![Tigershark Jet Ski For Sale: Are They Still Worth Buying? [Video]](https://www.jetdrift.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/tigershark-jet-ski-1.jpg)
Tigershark Jet Ski For Sale: Are They Still Worth Buying? [Video]
Many buyers are looking for a “Tigershark jet ski” but they have it wrong because
the Tigershark Jet Ski does not exist!
But how can this happen, and what is the truth about the names of Tigershark watercrafts?When it comes to watercrafts, there is a lot of confusion concerning brand names.
If you are looking around, you can see several different names for the crafts.
You will see names like PWC, personal watercraft, watercraft, Waverunner, Sea-Doo, Jet Ski, SeaLion, Aquatrax, Yamaha, Kawasaki…?
The names are often confusing, distinguishing between the brand name and the models. There are differences between general terms, brand names and manufacturers!
What’s more, there are many misleading names even from some rental services in this industry.
You have probably seen ads like Tigershark jet ski for rent in some watercraft rental services!
Why “Tigershark Jet Ski” has never existed?
The confusion stems from the fact that Jet Ski is a registered trademark of Kawasaki Motors Corporation. So Jet Ski is a trademark of Kawasaki, not a separate brand. People have kind of adopted the name to describe the watercraft in a general sense; it’s a Jet Ski….But then why everyone uses this term for personal watercrafts?
Kawasaki Jet Skis were extremely popular on the market during the 80s and 90s, and it was one of best know brand of watercrafts.
Because of this during the years Jet Ski became a generalized trademark. It means now days this term is used generally used to refer to any type of personal watercraft. In fact, the term “jet ski” is really the most common term for watercrafts recently by the public.
What’s more, even laws regarding personal watercrafts will often refer to them as jet skis!
But when it comes to other manufacturers they can’t use the term “jet ski”.
The reason for that – even the term “Jet Ski” is already generalized – it still a registered trademark of Kawasaki. That’s why you won’t find even a single “Tigershark jet ski” on the market!
So then, what is “Tigershark” exactly? Is it the name of the manufacturer or the brand name of the models?
Tigershark is a brand name of watercrafts manufactured by Arctic Cat
Other manufacturers
For the same reason we’ve mentioned above, you can’t find any “Yamaha jet ski”, “Sea-Doo jet ski” or even “Honda jet ski” on the market.Again, Jet Ski is exclusive to Kawasaki watercrafts!
To clear up any confusion over manufacturer and brand, we here at JetDrift created a small summary chart with all the manufacturers and brand names.
Some of them are still in the business, while some others unfortunately have stopped producing watercrafts these days.
| Started | Ended | Brand name | Manufacturer |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | - | Sea-Doo | Bombardier (BRP) |
| 1972 | - | Jet Ski | Kawasaki |
| 1978 | 1992 | WetBike | Arctic Cat |
| 1985 | 1993 | Wet Jet | Koronis Part Inc. (Sold to MasterCraft) |
| 1986 | - | WaveRunner | Yamaha |
| 1992 | 2004 | SeaLion | Polaris |
| 1993 | 1999 | Tigershark | Arctic Cat |
| 1994 | 1997 | Wet Jet | MasterCraft |
| 2002 | 2009 | AquaTrax | Honda |
| 2004 | 2006 | Hydrospace | Hydrospace (sold to Benelli) |
| 2006 | - | Burrasca | Belassi |
| 2008 | - | Krash | Krash Industries |
| 2018 | - | Narke Electrojet | Narke |
| 2018 | - | Orca | Taiga |
After this little excursion into the world of the brand names, we can take a short look into the history of Artic Cat and Tigershark watercrafts.
Who makes Tigershark Jet Ski?
Tigershark jet skis were manufactured by a company called Arctic Cat. They’re more commonly known for their snowmobiles than personal watercrafts. Arctic Cat has projects in several other markets as well. They are a major manufacturer of snowmobiles, four-wheel drive off-road vehicles, snow blowers, mini bikes, power generators.In 1993 Artic Cat entered the PWC market as well by releasing their watercraft line under a brand name Tigershark. Unfortunately, after a decade they stopped their watercraft line in 1999.
Nowadays Arctic Cat still offers several snowmobiles, ATVs, and electric vehicles.
Arctic Cat Tigershark Jet Ski models
Arctic Cat manufactured Tigershark watercrafts for 6 years, from 1993 to 1999.The main attraction to Tigershark watercrafts is that they were small and agile; something that people still look for today. Most of their models were compact and came at an affordable price.
Unfortunately, they did seem to require more services and maintenance than other competitor models. Because of this, they were not considered to be very reliable. Something that breaks down frequently is just costing you money in repair bills and not giving anything in return.
Maintenance issues coupled with odd names contributed to their problems. Originally they named their models after popular beaches in the area. Many buyers were put off by odd-sounding names and were confused about the product in general.
In ‘97, Arctic Cat tried to turn things around for the Tigershark model and was beginning to make some headway. They made some company changes attempting to expand and join the global market. They started using different general names and the progress overall was good.
The company also released some funny TV commercials as well:
But, unfortunately, it was too late. Even with all the new upgrades and changes they made, the competitor models of that time clearly outperformed them. They stopped production and there were no more made.Even with all the new upgrades and changes they made, the competitor models of that time clearly outperformed them. Finally, they stopped production of Tigershark watercrafts in 1999.
Tigershark Jet Ski For Sale – Are They Worth Buying?
Arctic Cat released the last of their watercrafts in 1999, so you may still be able to find second-hand models in circulation.Places like eBay and Craigslist and Ebay list Tigershark jet skis for sale by owner and you can often find a few oldies if you happen to be a collector of sorts.
Should you happen to decide to buy a Tigershark watercraft, it’s the same thing as buying Honda or Polaris PWC. It’s tough to say if it’s worth it to buy a 20 year old watercraft that’s considered a classic; it would depend on what you were planning to use it for.
If you are a collector of older vessels, then yes, it would make a great addition to any collection. If you plan to ride it, then you would have to make that call yourself.
If you can manage to find one that is still running good, they’re great to ride. A Tigershark watercraft can hit top speeds pretty quickly, and they ride differently than newer models. Their small, lightweight frames can be really fun, so long as they work properly.
As great as they were, unfortunately, Tigershark watercrafts won’t be the most reliable. Even in their prime, Tigersharks had plenty of issues. It varies depending on model, year, and owner history, but it is pretty consistent.One issue is locating Tigershark PWC parts, covers and other accessories. All used jet skis have their share of problems, but when the company’s been out of business that many years, parts are often scarce and hard to find. It’s a lot harder to fix a jet ski when they have stopped making the parts for it.
Another issue if your Tigershark flips over in the water, everything in the storage compartment is going to get soaked. They were not made to be waterproof! There used to be a myth about a “dry box” but there is nothing to keep your gear getting wet if you flip over in the water.
You can probably find a used Tigershark PWC in the $500- $1,000 price range. But even if you find one with a low price, it’s probably not going to turn out to be a good deal in the long run. It is probably best to go with another brand, one that is a proven performer.
As a rider you want to be able to ride your jet ski without worrying about things like break downs and malfunctions, and it’s highly recommended that you purchase a new watercraft.
Take a look at the latest models from Yamaha, Kawasaki, Sea-Doo and Krash! Leave the headaches of maintenance repairs to someone more qualified to deal with those issues.
Takeaways
The first take away from this post that a Tigershark jet ski never existed.The title of, “Jet Ski” is the trademark of Kawasaki, while Tigershark watercrafts were manufactured by Arctic Cat. Unfortunately this company has not manufactured watercrafts since 1999.
But you can still purchase good quality watercrafts from these main manufacturers:
- Yamaha
- Kawasaki
- Sea-Doo
- Krash
These manufacturers are still on the market and offer several models to choose from:
- Rec-Lite
- Recreation
- Luxury
- Performance
- Stand Up
- Tow Sport
- Sport Fishing
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