Hi,
I went to the boat show this weekend and looking at Jet sleds. The NorthRiver I want is powered by a Mercury 175hp SportJet engine. What is it, and how reliable is it? Mileage, durability, performance? Please give me some help here guys.
Thanks

I have a good friend that has a 20' Northriver Osprey. I was very impressed by Northrivers's finishing work and attention to detail. The most impressive thing about this particular boat is it's performance. I own a big block sled and have been around jets for years. The Osprey is a ROCKET. It jumps out of the hole like no other boat I have been on. It draws only a few inches of water, is very stable platform, and it has good top end. But I was still a sceptic....will it pull a tube with a 200lb guy on it. The answer....absolutely! Not my first choice in a family boat, but for a fishing platform that screams "boondog me!", I can't think of how anybody could improve upon the design as well as the performance. If I had money enough for another boat I would certainly consider the Northriver.

I have one, and I'm pretty pleased. Great power, and thus far, a pretty reliable engine. I've had mine for a year, 60 hours on the engine. No problems. My boat is a 19 ft windshield boat, and the 175 scoots it around with 4 people in it real well.

You might think about going to the 200 optimax, which will give you electronic fuel injection. This apparently gives MUCH better fuel economy, and might be better at handling altitude changes and temperature changes.

The only complaint I have is that the 175 is cold blooded in the winter. Starting it the first time on a freezing morning can be difficult. But it has always started.

All i can say is it is a pretty impressive engine. It will plane out in a boat length.
I'm happy with mine.

I have a 2000 TJ 19' with a 175 sportjet . Mine is a 200 HP Black Max (I believe) power head set on the Sportjet pump.
At 5,000 rpm it uses about 8gph of fuel, (5500 is max rpm) less rpm less fuel. Have had 1 minor carb. problem (needle stuck) and it is a little cold blooded as noted above.
Has a good hole shot and up on plane quickly . Handles the load well with up to 5 adults in the boat. I don't know what the cost difference is now between the sportjet and an inboard but it was considerable when I bought mine. It is a good motor for me so far.

Good luck

Doubletake

last week in the boat trader there was a northriver used ,one year i beleive, that had a 240hp sport jet. also I was told that honda or someone was coming out with a four stroke sport jet in the near future. I think it was honda but now Iam doubting myself,