Went to an auction sale today to look at a few cars... all of which were complete junk and sold to a scrap guy. There happened to be a Mokai there.
www.mokai.com if you don't know. Its a jet propelled kayak.
So I bought it. Its several years old, but has never been out of the box. I'll probably flip it.
Anyone have one? Anything I should know?
NOHOME
UberDork
10/17/15 5:19 p.m.
Kinda cool yeah, but I would think that a Seadoo would do anything it does ten times better?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NIbZPiBwBgQ
Woody
MegaDork
10/17/15 5:33 p.m.
That looked a lot like "So I bought a Moke!"...
My father may be interested if you decide to flip it. He's been intrigued by these things for about 5 years.
That name sounds familiar. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=89-SerAttxE
I think Toyman made a prototype of something similar
It's like a kayak minus the suckiness!
Joey
iceracer wrote:
Subaru engine ?
Honda. Suby's came around in the last few years from what I understand.
A friend of a friend has one and uses it rather successfully for scavenging fossils and artifacts out of rivers and deltas. I've never tried it myself.
He priced out a bunch of spare parts to have in case of trouble, and it was an order of magnitude cheaper just to have a spare engine in his truck. I think it is one of those pressure cleaner or mower engines, about $600 all in.
They are just a standard universal engine. You can use a Briggs, Robin, Tecumseh, Honda... as long as it is the 3/4" keyed shaft, they're pretty universal. You can use one of those Harbor Freight engines too. They're not 100% universal... some of the larger displacement/longer stroke engines have a taller distance from the mount to the crank centerline, but its just like repowering your lawnmower, or log splitter.
This one is the GX190. The popular upgrade is the Suby EX21 with an EX17 head for more compression. Those guys are pushing 20mph, but in stock form like mine, 12-14mph is more common.
I'm already going crazy trying to figure out how I could repower it, but unfortunately there are few resources. I found a mokai forum where the owners are upgrading, but they are very mild upgrades. So when I ask the questions like "how much top speed could the hull handle safely" or "What are the limits of the stock jet pump" no one responds because no one seems to know. None of them seem to have gotten the bug to do hardcore tech. All they know is that there is one engine that makes it a little faster and that's it.
I'm drooling thinking about the powerhead from a 30-hp evinrude and a 90-degree gearbox. 40mph in a kayak? Yes please.
One of my most limiting factors will be the jet pump. It is proprietary and set up to nicely match 5-9 hp. I think if I really end up modifying it, I'll have to hack the hull for a more common pump. No one makes impellers for it, so the only option for this housing is the stock impeller.
In reply to curtis73:
The Rotax's 30 HP at 11,500 RRM is only a little bit more than that Honda. You don't think that impeller could handle it?
Hmmmm.... 3:1 gearing, 30hp up from 6, carry the 7...
My calculator says "try it and report back after the hospital visit."
JThw8
UltimaDork
10/18/15 12:20 p.m.
could have mild, semi local, interest should it go up for sale.
JThw8 wrote:
could have mild, semi local, interest should it go up for sale.
If it goes for sale, I'll post it in open classifieds.
I put it on CL for a slightly high price. I don't really want to sell it yet (and the two of you in this thread have first dibs of course) but I'm just trying to judge market value with a CL ad. Just didn't want any of you getting curious and doing a CL search and saying, "hey that weasel promised us..."
Mokai on CL
Ok, officially for sale now. I sat in it for a little today. Long story short, I had to call the chiropractor. Somebody take it off my hands. $3000 negotiable.