Viper VS Vector

[STS]

Hi

I have been looking for Vipers and Vectors lately and I was just wondering about these two boats and how they compare in terms of performance and driveability.

For example, if a viper had a 150 and a vector had a 150 which boat would be the better overall performer ?

I am looking to spend around $5000 cdn for a used Vector or Viper, am i out to lunch ?

Also are old vipers really worth this much or is this guy smoking crack ?:

www.trader.ca/SendToFriend/Results.asp?id=1114893&adid=3695339 (http://)

Thanks for any advice :)

[chynewalkr]

that doesnt look like its worth 5500, keep looking

[Jeff "Yammer"]

STS .......... welcome to S&F !!!

I personally would go with the Vector ........ that little bit extra weight up front will help you out. Some will dissagree , but hey go with what you like first. Also I think the Vector can be an easier boat to get a hold of. Vector is also better looking ( IMO ).

What do you want to use it for and what power are you looking to put on it.

REMEMBER ; when shopping for a used hull have some one you trust go with you if you don't know much about the boats or there structures.

Call me any time if you have any questions 905-655-8993

Jeff

[STS]

Thanks for the Welcome :)

A vector is my first choice for sure !! I would like a Vector with a 135-150 hp outboard on the back setup to run around 75-80 mph if possible.

Vipers are nice boats too, after seeing a few vidoes of Ronnie's they kinda grew on me. Although they are very hard to find in Ontario. Vectors are easier to come by but tend to be very expensive.

[mxz]

I agree with Jeff, the Vector is a better choice and most people would say a VKing is even better. I think you will have a hard time finding a clean Vector or Viper for under $5000 cdn. up here in Ontario. Your best bet would be a road trip to the States, there are a lot more to choose from down there. There are always good deals on older Hydrostream popping up on the board , just keep an eye out.

[Jeff "Yammer"]

......... ya up here some time guys think they have a friggin boat made out of gold. You may find one in the states and its not that hard to get it up here.

Let me know if I can help.

Jeff

PS... used to have a nice V-king. Vector/V-king are so unique in styling there so ugly there hott looking.

[Pete]

hey, I saw this boat on the side of the road for sale in honey harbour.

I personally havnt spoke to the guy myself but you could probably get the boat cheap and do some work on it. The boat look like it needed some work, maybe a new core but i didnt look at it to closely.


705 756 0025 is the number and there is a 1979 (OLD!!!) viper there with a 115 inline if i can remember corectly.

[STS]

Thanks Guys !!

Vkings and Valero's are nice boats too that i am not ruling out.

Here is a nice Valero i found:

www.trader.ca/Search/Details.asp?adid=3695388&ads=3695388%7C&awatch=1 (http://)

[Scream And Fly]

STS,

Welcome to the forums! Jeff is a good person to talk to about V-King hulls. The Viper and Vector are different boats - both are a lot of fun if setup properly. I do think the Vector has more top speed potential though. The V-King is the most forgiving. There is always an ongoing debate about which is the faster - V-King or Vector. Make no mistake about it, they are ALL fast, but if you want the most mild-mannered of the three, it would be the V-King.

By the way, nice Caddy!

Greg

[STS]

Originally posted by Scream And Fly
STS,

Welcome to the forums! Jeff is a good person to talk to about V-King hulls. The Viper and Vector are different boats - both are a lot of fun if setup properly. I do think the Vector has more top speed potential though. The V-King is the most forgiving. There is always an ongoing debate about which is the faster - V-King or Vector. Make no mistake about it, they are ALL fast, but if you want the most mild-mannered of the three, it would be the V-King.

By the way, nice Caddy!

Greg

Thanks :) That is gonna be my tow vehicle :)

Yeah if i had to choose between a Vector and V-king i am not sure which i would take :)

[Fibertron]

I went with a vector, its not done yet, but hopefully soon. Finding a decent viper or vector in this area seems difficult last summer the cheapest one i saw was 5500 with big old evinrude on it. A trip to the states is your best bet. Remember almost EVERY vector/viper that doesnt have a new core will need one!!

[Streamer]

STS, I have a 1981 Viking that I'm thing about parting with, boat is just north of Toronto. PM me if intrested.

[STS]

Originally posted by Streamer
STS, I have a 1981 Viking that I'm thing about parting with, boat is just north of Toronto. PM me if intrested.


Droooollll..........

is that metallic flake black ? Or just Black ? Either way gorgeous boat !!

How Fast is it ?

[Ripper]

I'm thinking of selling... I would say around 6995.00 Complete with all props and tunes! Email me if interested or for more picts...

rippera@yahoo.com



Ripper

[quickonstep]

get the vking, i just might be a hair partial tho

fun boats, and you can spot it comin from across the lake.. they are that distinctive.

Jesse

[heath brinkley]

keep in mind, not only are vectors easier to get than vipers, they are also easier to get rid of when the time comes. ;)
faster and better looking.

[sho305]

No doubt about the finding part. I was looking for a viper until my projects got put on hold and they are few it seems. When I get back to it I am considering just getting a vector for my inline to run on becuase there are so many more. Then I could swap to a V6 later as I don't think I would want to run a V6 viper where I use it. It would be slower with the inline, but I figured it should still blow my hair back a little and I would not need a short mid for the I6.

[joed]

look WHAT EVERYONE HAS SAID IS TRUE THE VECTORS AND THE VIKINGS NOT ONLY LOOK BETER THEY HANDLE AND RESALE BETTER. THESE BOATS ARE ALL KNOWN FOR FLOOR AND CORE
ROT SO ASSUME WHEN YOU GO IN THAT THIS IS ALLMOST CERTAIN
IN THE OLDER BOATS. THERE ARE A COUPLE OF VECTORS ON THIS SITE THAT HAVE BEEN REDONE THAT APPEAR TO BE RIGHT UP YOUR ALLY. YOU WILL HAVE TO BE WILLING TO TRAVEL THO. YOU
MAY TRY THE INTERNATIONAL HYDROSTREAM REGISTRY.
GOOD LUCK AND COME BACK ON THE SITE FOR SET UP

[STS]

Geez i am getting worried with all this talk about rotten cores and transoms :(

Are there any other boats 18' and under that have pads and are decent performers ?

My buddy used to have a 18' Charger SK with a 2000 225 Merc on it and that was an amazing boat till we ripped the bottom off at 65 mph one day. Those boats are great but hard to come by and very expensive.

Any suggestions for other boats i could shop for ? I want a boat that has a pad and get get out of the water like a Hydrostream.

Thanks

[heath brinkley]

Personally, as far as high production, high performance boats are concerned (hydrostream, checkmate, ect.), I assume all have rotten cores, even if the floor is solid. People often replace floors, but rarely cores. You can't relace the core though without pulling the floor and stringers, which also means pulling the deck off. Why go through all that without replacing the transom as well?
with that in mind I consider the price of replacing all that into the boat. And when I say the price to replace it I don't mean me, although it's not difficult it's a pain in the ass. I've always wanted a vector, not a viper or a v-king but a vector, not in stripes but in metalflake. Everyone wants 4-7 G's for an old vector, and then you sink a pile of money into recoring it. I found a old vector with a blown I6 that was regularly seen blowing by my dock until it blew the motor. You could assume it was fine because of how many times I saw it fly by. Regardless I bought the boat for $1000.00 and sold the I6 for $500.00. sure enough the core is mush. Hang a V6 on that bitch and dissaster is not far away. If you find out the core is solid good for you, you just got a great deal. but I would not sink much money into any old boat that I didn't know the history of. (meaning one that's already been done). Find a good glass place near you , if they do alot of performance stuff they'll know what a vector is, ask them how much to recore, retransom, restringer, and refloor, then go from there.

[heath brinkley]

As far as other boats if you want a tunnell vee, they get out of the water quick and carry alot of top end. they're way easier to drive and handle way better than a vector. Look at shorepounder's charger tunnell vee he has for sale. Seems like it was 1000-1500 dollars. at that price you have room to work if the core needs redone. You'd be happy with the performance of that boat. just a suggestion.

[sho305]

What about the checkmates...I am pretty sure my old '73 has no core, do the newer ones have coring?:confused:

[stylishskier]

Sho as far as I know all checkmates have and had cores. Mine has a core and it is a late 60s. Almost all perf boats are cored with something... Could be wrong about mates though, maybe their layup varied through the years...

[sho305]

Could be the small ones do. Mine is a 17 vee like 175checkmate's that he re-did on a post here. Maybe the little ones (MX models?) have cores, they are much lower deck heights and obviously a much different hull design.

I can tell you my bayliner has no core:D :D

[Jeff "Yammer"]

Don't get scared by all this but it is a "need to know" thing now . There are plenty of guys including myself that would be glad to look at a few boats for ya.

Jeff

PS ..... a good starter Mod-V is also a good choice but I am still stuck on learning to drive a boat for your first HP boat ( 'stream , Alli etc etc ) Like I said let me know if you have any questions.

[STS]

Originally posted by Jeff "?????"
Don't get scared by all this but it is a "need to know" thing now . There are plenty of guys including myself that would be glad to look at a few boats for ya.

Jeff

PS ..... a good starter Mod-V is also a good choice but I am still stuck on learning to drive a boat for your first HP boat ( 'stream , Alli etc etc ) Like I said let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks a lot guys !!

Well my first choice is still a Vector, V-King or even a Charger SK or DL. Any of these boats with a 150 on the back would be perfect.

If i did have to re-core a Vector or V-king how much does something like that typically cost ? Are there any good places in Ontario that do that kinda work ?

Thanks again, all the advice is much appreciated :)

Barry (STS)

[Fibertron]

John spaith is the one to talk to in ontario about stream and glass repair, any of the mentioned repairs are very expensive all abouve 1500, i got my boat ready to lay the core and it cost me 1000 dollars, thats the start, now add a new floor, transom and stringers and it big $$$$, but once its all done your boat will rip!!

[Fibertron]

BEFORE YOU BUY ANYTHING OR EVEN LOOK CALL

John Spaeth
Hydro Stream Boats
Brechin, ON CANADA
705 484 0407

he can tell you exactly what to look for, and let you know how much a restoration will be

[heath brinkley]

STS, didn't mean to scare you away from a vector/viking, only to say I wouldn't pay 7 grand for one. Instead pay 3,000 and plan on spending another 2,000 or so getting it redone. By all means I would encourage a vector/viking, as I said I have one myself.
Jeff is right the vector/viking is a boat you have to learn to drive, while a tunnell vee is a boat you simply gas and steer and go fast. I also wasn't trying to encourage you to buy a tunnell vee over a vector/viking, only saying if your on a budget, and wanting a solid safe boat that shorepounders was cheap enough to buy and have redone without sinking a ton of money in it. It would also be a real fast easy to drive, good in choppy water, good handling boat. Although I see vectors and vikings quite often for 2-4,000 dollars. If you do spend over 6,000 on a vector/viking I would certainly take Jeff up on his offer and have him look at it for you, there are still some solid old hydro's floating around.

good luck, Heath.

[sho305]

Did Instigator sell his? That could make a nice boat and you know it can do 101mph...:cool: Long ways away though.:rolleyes:

[STS]

Yeah it seems that all the nice Hydro's are down in the US now. I remember when i was a kid seeing vectors and Vkings was so common, now they are very rare to see on the water.

What do you guys know about Charger boats ? Are they any better in terms of rotten cores ? Like i said my buddy had a charger SK for years and years till one day a chunk of the bottom just ripped off when we were blasting down the lake.

[heath brinkley]

Don't know alot about chargers, but if a chunk of bottom ripped off that's a good indication of a rotton core. Unless he hit something in the water. Again though, if you can get the charger cheap enough you can fix all that and be in it for a reasonable price. especially if it comes with a decent motor. I bought a Vegas XT that had a big chunk of bottom ripped off, owner kept saying if your good with glass it would be easy to fix. I ended up paying 800.00 for boat, rigging, and trailer after it sat long enough for him to negotiate. the core was mush, but a glass guy here made a mold of the bottom off the other side, fixed the bottom, recored it in composite coring, reglassed the stringers in and put in a new floor with a ski locker he had and gel coated the interior with 3 color webbing for 2000.00. I don't know what the price would be like in your area though.

[heath brinkley]

the stringer's on the vegas's are formed fiberglass. so he pulled out the stringers to recore it and glassed them back in. I'm sure that made it cheaper than if he would have needed to make stringers. In a few month's I'm probably going to have him pull the deck off my vector and recore, retransom, and restriger, and refloor it. If you haven't found anything by then I'll let you know the price.

[David]

Pre 1988 Chargers were pretty good. Even my brother's 89 is pretty good. The quality reputation through the 90's and now is poor.

Any old boat may have rot. Have someone check it out before you buy or budget for re-core, re-floor, re-transom.

[STS]

Thanks again everyone for all the info !!

[CUDA]

Check out www.byuboyz.com check out bad day in lafitt-- Hydrostream came apart!

[speedyfast]

here are some offerings in the trader right now

[speedyfast]

..

[speedyfast]

Vector with old inline 150 for 4600. Not bad I think, gel looks pretty good!

[Scream And Fly]

The deck looks good, but look at the bottom...

Greg

[STS]

I like the vector for sure but the motor is really old so it would need replacing and the boat itself is a 1978 which would make me worry about a rotten core. Also judging by the waterline at the back of the boat it has spent its life stored in the water so the bottom may be blistering.

[STS]

Originally posted by Streamer
STS, I have a 1981 Viking that I'm thing about parting with, boat is just north of Toronto. PM me if intrested.


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