PINCH ME

I hear you, and understand the idea of 'baselining' a motor - especially so if buying something with unknown history. That said, in retrospect, I can see that my past practice my have been a bit of OCD overkill.

I used to replace the impeller on our inboard ski boat every year (the internet would lead you to believe that an impeller will mummify and turn to glass if left for more than a season out of water). Its just not true, and after a few years of pulling out pristine impellers, I've downgraded the practice to once every 3-4 years. Also, I can't count the number of times that I've actually caused problems by doing preventative maintenance (who hasn't stripped screws, or dropped a nut into the bowels of the bilge...). Sometimes less is more.

For something like an impeller - condition is best assessed based on performance. Start the motor - strong stream at the telltale is a good sign, and then watch your temp gauge to confirm the first time you take it on the water under load. If you don't trust that, buy a water pressure manifold gauge (I did this on my old DF40). The pressure gauge is nice because the impeller performance does degrade over time, and you can see it on the gauge to better assess when to replace (rather than just guessing). Its also nice, because you will know right away if you suck in a bunch of weeds, or a plastic bag blocks the water intake.
 
In my experience, impellers will start to tell you when they are getting weak. For my boat, if I don’t get a strong stream at idle from the tell tale, then it’s time to replace. It’s cheap insurance though, and my motor is old and owes me nothing, so I’m not as anal retentive as I would be with a new unit. For less than the price of a tank of gas, and an hour or two of wrenching in the driveway, an impeller, gear oil and oil/filter change at the start of the season is really
cheap insurance, even if none of it actually needs to be done.
 
Bloody hell man, sweet deal!!!

I tried that once with an 18ft Silver Streak HT. Pretty much got the opposite of what you experienced lol. Boat sat in the guys driveway for years covered in a tarp. Finally caught up to him one day when I was running. He was a bit surprised by my interest, but he had no interest in selling, not for anything less then 100k. Thats about 70k too rich for my blood. lol I saw him off the front one day that summer. Now it's back under the tarp...
Enjoy man. And if you ever want to pass forward the favour...I'm always open to a straight trade :D
 
If it’s in for impellers, you might as well do the thermostats. Both should be changed at the same time.
 
Stizzla said:
Let’s get right into it:

Here’s how it started. My parents have decided to merge into our house and sell theirs. (It’s currently Under contract)
This enables me to pay off the butt whopping I took in real estates in late 2022/ early 2023 and actually have a little fun money again.
My wife and I decided that we should get back into a boat as it gives us so much joy. I was thinking my max would be about $30k so I was looking at a beautiful striper 18.5 that’s on marketplace right now. It’s very clean and I would be happy to own it.


Before I pulled the trigger, there is a certain boat that I had to look at. I drive by it every single morning on the way to work and drive by it again every single afternoon coming home. It has never once been out of its storage shed. I felt like I needed to knock on his door just to see the story on this boat. Here is what I see…
View attachment 109096

I rang the bell and a nice old timer and his dog came to the door.
I told him I have seen his beautiful boat from the street and noticed it doesn’t seem to get used. I was wondering if he had thought about selling it. He said actually he had and what did I have in mind? I said I hadn’t really looked at it because I didn’t wanna go onto his property but if he could tell me a little bit about it then I would be interested. Turns out it’s a 2023 Double Eagle 185. He bought brand new and has used it once.
When I heard that I said, oh thank you for your time, but I can definitely not afford that. He told me to go have a look at it anyways, so I did…

Story checks out. It’s ******* brand new. brand new hull brand new motor, brand new, kicker brand new electronics, brand new everything. 1 hour on the boat.

After looking over and drooling, I went back to him and said it’s fantastic and I really appreciate him showing it to me, but I cannot afford it so best of luck.

He told me to call him Wednesday (check your calendars) and he will know by then if he is for sure ready to sell it and then also what my comfortable price would be.

This morning I called him and said it’s definitely worth a lot more than I can afford but I could scrape together $35,000 and give it a great home. He said,”sounds good”

I am basically still in shock. I got them a bank draft, delivered it to them and I’m picking up the boat this evening. They are the absolute nicest people I’ve ever met and I told them I would be grateful forever and I would cherish all the memories I make it. I also offered them lots of crab and salmon if I can catch them.

So without further ado, please welcome my brand new Double Eagle 185 that I will be naming “PINCH ME”
The boat comes with power everything, hydraulic everything, riggers, extra equipment, and a brand new tuff trailer.

I know good things happen to good people, but today something good even happened to me.

View attachment 109097View attachment 109099View attachment 109100




View attachment 109098
Click to expand...
Awesome!! Does it come with cannon balls!?😎
 
Stizzla said:
Let’s get right into it:

Here’s how it started. My parents have decided to merge into our house and sell theirs. (It’s currently Under contract)
This enables me to pay off the butt whopping I took in real estates in late 2022/ early 2023 and actually have a little fun money again.
My wife and I decided that we should get back into a boat as it gives us so much joy. I was thinking my max would be about $30k so I was looking at a beautiful striper 18.5 that’s on marketplace right now. It’s very clean and I would be happy to own it.


Before I pulled the trigger, there is a certain boat that I had to look at. I drive by it every single morning on the way to work and drive by it again every single afternoon coming home. It has never once been out of its storage shed. I felt like I needed to knock on his door just to see the story on this boat. Here is what I see…
View attachment 109096

I rang the bell and a nice old timer and his dog came to the door.
I told him I have seen his beautiful boat from the street and noticed it doesn’t seem to get used. I was wondering if he had thought about selling it. He said actually he had and what did I have in mind? I said I hadn’t really looked at it because I didn’t wanna go onto his property but if he could tell me a little bit about it then I would be interested. Turns out it’s a 2023 Double Eagle 185. He bought brand new and has used it once.
When I heard that I said, oh thank you for your time, but I can definitely not afford that. He told me to go have a look at it anyways, so I did…

Story checks out. It’s ******* brand new. brand new hull brand new motor, brand new, kicker brand new electronics, brand new everything. 1 hour on the boat.

After looking over and drooling, I went back to him and said it’s fantastic and I really appreciate him showing it to me, but I cannot afford it so best of luck.

He told me to call him Wednesday (check your calendars) and he will know by then if he is for sure ready to sell it and then also what my comfortable price would be.

This morning I called him and said it’s definitely worth a lot more than I can afford but I could scrape together $35,000 and give it a great home. He said,”sounds good”

I am basically still in shock. I got them a bank draft, delivered it to them and I’m picking up the boat this evening. They are the absolute nicest people I’ve ever met and I told them I would be grateful forever and I would cherish all the memories I make it. I also offered them lots of crab and salmon if I can catch them.

So without further ado, please welcome my brand new Double Eagle 185 that I will be naming “PINCH ME”
The boat comes with power everything, hydraulic everything, riggers, extra equipment, and a brand new tuff trailer.

I know good things happen to good people, but today something good even happened to me.

View attachment 109097View attachment 109099View attachment 109100




View attachment 109098
Click to expand...
Congrats stizz! I thought your next boat would be a Striper, but who in their right mind would pass up that deal!
I would try and burn the old gas off. See what happens. Maybe mix in some 94. It's hard to dispose of old gas, unless you have alot of bon fires lol. Thermostat, leg oil, filters you know the deal.
Have fun man you deserve it
Chris
 
Viking said:
Congrats stizz! I thought your next boat would be a Striper, but who in their right mind would pass up that deal!
I would try and burn the old gas off. See what happens. Maybe mix in some 94. It's hard to dispose of old gas, unless you have alot of bon fires lol. Thermostat, leg oil, filters you know the deal.
Have fun man you deserve it
Chris
Click to expand...
Agreed, old gas is a bear to deal with. Had to deal with 10 gallons at our cabin. Lets just say I haven't used the boy scout method for starting camp fires in a while...
 
Max123 said:
Agreed, old gas is a bear to deal with. Had to deal with 10 gallons at our cabin. Lets just say I haven't used the boy scout method for starting camp fires in a while...
Click to expand...
I’m letting the dealer deal with it. The motors aren’t even broken in yet so I don’t want to compromise their future by using questionable gas.
It’s getting removed and new fuel filter. Also new impellers x2 and a prop guard for the kicker. Then I’m basically treating the boat like it’s brand new. Full break in and maintenance as per Suzuki warranty guidelines.
Viking said:
Congrats stizz! I thought your next boat would be a Striper, but who in their right mind would pass up that deal!
I would try and burn the old gas off. See what happens. Maybe mix in some 94. It's hard to dispose of old gas, unless you have alot of bon fires lol. Thermostat, leg oil, filters you know the deal.
Have fun man you deserve it
Chris
Click to expand...
 
Last edited:
Not sure if this was noted, but if you are on 5hrs of engine operation with original engine oil - I'd recommend changing the oil & filter. Always a good idea to change oil after initial break-in, but especially so in this case where it has been sitting for a while.

The Suzuki break-in procedure is a bit fussy and takes a while, but the results are worth it. I was pretty faithful to the break-in procedure on my DF40, and it never consumed a drop of oil. Use the recommended EC-Star engine oil (its a blend, they do not recommend full synthetic).

Here's a trick for changing the engine oil. The bleed screw on the side of the motor is recessed a bit and oil will run down the side of the leg and make an unholy mess. Take an old plastic pop bottle and cut yourself a small square of plastic (maybe 2" x 4"). Curve the thin/flexible piece of plastic so if conforms to the recess around the drain screw and forms a trough/funnel to directs the oil outward as it drains (do this before taking off the drain plug). Position your container accordingly. This will prevent it from running down the leg. For the filter, its mounted horizontally so there is no good way to do it - just pack the area with rags first.
 
Last edited:
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