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My M240 Demo Experience


qbeam

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Good review. 

Just here to add something so simple that I'm surprised it took me so long to realize about this boat --  for lighter (150 lb) or beginner surfers, 1wedge or lift, surf L or R, and NO ballast water.  That's enough right there on this boat and its way easier to get new surfers going without the massive wall of a wave behind them that you get when you load this sucker down.  Since we "discovered" this we've made at least 5-6-7.... new kids competent surfers that can now go pester their parents into getting their own Malibu!:biggrin:

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Load the M240 with 15 people, and coolers, then go surf..... talk about a tall, steep, pushy wave, it seriously hurts to fall from the top of it.

Its definately better than my 25 lsv, but not 2x better.  

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  • 10 months later...

In calm or mild water your 25 lsv is probably excellent and the m240 not a ton better. 
 

but in choppy and even rough waters you cannot beat the M240. I traded my 23 lsv for an m240 snd my surfable days doubles. I have the lake to myself when there is wind and waves. 
 

that is the difference of the m240 and any other Malibu that isn’t clearly described. That is what truly makes the M240 the best of the best for sure in the widest range of conditions. 

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On 9/17/2020 at 9:24 AM, qbeam said:

My dealer called me the other day and asked if I wanted to demo the M240. I currently have a 19 23 LSV. I wasn't sure what to expect with the boat, I'd seen all of the marketing materials and watched videos. The reality is you really don't get a good feel for anything until you've seen and been in the boat in person. Here are some of my personal observations.

Interior:

I liked the layout, it's not crazy different from my boat. The fit and finish felt a like a step up but didn't blow my mind. The bow is nice and roomy. I really loved the air dam/middle seat that they built into the boat. The sundeck was a walk thru and you loose the sun pad as a result. After seeing the lounge seats on the Paragon everything is underwhelming when looking at seats on the stern. The seats on the back where virtually the same as the LSV. They are fine but not omg this is awesome fine.

The cooler was awesome. I hate trying to get people off the seat in my boat to get to the cooler. I mentioned to the dealer that they lost a seat with the cooler placement. He indicated that this was done on purpose due to coast guard rules. He said the boat is approved for 17 and if they were to add one more person they would have to make changes to the boat to meet the requirements for larger capacity. Basically, the cost from materials wouldn't justify the price increase to add one more person.

Materials, seems very close to my 19 but just a little more refined.

Helm: I love the armrest on the throttle side. It has the controls for the wedge, surfgates, and volume right at you finger tips, no more reaching to change those settings on the fly. The screen boots way faster and is more responsive than my 19. It's very intuitive and I was using it like a pro within minutes.

Tower: I guess it's nice. It does it's job and the power feature to lift and store it are nice. I don't have it on my boat but I usually don't ever drop the tower since it will fit in my shop with it up. This one did have the misters on it. I think these would be super nice if you lived in a really hot place. I wouldn't use them here in the Rockies. I would be concerned about hard water clogging the jets over time.

Storage: It's all under the seats. Interesting that the passenger side storage under the observers seat seem smaller than on the LSV. There are no piggy back sacks so there is storage on left and right side at the stern.I don't think you could get a board in there though. One of the few things that I disliked about the boat was how you access the life jacket tray above the engine. You had to open each hatch on the left and right side of the stern and then open the hatch to the tray. 

Sound: I'm not the guy that likes to share his music tastes with the entire lake but this boat is a fully functional outdoor concert. The sound is great and you will piss off all of your neighbors, including the ones that are four miles down the lake. If loud tunes are your thing then BU knocked it out of the park.

Swim deck: the pop out step is nice but I'm guessing I wouldn't use it. You have to pull a pin to fold it out and the same process to put it back. The platform is about 2-3 inches out of the water with all of the ballast filled so it's not like LSV where it's usually under water when we are sacked out. I'm use to the height since my ski boat swim deck is out of water.

Exterior:

Meh, I really am a traditional boat guy so the LSV lines are much more appealing.  Don't get me wrong the boat looks great I just struggle with the pickle forks, but I get it,  if you want the room in the bow you've got to change the boat somehow.

Performance:

HOLY S!&T this thing is aaaaammmmmaaaazing! It had the supercharged GM engine in it. I was so blown away with the power and ease in which the boat handled 2000 lbs more ballast than the 23 LSV. The engine was responsive and even under load considerably more quiet than my 450. I still get all tingly thinking about how the boat handled, it was every bit as maneuverable as the 23. This had the stern thrusters and those are so nice. It makes a huge difference when trying to get the thing turned around or maneuvering in a tight space. While surfing with full ballast the engine was right around 3000 RPMs. Even increasing the wedge settings didn't seem to impact performance. I can tell on my 450 when I've got the wedge set on 4 or 5. We were at about 5,500 in elevation.

Ballast:

This thing has six hard tanks built into the floor, we had the boat filled within 3-4 minutes, I think. I didn't time it, but it was freaking fast. The pumps that this boat uses are huge.

The Surf Wave:

Just stop reading right now if you don't have the quarter of a million dollars to plunk down on this baby. That being said if you want to know what you are missing then keep reading. The surf wave was INCREDIBLE! Take the LSV wave and roughly double it(ok, that might be an exaggeration, but it's way bigger). That was just with three of us in the boat. All together we weighed 500 lbs. I can't imagine a boat full of people.

We tried wedge and speed settings all over the board. At the end of the day on the goofy side we like the wedge two clicks from ramp and about 12.1 mph. This gave you a wave that you could ride about 20 plus feet back from the boat. It had a nice lip that gave good pop if you're doing airs. My son who is about 220 lbs is regular foot and surfed left side. When compared to the LSV this wave was unbelievable. On my boat he struggles to ride the wave very far back. This wave had soooo much push, in fact you had to be careful you didn't end up on the swim deck. He ended up liking the same wedge setting. If you increase the wedge you get a lot more push but the wave gets much steeper and you can't ride it as far back. I did try 1 on the wedge and it just wasn't quite enough for me but it would be good for a beginner. Actually, it may be too much for a beginner. I'd start someone out with no wedge if they'd never surfed before and they were light enough.

One thing that stood out with regard to the surf wave. You set it and go, I didn't feel like you need to move ballast around to dial in the wake. I'm sure with a few more people you might do a little of that but this boat just puts out a killer wave and there is plenty of power to spare. 

Finally: If you won the lottery or have really rich parents go buy this boat, now!

On a side note: My dealer sells Nautique as well. He has surfed the Paragon. In his personal opinion he felt the waves were similar but he gave the edge to the BU with regard to wave shape. He did say the Nautique is still head and shoulders above Malibu on fit and finish.

 

 

touche   the wave on these boats is unreal big. like you said makes the lsv wave look tiny

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I currently own a 2018 M235 with additional back ballast.  Everyone that surfs it calls it “the beast” as the wave is like pipeline.  I think the M240 is very similar in form and function (I looked at one a year ago but didn’t surf it) That said, now that Ive got 200 hours on my M235 I’m thinking about upgrading to a 2022.  My wife really wants stern thrusters for docking as our dock is in a very tough cove on the lake with crazy currents. 

Anyway, I demoed a 2021 Paragon yesterday.  Guys promised to send me video of the surf wave but don’t have them yet.  I will say the natique with the Z8 Engine is a monster.  It needs Octane 91 which Is not available on the lake but the guy said the warranty the engine with 87 and 3$ a fill up octane booster.  The stock ballast is big (I assume similar to the M240) and fills/empties much faster than my M235.  With the stock ballast the boat has massive storage capacity to actually store boards inside the boat and pretty much every thing you’d ever need to surf with a big crew.  For me not a huge advantage as I live on the lake, have my own dock and a large dock locker.  The  fit and finish IMO is pretty similar to the Malibu . The stern thrusters are  great not only for docking but also for picking people up in the water.  The stereo in the Natique with the “surf Sub” and JL system  is FAR better than the maxed out sterior in My M.  I’m sure the newer M240 is better.  The electric telescoping tower is very cool.  THe Bimini top is bigger and more stable, feels more premium. 

Now the the wave.  The size and shape of the wave is AMAZING.  The wave setting from 0-10 is pre-programmed.  The speed is a little faster at stock 11.2 versus 10.6 on the Malibu but obviously you can change all of this.  While the wave is not as tall as the Malibu it is much longer and has more push from the back making the sweet spot much more surf-able.  I tried all the setting and settled around 3-4for a great wave for push and ability to do tricks.  it’s more low wave push its easier to do tricks or cross over to the other side.  I plan on demoing a M240 ASAP as I’d like to get my order in soon so I need to decide.

Anyway, hope this helps?  

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RCorsa, 87oct plus crappy $3 booster will get you 87.x octane at best. That crap really won’t boost the octane enough for a supercharged motor. If you can only get 87oct gas, you’ve gotta add a race fuel type of additive. Torco makes one and it’s $30 a can and you’ll need @ 4 cans (128oz) to boost 80gal of 87oct to 91oct. So, $120 a tank to use it on your lake. Or, you can buy the 5gal pail of it (@ $300) and dump in 128oz of the concentrate for @ $60. That’s what I had to do when I used my boat on a lake that only had 87oct. Expensive, but it’s the only way. 

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17 minutes ago, gorilla said:

RCorsa, 87oct plus crappy $3 booster will get you 87.x octane at best. That crap really won’t boost the octane enough for a supercharged motor. If you can only get 87oct gas, you’ve gotta add a race fuel type of additive. Torco makes one and it’s $30 a can and you’ll need @ 4 cans (128oz) to boost 80gal of 87oct to 91oct. So, $120 a tank to use it on your lake. Or, you can buy the 5gal pail of it (@ $300) and dump in 128oz of the concentrate for @ $60. That’s what I had to do when I used my boat on a lake that only had 87oct. Expensive, but it’s the only way. 

Yea, not sure about that....  Aftermarket octane booster is all MMT.  There is only one chemical company here in the States that makes it while you can also import it from China.  It trashes many things, and hence why all OEM's don't recommend it.  Regardless if your octane booster is from Torco, Amsoil, Lucas or STP....they are all boosting the gasoline octane with MMT.  You need to buy higher octane fuel which has been processed (refined) the correct way from the beginning.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylcyclopentadienyl_manganese_tricarbonyl

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6 hours ago, RCorsa said:

Anyway, hope this helps?  

Yes I think opinions are helpful, but subjective. Everyone has different riding styles, rides different boards, goes different speeds. Seeing is believing.

I rode the 240 a couple years ago and didn't like the wave. I found it too tall, too steep and short in length. Others have said that can be tuned. Well I'd like to see it.

The promo videos of the Paragon look amazing, but then they have the advantage of a Hollywood film crew and a pro athlete. (If the Paragon made me surf like that guy I'd mortgage my house and buy one right now.) I just want to see videos of mere mortals riding their wave dialed in the way they like it, filmed with a phone.  

 

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4 hours ago, Five Cent Worth said:

Yea, not sure about that....  Aftermarket octane booster is all MMT.  There is only one chemical company here in the States that makes it while you can also import it from China.  It trashes many things, and hence why all OEM's don't recommend it.  Regardless if your octane booster is from Torco, Amsoil, Lucas or STP....they are all boosting the gasoline octane with MMT.  You need to buy higher octane fuel which has been processed (refined) the correct way from the beginning.  

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Methylcyclopentadienyl_manganese_tricarbonyl

Yeah, it's got MMT in it. But, from all the reading I did on it, occasional use won't cause problems. Frequent use causes spark plug problems, coats them orange and misfiring will happen. Constant use causes deposits inside the cylinder and head, leading to detonation issues. 

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On 8/27/2021 at 6:55 AM, RCorsa said:

I have a good video of the paragon wave/surfer that was taken with my iPhone. Unclear how I can upload this to the site 

I think you have to upload to youtube first, then copy and paste the link. I have one but it doesn't really belong on this thread so I'll start a new one: "Show us your wave" 

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