Jet skis don’t just magically appear in the water (sadly); they must be towed there. Whether your towing experience will be an effortless one or a difficult slog every time depends in part on the weight of your jet ski. Weight can also affect performance. This all has you curious, how much does a jet ski weigh?
The average weight of a jet ski is 500 to 1,000 pounds. There are outliers, such as the super-light Yamaha SUPERJET, which weighs 375 pounds, or the Kawasaki Ultra 310LX, which is 1,073 pounds.
In this article, we’ll provide plenty more real examples of various jet ski weights so you can get a good idea of what’s on the market. We’ll also discuss the factors that can affect a jet ski’s weight as well as why you must respect your watercraft’s weight limit.
The Average Weight of a Jet Ski
Jet skis must be navigable by the average-sized adult, or–in the case of youth jet skis–a child. The rider should feel free to do sudden maneuvers such as turns and stops, and if they wish to pull off a trick on their jet ski, they should be unencumbered.
Keeping all that in mind, manufacturers like Sea-Doo, Yamaha, and Kawasaki strive to produce jet skis that don’t go heavy on the weight yet still come packed with all the features a person expects out of a modern jet ski.
The average weight of a jet is between 500 and 1,000 pounds. Heavier watercraft, such as three-seater jet skis, will very often be close to the 1,000-pound threshold or perhaps even surpass it. As we showed you in the intro, jet skis can weigh far less than 500 pounds, such as the Sea-Doo Spark. Youth jet skis are often even more lightweight.
The most important thing about the advertised weight of your jet ski is that manufacturers often list only the dry weight. This will come up again later as we discuss the factors that increase the weight of your jet ski, but a jet ski’s dry weight means how much the watercraft weighs when it’s completely empty, aka no gas in the tank.
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46 Real Examples of Jet Ski Weights
To further illustrate the broad range of jet ski weight classes out there, here is a comprehensive list of jet skis from your favorite manufacturers and how much each one weighs.
- Kawasaki SX-R: 551.3 pounds
- Kawasaki STX 160: 864.4 pounds
- Kawasaki STX 160X: 864.4 pounds
- Kawasaki STX 160LX: 877.6 pounds
- Kawasaki Ultra 310X: 1,051.8 pounds
- Kawasaki Ultra 310R: 1,047.4 pounds
- Kawasaki Ultra 310LX: 1,073.8 pounds
- Kawasaki Ultra LX: 932.7 pounds
- Sea-Doo Spark 2 up: 410 pounds
- Sea-Doo Spark 3 up: 425 pounds
- Sea-Doo Spark Trixx 2 up: 428 pounds
- Sea-Doo Spark Trixx 3 up: 450 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTI 90: 668 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTI 130: 739 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTI SE 130: 739 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTI SE 170: 739 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTX 170: 776 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTX 230: 805 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTX 300: 819 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTX Limited 300: 849 pounds
- Sea-Soo GTR 230: 774 pounds
- Sea-Doo RXT-X 300: 829 pounds
- Sea-Doo RXP-X 300: 780 pounds
- Sea-Doo Wake 170: 747 pounds
- Sea-Doo Wake Pro 230: 829 pounds
- Sea-Doo Fish Pro 170: 858 pounds
- Yamaha EX: 578 pounds
- Yamaha EX Sport: 584 pounds
- Yamaha EX Deluxe: 600 pounds
- Yamaha EXR: 540 pounds
- Yamaha EX Limited: 602 pounds
- Yamaha VX: 719 pounds
- Yamaha VX-C: 701 pounds
- Yamaha VX Deluxe: 692 pounds
- Yamaha VX Cruiser: 697 pounds
- Yamaha VX Cruiser HO: 794 pounds
- Yamaha VX Limited: 697 pounds
- Yamaha VX Limited HO: 794 pounds
- Yamaha FX HO: 836 pounds
- Yamaha FX Cruiser HO: 838 pounds
- Yamaha FX SVHO: 818 pounds
- Yamaha FX Cruiser SVHO: 820 pounds
- Yamaha FX Limited SVHO: 822 pounds
- Yamaha GP1800R HO: 734 pounds
- Yamaha GP1800R SVHO: 772 pounds
- Yamaha SuperJet: 375 pounds
The Factors That Increase Your Jet Ski’s Weight
Now that you’ve familiarized yourself with the current jet skis on the market and their accompanying weights, have you ever wondered why some jet skis are within that average weight range and others are exceedingly lower or higher? Is it due to jet ski size?
That’s part of it, but not the whole story by far. Here are the other factors that can drive a jet ski’s weight up or down.
Accessories and Features
What kind of accessories and features does your jet ski come with? Did you opt to add on some fishing accessories to make your jet ski a mean fishing machine? Maybe you decided you wanted a built-in cooler, a wakeboard rack, or even comfort seating for another passenger.
Whatever the features you bought, besides making your jet ski more expensive, these additions contribute further to its overall weight.
Gear
Unless you travel empty-handed, then the gear you tote with you also makes your watercraft heavier. That includes the gear on your person as well, such as a life jacket and helmet. That’s not to say you should go without these life-saving accessories, but they do add weight.
Fuel Capacity
Remember, we said we’d get back to this. Some jet ski manufacturers will list the dry weight of the watercraft while others will state its curb weight.
The curb weight is how heavy the watercraft when the jet ski is full and ready to go. In other words, this weight accommodates things like a tool kit as well as the jet ski’s gas tank when at 90-percent capacity. Dry weight, as we talked about before, is the weight of the jet ski when it’s completely empty, no fuel.
By adding a gallon of gas to your jet ski’s tank, you’re contributing six pounds to the watercraft’s overall weight. If you filled the tank up to five gallons, that’s 30 pounds overall, which is significant. This just proves that you can’t use the dry weight as a gauge of what your jet ski actually weighs when it hits the water.
Engine Stroke
Does your jet ski have an advanced four-stroke engine or a simpler two-stroke? The difference between the two engine types is more than just power and performance, but weight as well. Two-stroke engines are the lighter of the engine types.
Storage
How much storage capacity your jet ski offers also plays a role in its overall weight. The more cubbyholes and hiding spaces for storage–especially when these storage areas are full–the heavier your watercraft.
Hull Material
The last factor that can add or subtract weight to your jet ski is its hull material. Fiber-reinforced plastic or FRP is a strong but light material, as is NanoExcel and Polytec.
How Much Do Jet Ski Trailers Weigh?
It’s like we said in the intro, jet skis must be towed into the water. When deciding which vehicle is best for towing, you can’t just take the weight of your jet ski into accommodation. You have to include the trailer weight as well.
How much does a trailer weigh? If you have an ultra-lightweight jet ski like a youth model, you can likely use a single trailer. This trailer type weighs around 195 pounds. For jet skis around 300 pounds, try a double trailer that’s 340 pounds.
When towing a jet ski that weighs 500 pounds and up, a double-elite trailer should more than suffice, as one of these weighs 2,900 pounds. Only in rare instances would a four-place trailer be viable since this trailer weighs 5,400 pounds.
Why Abiding by Your Jet Ski Weight Limit Is Crucial
Besides the weight of the jet ski, manufacturers will list another weight-related value, the weight capacity or limit. This is the max allowable weight on your jet ski. Whether you reach that limit through an extra passenger, a full gas tank, or lots of storage doesn’t matter so much. What’s much more important is never surpassing your jet ski’s listed weight capacity.
Why? Ignoring the weight capacity decreases the stability of your watercraft. Your jet ski may not control well, especially as you gain speed. You try to come to a stop as you near the docks, but your jet ski won’t cooperate and you hit the dock.
We’re sure we don’t need to tell you this, but jet ski crashes can lead to hospital visits, pricy medical bills, repairs to your jet ski, not to mention possible losses of life. It’s one thing if it were a genuine accident, but if you hit another jet ski rider and it’s then discovered that you were over the weight capacity, your negligence could lead to the injured rider taking you to court.
What are the weight capacities for the jet ski models we discussed above? Here is a list to get you started:
- Kawasaki Ultra 310 LX: 496 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTX Limited 300: 600 pounds
- Kawasaki Ultra 310R: 496 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTX Limited 230: 600 pounds
- Kawasaki Ultra 310X SE: 496 pounds
- Sea-Doo RXT-X 300: 600 pounds
- Sea-Doo RXP-X 300: 400 pounds
- Kawasaki Ultra 310X: 496 pounds
- Sea-Doo Wake Pro 230: 600 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTX 230: 600 pounds
- Sea-Doo RXT 230: 600 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTR-X 230: 400 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTX 155: 600 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTI Limited 155: 600 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTR 230: 600 pounds
- Sea-Doo Wake 155: 600 pounds
- Kawasaki Ultra LX: 496 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTI SE 130: 600 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTI SE 155: 600 pounds
- Kawasaki STX-15F: 496 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTI: 600 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTI SE: 600 pounds
- Yamaha EX Deluxe: 529 pounds
- Yamaha EX Sport: 529 pounds
- Sea-Doo GTS: 600 pounds
- Yamaha EX: 529 pounds
- Sea-Doo 2 up Spark: 352 pounds
- Sea-Doo 3 up Spark (90 horsepower): 450 pounds
Final Thoughts
Jet skis weigh 500 to 1,000 pounds on average, with some sporty jet skis in the 400-pound threshold and others just scraping by the 1,000-pound mark. When shopping for a jet ski, do take a moment to differentiate between the curb weight and the dry weight, as the latter is when the jet ski is completely empty. Adding fuel can make a big difference to your overall weight!
Keep the jet ski’s weight capacity in mind too whenever you ride. If your watercraft is meant for only one person, don’t try to bring anybody else with you. Watch your gear and cargo limits and don’t overfill the gas tank either. Best of luck!