1993 Kawasaki 650SX Custom Build

Builds

By Dillan Stapler

WHERE IT ALL STARTED

I found my passion for standup jetskis, and particularly this 1993 Kawasaki 650SX, back when I was in middle school when I met a few friends on our dock who rode standups, Blasters and other very fast skis. Next thing you know my dad buys a 30ft flat bed trailer, full of hulls and jetski parts, from a local guy here in Georgia named Will. Then the addiction started. I dropped the passion in 2010 for 10+ years until recently picking it back up.

MY FIRST SKI

My first ski was a Kawasaki JS440. My dad decked it out for me with purple paint and yellow Hydroturf. Everything inside was stock. But man was that ski a good trainer! I moved up a year later when I found my passion for the Kawasaki 650SX, which came modded with a beautiful polished aluminum handlepole too. It was Kawi green with orange Hydroturf. Man she stuck out on the lake. I loved that ski. Forever the 650SX had a special place in my heart.

MOVING FORWARD

I’m just your everyday recreational rider, who enjoys working on them and improving my riding in vintage freestyle and wake jumping. I did recently buy another 650SX that is a BP swapped called the “650sxPRO” aka STINKY. I dedicate her to carving and going fast. There may be plans of competing in the future but for now I just enjoy them in my free time.

THE BUILD

Once I got back into the sport in 2020 I purchased my current 1993 Kawasaki 650SX. At the time she was 100% stock, all the way down to OEM loctight. She was so clean you could eat out of it. I decided to tear into it to find out the pistons were chewed, but still had 150psi which was mind boggling. That’s when the build started. I wanted to take a clean ski, make it look like someone bought it new in 93, and went crazy with the colors and mods and bump up the performance.

THE BUILD

I rebuilt the stock motor. Paul Lehr JR honed the cylinders and lightened my flywheel. Will McDaniel put the engine together for me - nothing too crazy from stock. I went with all the Westcoast goodies: Westcoast head, intake manifold, exhaust manifold, exhaust, WC velocity stack, and aqua nuts.

I then installed a new Mikuni SBN 44, PJS fuel pickup, PJS throttle, PSI grips, all new lines, Hooker 9/15 impeller, quick steer plate, Ocean Pro ride plate, PJS intake grate, pump stuffer, and recovered everything with pink and some blue turf. She’s a lot of fun and I’m in love with the sport again, which is even better.

And so she was reborn as PINKY. She’s running a solid 185 psi.