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Installing Perfect Pass on Sportster


Nathan

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Currently have a 2003 Sportster. My 13 year old son has gotten really into slalom skiing and Im finding out not having any speed control is a major issue. Currently using my cell phone to gauge speed.. Looking into installing Perfect Pass. Wondering if its worth it with this boat? How difficult it is to install? Which gauge does it replace? Thanks for any insight. 

 

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6 hours ago, Nathan said:

Currently have a 2003 Sportster. My 13 year old son has gotten really into slalom skiing and Im finding out not having any speed control is a major issue. Currently using my cell phone to gauge speed.. Looking into installing Perfect Pass. Wondering if its worth it with this boat? How difficult it is to install? Which gauge does it replace? Thanks for any insight. 

 

- 100% worth it
- Pretty easy, especially on a direct drive.  2 hours tops
- Speedo or tach, your choice, as it has both.  I replaced my tach as it failed so it just made sense to do that.

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There are a couple other options out there besides PP these days, but it really is the industry standard.  If you're not using the course, get Wake Edition S.  If he thinks he'll be skiing tournaments behind newer inboards, opt for 3 event and add the ZBox.

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I had a 2001 sportster LX back in Hawaii.  I installed PP in about 2-3 hours.  Even back then they had step by step manual for the install.  Now you can find videos on it for probably your same boat/motor.  I'm glad I learned to tow manually but having PP is the way to go.  Plus it will allow your son to increase his skills if you have a more consistent and uniform speed.  When people use to pull me without PP, I would feel the surge of speeds and it really caused me to focus on when the driver would get the speed correct so I can do a trick.  Which limited me on honing in on skills.

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@Nathan -  First, congrats to your son for seeing the light and engaging in the slalom addiction, just wait until he finds those little orange buoys.  Awesome to see new skiers on the water.  Sportster is a great tool for slalom. 

100% worth every penny and worth the results to the person holding the handle.  For that era of boat, Perfect Pass is the system of choice and will offer a very good pull experience.  If focused on slalom and the potential of course skiing is in the future, the 3 event having course time segments is of value, either system will provide a good pull.  Systems are very easy to install.  Personally I don't like deleting one of the existing gauges so I made my own dash to accommodate the added instrument, if you do eliminate one, I would choose the speedo as the PP speedo readout is large compared to the RPM readout. 

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I have a 2002 Sportster and did the install myself this spring, it was very easy and perfect pass was very helpful. You might want to ask them to send you the photo of where you wire into the tachometer because I had trouble finding the right wire on the module. I would also absolutely recommend getting the 3-event version. It autocalibrates RPMs with speed so pulling the skier is smooth and does not overshoot. I replaced the speedometer.

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On 7/15/2020 at 5:26 PM, Woodski said:

@Nathan -  First, congrats to your son for seeing the light and engaging in the slalom addiction, just wait until he finds those little orange buoys.  Awesome to see new skiers on the water.  Sportster is a great tool for slalom. 

100% worth every penny and worth the results to the person holding the handle.  For that era of boat, Perfect Pass is the system of choice and will offer a very good pull experience.  If focused on slalom and the potential of course skiing is in the future, the 3 event having course time segments is of value, either system will provide a good pull.  Systems are very easy to install.  Personally I don't like deleting one of the existing gauges so I made my own dash to accommodate the added instrument, if you do eliminate one, I would choose the speedo as the PP speedo readout is large compared to the RPM readout. 

Thanks! Oh he has found the orange buoys.. Skiing 28 off at 32 currently.  

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