tomorrow for ya.

sorry to take any attention away from stefani's awesome looking boat!!!!!!!!!!!

Matt Moss: Hey, no worries at all. I'm listening to what you guys are saying and learning a thing or two:-)

Mattbob: Congrats on your new purchase.... or should I say purchases:-) You must be stoked! Be sure to post pics when you get a chance:-)

Wilson... sweet! You must be so anxious! How long before you get to take the boat out, at least for a spin if not a pull?

John: We considered using a rack on top but the only reason why we didn't is because on the delta we have some low bridges we go under. When the tide is high, we barely clear them. Let me know what you guys decide on racks. Maybe you'll find one that works better and I'll have to copy you:-)

How much lead would be the max you could tow with in the front bow? Would we need a little lead mid ship like under the observer seat and driver seat? I guess we'll just have to play around with it:-) We plan on keeping sacs in the back next to the tanks. We have two that fit perfect...

Stefani, I am going to put one on the side like yours I think. Hard to make a decision looking at pictures on buywake. The bar up there is not very wide so that's why I thought the Boss Adj. would be the way to go or get one that is only using a sigle clamp. Is that a Toyota 4Runner you are using? If so is it the new one with the V8? A friend was looking to get that and he pulls a Supra Launch with his V6.

Matt, I was thinking of replacing the hard tanks as well and putting my 540's on each side back there. I also picked up the new LauncPad Lounge to use as center ballast and it is also a seat.

John: It's a 2002 Toyota Sequoia. It pulls the boat like a champ. The new 4runners are supposed to be awesome too!

Matt - thanks for the advice - I just spoke to the MCraft dealer here about it. I'm assuming you're using only inlet to fill/drain and the other to vent? Sorry for all the questions.

Just got mine back from the shop - what do you guys think about the tint job?

sweet! That looks really good.

yeah, the tint, compared to the profile pic looks sweet. Thane likes it.

zack, yes that is what i am doing. my sacs have two holes just like the hard tanks did. so, besides the extensions on put on each tube, it is exactly the same. i just didnt know if the tanks had some sort of overflow valve or what made the tanks overflow.

Stefani: Congrats on the X-2---classsy! Also, we just bought an identical Sequoia(used)same year and engine. Curious about mileage while towing? We tow about 20 miles every other day to our lake. I know there was a thread recently that may have discussed this topic---but what has been your guys experience thus far? I tow the "big, fat, pig" Tige and just wondering how I am going to build a case with the wife to let me borrow the new luxury ride! (hee-hee) Any braking or tranny issues?
Again, nice shots of the new boat and have fun!!!!

Zack: That looks great, love the tint job!

Ryan: The Sequoia pulls like a champ! It handles really well and we are very impressed with it. I'm not sure on the mileage though but it is getting awfully expensive to gas up both the SUV and Boat. We tow to the delta which is about 20 miles, and to a few local lakes which range from about 60-90 miles. We have 4 disc brakes on the trailer and have had no problems. We are also planning to tow with a little lead in the boat.... The Sequoia can tow up to 6500 lbs I believe. We still have a couple thousand to go! We also tow with my Jeep Grand Cherokee Overland. It's much smaller, and you can definitely feel the "tug" more but it handles like a champ and can also tow up to 6500 lbs... Have you towed with your Sequoia yet? Let me know how it goes.... I have no doubt you will be satisfied with it's performance:-)

Here are two more pics of the boat courtesy of my friend Peter. One is of the 350 HP MCX engine and the other of the Sequoia and boat.

Why did you have to post that engine pic Stef? I've been telling myself there was no need to go with the sweet red valve covers and intake manifold and now I see those pics.

Must.....stop......from......buying

I agree Zack. The valve covers and intake manifold do look sweet.

Stef,
I have to get it on with the pictures! You're "rockin" girl! Niiiiiice, engine shots! Hey and thanks for the input! Towed with it yesterday, however with the aftermarket 20" wheels, Yakima racks with box and 1000# of lead in the "pig", my mileage calculations were a little obscene. I too, feel your pain at the pump-with both boat and SUV! But no issues with the Seqouia, trailer also has disc brakes and no stopping issues with the lead!(it also looked really good parked on the ramp) he-he-he...Thinking about maybe K&N filter and some exhaust to drive the ponies up a little--I'll have to post some pics of our new setup when it quits snowing here in Idaho? Thanks again.....

Zack: sorry... the red sure is perrrrrrty, don't ya think?
Ryan: Post some pics first chance you get:-)

Zach, that is the most bad a$$ x star ive ever seen the tinting makes the boat look 2 times better.