Great news

[xb03fs]

Nathan, who are you trying to kid?..............You would never be happy with a 115 on that boat.......................NEVER

I wouldn't be happy with performance but it sure would bring happiness to take my sons waterskiing and fishing evenings after work when they get older. I'm sure a big motor would find its way on if the hoa ever changed their rules or At that point the ole 200 might have to find one of them allison race boats.

 

[hirk]

Darth your point regarding all aspects of performance was what I was alluding to with running small power on the 2003,I agree with your perspective when applied to the 03 because its more of an all purpose hull compared to the 02 and think it has a place in the market rigged with 150-200's with great performance,versatillity and low cost of ownership.The 02 maybe just too niche once you take its strongest attribute out of the equation.

 

[catfish123]

Great point!

 

[Darth VMAX]

Darth your point regarding all aspects of performance was what I was alluding to with running small power on the 2003,I agree with your perspective when applied to the 03 because its more of an all purpose hull compared to the 02 and think it has a place in the market rigged with 150-200's with great performance,versatillity and low cost of ownership.The 02 maybe just too niche once you take its strongest attribute out of the equation.

it may be... but it's never seriously been sold as such so we don't really know. And according to many here its impossible to enjoy an XB2002 without big power. I guess I have been fooling myself the whole time about running a bass motor and have been miserable. Every person that has ridden in my boat has had a terrible experience as well.

If you take a tape to the two boats the only place I see a considerable difference is the front deck and wind protection. From the cockpit on back there isn't much a difference between the 03 and 02. In fact I think the XB 02 is as good as it gets for the back seaters riding in in an Allie basser. I think they are very close in comfort for 4.

 

[xb03fs]

Hasn't your fishing motor been to hydro tech for motor and lower unit mods?

 

[Darth VMAX]

Yes it has. The lower unit mods were more for better handling and I had the heads and flywheel done for holeshot. More power for pulling these big 3 person tubes.

 

[Bobalouie]

Maybe mine is smaller in the cockpit than yours Darth, or maybe its because mine is a center steer, but my wife and our soon to be 2 kids could fit back there, but it wouldnt be comfortable.

I think you are happy with your motor, no doubt, but I also think that if Wayne called you and said he wanted to hook you up with a cheap 300 hp yammie, you would try it and never look back.

You are right, most of us are looking thru a window that only sees one thing, that being speed, accelleration and performance, and we cant understand anything else. It is a window of our own experiences. You also are looking thru a window, one where outright speed and accelleration are not the most important. Those are your experiences. Niether group is able to reconcile what the other is thinking. There are more guys out there in the Allison world, and even the general boating world that have up-powered their rig than have down-powered.

If you ever ran your rig with 3 bills hanging off the back, you would probably hate to put your 200 back on it.

I dont want to see the XB02 go away, but I think Darris does. He is already marketing it only to go fast guys by not retoolong for a fuel tank. The people that would buy the boat and put a 175 on it are not going to fork over 31k for a hull, AND have to put a tank in it. The people who are going to do that are the racers and tinkerers who are going to bolt a HP motor on the back and spend the time tinkering and rebuilding.

Please take no disrespect from this, because none is intended, I fully understand what you are saying, but the decisions that have already been made at the top level, make the marketing campaign you speak of almost impossible. The hull is already cost prohibitive. Should you pay more for the quality of an Allison, I believe you should, but 31k for a hull and trailer with no fuel tank is too much for most people to justify. Now if you could get into it for 23k-24k that would be more in line, and promote sales.

 

[catfish123]

Darris is a very intelligent man. I believe that if hanging a shingle out touting all the real or perceived attributes other than speed would revive or increase sales of the 02, he would have already done so. Like it or not, most Allison sales up until possibly the 21 footers were based primarily on the speeds being achieved by those boats vs. the competition. The competition has drastically closed that gap as previously mentioned with bigger HP being available. Most people are now looking for bigger boats as our waterways are becoming overloaded with large boats and are no longer safe unless you join them with a bigger boat. The 23 footer offered with different "caps" may just fit that bill and can easily be marketed as something other than a rocket ship like the 02 was.

 

[Darth VMAX]

Like it or not, most Allison sales up until possibly the 21 footers were based primarily on the speeds being achieved by those boats vs. the competition..[/QUOTE]

Yes It WAS that way. Things are changing and Darris is heavily involved. Stay tuned because it's not all about speed anymore.

 

[catfish123]

I wish both Darris and the Allison Boat Company continuing success in the future and things do need to change in order to accomplish that. If you have the "inside track" on something, good for you.