55 replies to this topic

[jeff walkowiak]

Very strange, keep me updated to when your new computer gets set up and hopefully everything will work for you then.

this is really strange,now your avatar won't display. But mine does.

[Doooer]

I am posting this on behalf of Jeff Walkowiak from Cobra Jet Steering:

Let me give you a little background, I am retired police chief in Florida 23 years in police work. Most of my steering business caters to the Yamaha jet boaters, they keep me very busy. I also do jet ski steering including stand up models. During the winter I was contacted by a European boat manufacturer who uses Mercury jet systems for their boats and I built some prototype steering for those.  In the Yamaha line I have so many orders that I contract with a laser company to cut all the parts for those, with Mercury jet systems I still hand build these because I have not really pursued them.  However when the Mercury steering picks up in volume that steering will then be laser cut as well. I have done some Mercury drives on SeaDoo boats with a place diverter installed however we needed to reduce the size of the place diverter to about 6 inches long to allow the steering to operate. I am told SeaDoo has a problem with hop; the steering will also help this as it cups the water between the fins and reduces the ability of the bow to hop at speed. One common misconception is that the fins will prevent the boat from handling like a jet boat should, what really happens is the boat is now hooked up and will out handle any conventional jet boat from an idle to WOT. It will tow skiers with ease and carve a big wave instantly; it steers like a sports car on a dry road, totally enhancing the fun factor of the boat. It also allows you to slow to an idle while turning without coming out of the turn, and it makes the high speed steering act like power steering as the wheel is a lot easier to turn. What is really nice is it will not increase the draw of the boat you can run it up on the shore with no contact to the steering, it works off the water exiting the ride plate as it rises up from under the boat, as the boat comes up on a plain the steering is also pulled up to make less contact as it is going faster, this avoids over steering at high speed, at low speed it is totally submerged and gives you control even with the engine off. Ever towed a dead jet boat, well you could even steer while being towed. In any event it really works better than anyone could imagine. The Yamaha people love it to death; dealers now want it for their inventory as it helps sell new boats by eliminating the steering issues for new owners. This steering is protected by us patent 6561858 and 6702630, with a combined total of 52 claims. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Link: Cobra Jet Steering

Well, for those of us who have spent time on "the other site"...we've heard all about this product, although Jeff appears to be slightly modifying his pitch. I thought someone on the other board had volunteered to be a guinea pig for him...but either I haven't heard the results or it didn't happen.

IMO the steering abilities for my Speedster at anything but idle are excellent. I've installed trim tabs to handle the porpoising, so why do I need this product? Jeff's description of the steering "improvements" don't seem to an issue with my boat. If he can somehow demonstrate that it drastically improves steering at idle or near idle speed, I might be interested. But then, I'm not sure that the cost would justify the improvement.

[cAn'T sWim]

I am posting this on behalf of Jeff Walkowiak from Cobra Jet Steering:

Let me give you a little background, I am retired police chief in Florida 23 years in police work. Most of my steering business caters to the Yamaha jet boaters, they keep me very busy. I also do jet ski steering including stand up models. During the winter I was contacted by a European boat manufacturer who uses Mercury jet systems for their boats and I built some prototype steering for those.  In the Yamaha line I have so many orders that I contract with a laser company to cut all the parts for those, with Mercury jet systems I still hand build these because I have not really pursued them.  However when the Mercury steering picks up in volume that steering will then be laser cut as well. I have done some Mercury drives on SeaDoo boats with a place diverter installed however we needed to reduce the size of the place diverter to about 6 inches long to allow the steering to operate. I am told SeaDoo has a problem with hop; the steering will also help this as it cups the water between the fins and reduces the ability of the bow to hop at speed. One common misconception is that the fins will prevent the boat from handling like a jet boat should, what really happens is the boat is now hooked up and will out handle any conventional jet boat from an idle to WOT. It will tow skiers with ease and carve a big wave instantly; it steers like a sports car on a dry road, totally enhancing the fun factor of the boat. It also allows you to slow to an idle while turning without coming out of the turn, and it makes the high speed steering act like power steering as the wheel is a lot easier to turn. What is really nice is it will not increase the draw of the boat you can run it up on the shore with no contact to the steering, it works off the water exiting the ride plate as it rises up from under the boat, as the boat comes up on a plain the steering is also pulled up to make less contact as it is going faster, this avoids over steering at high speed, at low speed it is totally submerged and gives you control even with the engine off. Ever towed a dead jet boat, well you could even steer while being towed. In any event it really works better than anyone could imagine. The Yamaha people love it to death; dealers now want it for their inventory as it helps sell new boats by eliminating the steering issues for new owners. This steering is protected by us patent 6561858 and 6702630, with a combined total of 52 claims. ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Link: Cobra Jet Steering

Well, for those of us who have spent time on "the other site"...we've heard all about this product, although Jeff appears to be slightly modifying his pitch. I thought someone on the other board had volunteered to be a guinea pig for him...but either I haven't heard the results or it didn't happen.

IMO the steering abilities for my Speedster at anything but idle are excellent. I've installed trim tabs to handle the porpoising, so why do I need this product? Jeff's description of the steering "improvements" don't seem to an issue with my boat. If he can somehow demonstrate that it drastically improves steering at idle or near idle speed, I might be interested. But then, I'm not sure that the cost would justify the improvement.

Well I have no intentions on discrediting this product because I have seen the responses from the Yammy guys (I beling to that site too)

However, I agree with Doooer on this as I can't imagine the steering getting any better on my Speedster.

I beleive this is probably an excellent product for boats over 18'. I will certainly keep my thoughts and opinions open on this one though.

[Kevin Leclair]

Got my Cobra Jet Steering in the mail today! See more pics in the gallery here, http://seadoosportbo...ls.php?album=19.

Going to put it on this weekend, will post back the test results once I give the doo a run with the steering installed.

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[tiggerman]

Got my Cobra Jet Steering in the mail today! See more pics in the gallery here, http://seadoosportbo...ls.php?album=19.

Going to put it on this weekend, will post back the test results once I give the doo a run with the steering installed.

Hey you be careful with my boat!!!!

[Yuji]

Hey Kevin...plz post results as soon as you get them Jeff requested some measurements off of mine but I just haven't had time to do it.

[jeff walkowiak]

Hey Kevin...plz post results as soon as you get them Jeff requested some measurements off of mine but I just haven't had time to do it.

I made him a hand built prototype to try and I made some slight changes from the others that I tested previously, since I had no boat to check clearences on I had to go to barnies ,, a local dealer ,, and check it on a boat in their showroom. They thought it was pretty cool and wanted to try out one themselves.I have been so busy with yamaha back orders I really have not had the time to play around with this. I think what I would end up needing is a local person with a boat equipped with a mercury jet as the reverse hoods are so huge they make life difficult as the steering must clear . I try to keep the fins above the ride plate to allow the boat to keep it's jet boat maneuverability at high speed, with just a little added influence for the tracking ability this steering is noted for. as for the slow speed influence,, that's the easy part. If enough people were interested in doing this mod I would be able to get the parts laser cut, I really don't have the time to be making any quantity by hand, and the laser cut and etched parts look so nice, but the startup costs are a problem and it would not be a good idea to pay all that money if the demand isn't there. So lets see how it does on his boat and go from there.

[Kevin Leclair]

Jeff sorry for the delayed but I have had alot going on. tiggerman came down this weekend and we tried to mount the steering but unfortunately it will not clear my reverse gates. It is doesn't appear that the "rudders" will go below the ride plate to be able to make the steering work properly. I believe the "rudders" would need to be a bit deeper in the water to effectively work and clear past the ride plate.

[jeff walkowiak]

Jeff sorry for the delayed but I have had alot going on. tiggerman came down this weekend and we tried to mount the steering but unfortunately it will not clear my reverse gates. It is doesn't appear that the "rudders" will go below the ride plate to be able to make the steering work properly. I believe the "rudders" would need to be a bit deeper in the water to effectively work and clear past the ride plate.

they do not go below the ride plate,, as for the reverse hood, i checked it on a boat at a dealer and with the back of the base even with the end of the nozzle it cleared however if your reverse hood is adjusted a little lower then I can see how it would make contact, now you see why I asked for a local person with a boat, it is quite difficult to run back and forth to a dealer to check clearences, and I did make some changes that would effect those clearences, send me a picture and I will tell you what neds to be done to clear the hood, since it is a hand made unit you can mark it with a marker and take a little off to accomodate it, or readjust the reverse.

[Kevin Leclair]

We could not even mount it because of the reverse gate. I will have to see if I can get someone to hold it up there since I can't hold it there and still take the picture. The fins hit the reverse gate and won't allow it to fully engage in reverse.

[jeff walkowiak]

We could not even mount it because of the reverse gate. I will have to see if I can get someone to hold it up there since I can't hold it there and still take the picture. The fins hit the reverse gate and won't allow it to fully engage in reverse.

Based on your description that the reverse hood is touching by 1/2 centimeter, I believe that is just a varience in where the reverse hood is adjusted, I would suggest you take the hood adjustment up a bit to provide proper clearence, I made some changes on the one I sent you and did not have a boat to take measurements from at the time, but I did check it against a new boat in barnies showroom and it cleared the hood, so I am sure it is just a minor adjustment issue.

[tda3]

It's just a thought Jeff.....but what if the boat you did a measurement and/or trial fit on in Barnies showroom was the one with a misadjusted reverser and Kevin's is adjusted properly?

I just went through an excercise myself of "fine tuning" the reverser bucket in order to keep my Speedster 160 from having too much forward thrust while in "neutral".

Anyhow, it seems to me that the first thing that needs to be verified is that the reverser bucket is properly adjusted not to just some "spec", but such that the boat is as close to "neutral thrust" as possible. Then with the bucket in the forward thrust position, measurements can be taken.

The engineer in me thinks this might be an iterative process whereby several boats may need to be measured in order to come up with an acceptable mean dimension.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Tom

[jeff walkowiak]

It's just a thought Jeff.....but what if the boat you did a measurement and/or trial fit on in Barnies showroom was the one with a misadjusted reverser and Kevin's is adjusted properly?

I just went through an excercise myself of "fine tuning" the reverser bucket in order to keep my Speedster 160 from having too much forward thrust while in "neutral".

Anyhow, it seems to me that the first thing that needs to be verified is that the reverser bucket is properly adjusted not to just some "spec", but such that the boat is as close to "neutral thrust" as possible. Then with the bucket in the forward thrust position, measurements can be taken.

The engineer in me thinks this might be an iterative process whereby several boats may need to be measured in order to come up with an acceptable mean dimension.

Just my 2 cents worth.

Tom

normaly I use a boat for the prototype and then give it wiggle room for these variences, the 6 units I have premade all have plenty of wiggle room but since I changed some angles and thereby changed the clearences, I went to a new boat to double check and then removed some extra for good measure, so I am surprised that there was 1/2 cm of a problem but as I said it isn't a big problem it's a prototype and it can either be ground down at the offending part or the hood readjusted for clearance. Since I have not seen exactly what the contact is I am flying in the dark, Those reverse hoods are huge and I already suspect I know exactly where the clearance problem is and the remedy is simple but I still need to see what the exact problem is.

[tda3]

I hear ya Jeff. It would be different if you had CAD drawings of the reverser bucket assembly and were creating parts via CAD. But field prototyping like you are can be a hit & miss thing. Not that that is a bad thing mind you. Hell....with all of our CAD design power here at work we still sometimes have to fit check parts and "tweek" them so they fit.

BTW, I too would be interested in your product. I live not too far north of you in Savannah, GA. Would like to see some pics of your product mounted (successfully ) on a Speedster 160. I'm also looking forward to some feedback from Kevin and his impressions.

Can I inquire as to the price or would you prefer we chat in private?

Tom

[Kevin Leclair]

Tom,

PM me your phone number, I will be in Savannah next weekend. If it is ok with Jeff then I can possibly show you the product that Jeff sent me.

[jeff walkowiak]

Tom,

PM me your phone number, I will be in Savannah next weekend. If it is ok with Jeff then I can possibly show you the product that Jeff sent me.

The price is on my site it's 159 free shipping,, as for thr proto I sent kevin , the problem he is experiencing is nothing more than an adjustment, and a 4 in grinder will remove what is making contact, so it's a simple fix, The original ones I made were angled down in the back and did not have tis issue, I just wanted to reduce the angle and that placed the fin a little closer to the hood, I knew this and that was why I went to a boat after making it to be sure it would clear. if you look closely at the ones on my site you will notice an angle on the base plaet where it mounts to the nozzle, this one has a lot less angle In a cad program all that would have been needed was 1/2 in added to the fin at its lowast point to put the round part back more, but hind sight!! as for the fins not going below the boat ,, that is the beauty of this they do not interfere with the draft of the boat, they lift with the hull and automatically reduce their effect when the boat gets plained out, they still add influence because the water rises up and contacts them at high speed, when the boat slows down it sits lower in the water and more contact is provided,, at idle they are submerged and max contact is provided, so all we need to do actually is either re adjust the hood a tiny bit or grind the fin so it won't touch. When I do custom fittings I do the final clearance myself if a situation like this occured.

[tiggerman]

Tom,

PM me your phone number, I will be in Savannah next weekend. If it is ok with Jeff then I can possibly show you the product that Jeff sent me.

You two need to hook up and let Tom see it up close, and maybe fit it to his boat, if Jeff has no objections. The more eyeballs on this thing the better for everyone.

[tda3]

Tom,

PM me your phone number, I will be in Savannah next weekend.  If it is ok with Jeff then I can possibly show you the product that Jeff sent me.

You two need to hook up and let Tom see it up close, and maybe fit it to his boat, if Jeff has no objections. The more eyeballs on this thing the better for everyone.

Yeah - I think that's the idea. I sent Kevin my contact info so hopefully we'll be able to hook up. Not only will I then get to see this thing up close and personal, but I'll get to meet Kevin.

Tom

[tda3]

Yo Kevin......where wuz you this past weekend? You stinker - you said you'd be in Savannah. Did you try to call????

And to think I sat by the phone ALL WEEKEND waiting for your call.

Tom

[Kevin Leclair]

Tom I apologize. My buddy and I went out on the jetski's on Friday and he dropped his phone in the water at the boat ramp. He is in the real estate business so he can't be with out a phone. I let him use my phone over the weekend and he had his calls forwarded to my phone. He finally got a phone back on Sunday before we went out his new boat, we left on Sunday so it was too late to call by then. We didn't really have a good day on the water, along with dropping his phone in the water he also blew a fuse in his truck by leaving the trailer lights plugged in when backed in the water.