beismeyer jet

[Blown 472]

Anyone have anything good or bad bout them, buddy has a 20 footer that he wants to sell, jg pump, bad cheby that would be coming out. :D

[Apollo]

my father-inlaw had one said it was a bad ass boat,wife said the same. he sold it a year before i hooked up with my wife

[DUCKY]

Biesemeyer only built two jet versions in the mid 70's. an 18' that looks very similar to the flattie used in circle racing and a 21' Daycruiser that was ugly as sin. The 18' was a bad mofo when properly rigged. My friend has one with a setback berkely and about 600hp (BBC). He is turning a "b" impeller at 6400 rpm for speeds in the 80's before you can blink an eye.

[Shockwave]

Hey- I have a 78' model Biesmeyer 18- at least I think it is. The HIN starts with ASK- which is Arizona Ski Boats, which is also known as Steele Marine, which was also Biesmeyer boats by Steele. I have been working on it for three years- and still haven't gotten it in the water yet. I have searched high and low for information about how it is gonna ride- not many people out there are familiar with them. The general concensus is that they are OK, but not really that great of a hull. Mine is obviously not a race hull- it is as heavy as depleted uranium- so heavy that two guys can barely budge the hull to straighten it on the trailer. Three years ago if I'd known what I was in for I would have just bought a new hull and done the rigging myself. I hate to think I may have spent three years working on a potential dog.
Once again, if anyone out there has a late 70's 18' Biesmeyer jet then post and give me some thoughts about it's manners out on the water.
Thanks,
HB

[DUCKY]

I used to work for Steele. He owned the molds for the jet version throughout the 90's, but they were all built by Cheetah Boats in LHC. That is why yours is so damn heavy. They ride reasonable, with a diverter cranked all the way down, but the bottom was designed for lots of lift (read: porpoising bitch without a diverter) It is a good design, and will run very well when properly set up.

[DUCKY]

OOPS, I just noticed that you said your boat was a 1978. I don't know who had the molds then, but I am still thinking that it was still Cheetah doing the layups, and maybe they were owned by Gary Steele's father, and produced under the "arizona ski boats" name. Just a guess.

[Blown 472]

This would be the ugly 21 footer, how is the ride on those?? it has a diverter and tabs.
The water gets really ruff around here, all the offshore boats lost there way to the ocean. It has a 12jga pump in it.

[Shockwave]

Thanks for the info Ducky- so... would you say a droop may be helpful? I have a diverter. I haven't heard anything about cheetah doing any of the lay-ups on the Biesmeyers before. Where are they located? It looks like a hand lay-up- lots of heavy roving- of course, it has been gone- through at least three times before I happened to pick it up. I re-did the stringers, put a bulkhead under the dash, added mini bulkheads on the sides in the rear to mount the gas tanks to- I kid you not, it is way heavy. I'm afraid it's gonna be a dog. It has at least three very defined strakes on each side on the bottom.
Thanks,
Hb
on the bottom

[DUCKY]

The 21' is a really heavy boat. It should ride well because of it's weight. It does not have much deadrise ("V") though. I wouldn't expect more than about 50-55 mph with a basically stock motor. The hull will respond to changes like any other though. Make sure the bottom is straight and the strakes are nice and sharp, and that the water has anice surface to flow into the pump intake.

[DUCKY]

As far as the 18'... Yours being a 1978, I am not sure if Cheetah built it or not. Cheetah is a boat company in Lake Havasu. A droop snoot will help performance, but will come at the expense of ride. As I said above, check the bottom with a straight edge for any hook and check the edges of the strakes. They should come to a sharp point with no radius at all. If the bottom is good and straight, and the pump is tight, performance will be just fine. What kind of power will you be running?

[Blown 472]

I am looking at putting my blown 472 into it, I have an e pump in my glastron and it is pretty well rung out, the beis has a jg pump in it and I have heard it has a better inlet and one can get more stuff for it.

[DUCKY]

Hell yeah, knock yourself out. With that much power, the boat will probably run into the 70's or low 80's if the boat is set up right. Normal mods always apply (straight bottom, setback pump, shoe, ride plate, diverter, etc..)

[Blown 472]

Cool, thanks for the info.

[LVjetboy]

Shockwave, Do you have any pictures? I had a 70's 18' Bies with a mild 429...my first car boat. Lot's of good memories. Engine and pump worn when I bought it. Seeing as my crestliner topped out at 45 mph, the jet seemed fast. Then I got passed by a bass boat :( and the mission for more speed was on.
Did about 55-57 mph before upgrades. Rebuilt the engine (several times) :) converted logs to headers and got a solid 60. Don rebuilt the pump, I added a diverter and squeezed 64-65. Bolted on a 100 hp NOS shot and just touched 70. Nothing special for intake hardware, just an angle iron rock-grate-loader sorta thing. I'm sure there was more in the setup, but I was new to jets then, didn't try much.
I just remember it was a great jet. You could crank that thing and turn on a dime with no hook. Handled rough water pretty well too.
I'll scan some pics of it if you like.
jer
[ October 27, 2002, 12:17 PM: Message edited by: LVjetboy ]

[jimsride]

I have a 98 beismeyer that i bought in LHC, it was built by Cheetah. It has a Legend pump, needs more hp, basicaly a stock bbc. Rough water is a real bitch, but otherwise it handles pretty well. Oh yeah, it like to porpoise.

[SB]

I've heard that the old Biesmeyers were decent circle racers.
I have the 1977 21' jet. JC pump w/ Ford. It's heavy, built for stout. They handle good and ride good esp. with those trim tabs built in. Mine is stock power and not fast. If you're expecting fast, try another hull.

[Shockwave]

Hey LVJetboy, I have some pic's- give me an e-mail address and I'll send them to you. I haven't taken the time to figure out how to post them to the forum.
HB

[LVjetboy]

No problem,
lvjetboy@lvcm.com
Still working on my scanner glitch. D*mn Hp and their xp drivers.
jer

[FLYTE RISK]

Hey L.V jet boy why did you sell the biesmeyer thats faster than your boat now?????????? wink

[DUCKY]

jimsride:
I have a 98 beismeyer that i bought in LHC, it was built by Cheetah. It has a Legend pump, needs more hp, basicaly a stock bbc. Rough water is a real bitch, but otherwise it handles pretty well. Oh yeah, it like to porpoise.That hull will run like a striped ass ape!
Play with the ride plate a little if it has one.
If is doesn't have a Diverter, it needs one!
That hull is designed to be very fast and produces lots of lift (Porpoising and bad ride)

[LVjetboy]

Flyte, oh darn...my bad :) :) :)

[Floored]

i have a 97 bies jet and love it. mine has full length stringers and is all hand laid glass. 18 ft almost looks like a semi gullwing hull. slaps in rough water and has a little wiggle at speed but wouldn't trade it. the mold is still in phoenix area.i was told most of the steele hulls were chopper gunned and heavy, mine is very light. there is no foreward bulkhead or flotation foam. get lots of compliments and questions about hull. dont own a gps but its fun and reliable even with an olds eng. actually works well for a family ski and fishing boat except it sits so low that bilge pumps work overtime. at least it looks like real boats are supposed to

[jimsride]

hey Ducky, With a legend pump can I get a ride plate that doesn't require removal of the intake grate? I agree with Floored it sits very low in the water, always worried about getting swamped forom the back. I actually sank it two summers ago from a wakeboarders wake. Don't have or can afford a gps, so have no idea how fast it will go. Pretty much a stock gen6bbc, vortec heads, bigger cam, manifold, 750dp, and headers.

[DUCKY]

Hey Floored,
I have driven your boat! I almost bought it. The old owner traded it in for a new 25 daytona at Boat Plex here in phoenix. I worked there for a short time. The boat had a 200 shot of nitrous on it when traded, but we removed it when it came in for liability issues. The guy named his new boat "Floored Again".
Steele owned the molds, but never laid them up here in the valley. Cheetah did them all when Steele owned them. I saw a couple with chopper gun decks, but the hulls are all by hand. Cheetah builds all his boats friggin heavy, unless you ask for otherwise.
As far as the Legend pump goes, I believe you have to remove the suction piece from the hull to have it machined. I have seen bolt on units, but they cause more drag than it's worth. I have been told that you can grind into the aluminum with a router, but I sure as hell wouldn't try it.

[Floored]

that is my boat alright. boat plex is gone now. night before i got boat someone broke in and stole carb, ignition, batt, bassett plumbing and cut wires and hoses all through boat. really pi--ed me off.they trashed my dream boat but i took it anyway, as is cause i had to have it. traded off single tunnel for torker, built a dinosaur 780 with gear drive, center shooters and 4 corner idle. chased down other parts and love the boat. have run 2 seasons now with only 1 major prob. steer cable broke at elsinor, would only go left, dock was to right, got out and walked boat in about a hundred yards. :mad: funny now but not then :D they discounted price a bunch to replace parts so deal was still good. boat planes out quickly and rides great but on hard turn inner edge will catch and spin boat :o any idea what impeller he had in the jacuzzi? i usually take it to lake mohave at katherines landing sometimes perris during week just to get on water. :cool:

[DUCKY]

Although it sucks that they screwed with the boat you were buying, I wouldn't doubt that someone broke in that place. Probably just to piss them off. That place was a screw job from day one. The old owner of your boat is suing the owner and one of the mechanics from that place for something. I saw him out at Bergeron not long ago and talked to him for awhile.
Glad you got yours fixed up.
I think it had a pretty big impeller like an AA or something. I only stabbed the throttle once, and I think it turned like 4800 rpm and the guy said it would turn 6k with the bottle ( I don't know if I beleive that...)