Valiant v 490 any experience ?

ian parkes · 21 June 2006, 23:51

Has anyone any experience of valiant v490 . Iam looking at buying one but cantget any info on them . Its a 2000 boat in red with 75hp which I believe is max engine size .
I have seen the Valiant web site but the model has changed to a more leisure styled boat .and there is little info or pictures

Jieboy · 22 June 2006, 20:31

Used to have one, I will try and answer any questions you have? Here is mine

ian parkes · 22 June 2006, 20:57

Thanks Jieboy
I was begining to think nobody had one .

The one Iam looking at is similar to yours , exept it has a bench seat across the stern . its a 2000 boat

I can't find a pic of the hull . Is it a proper deep V ? ie a good sea boat .

In general was it a good boat . and how solid did it feel.

The one Iam looking at has a 75 mariner and although valiant say up to 80hp I fear it may be overpowered .

The tubes are made of Acron I think , is there any quality or repair issues with them .

Anything to look for problem wise when I view it
Cheers ian

swginn · 23 June 2006, 00:30

Had exactly what you're looking at. Valiant 490 with a Mercury 75 (same engine). To be honest as long as the boat is structurally sound she can handle 75hp no problem, but it will scare the sh#t outta you. Hull is ok, its not the best for its size, but it's not the worst either.

A good quick RIB, expect 35kts, solid enough too but don't expect too much comfort.

Presume it's a 2stroke Mariner ya? 4stroke will be too heavy and destroy the balance of the boat.

I'll be honest and say that we outgrew ours very quick, we only got a season out of her, but bought at the right price and made a nice profit. It's an ideal starter RIB but if you want something more serious, without breaking the 5m barrier then it's gotta be a Ribcraft 4.8, Searider 4.7m (rare!) or a Redbay 4.5.

Will answer any questions you have!

ian parkes · 23 June 2006, 18:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by swginn

Had exactly what you're looking at. Valiant 490 with a Mercury 75 (same engine). To be honest as long as the boat is structurally sound she can handle 75hp no problem, but it will scare the sh#t outta you. Hull is ok, its not the best for its size, but it's not the worst either.

A good quick RIB, expect 35kts, solid enough too but don't expect too much comfort.

Presume it's a 2stroke Mariner ya? 4stroke will be too heavy and destroy the balance of the boat.

I'll be honest and say that we outgrew ours very quick, we only got a season out of her, but bought at the right price and made a nice profit. It's an ideal starter RIB but if you want something more serious, without breaking the 5m barrier then it's gotta be a Ribcraft 4.8, Searider 4.7m (rare!) or a Redbay 4.5.

Will answer any questions you have!

Thanks for that
Yes its a 75 mariner and the boat looks identical to yours .
A 4.8 ribcraft would be nice but is hard to find so this would do for this season . What was the fuel consumption like cruising , thats the big unknown , and what did it cruise at ?
Cheers Ian

Alice · 23 June 2006, 19:10

It'll burn half as much as my Mariner 150.

It'll be fine on fuel Ian as long as you keep the big posey Mrs Sticky stylie power turns to a minimum.

ian parkes · 23 June 2006, 19:22

ALICE !! how are you

So this is ok is it ??
Half as much fuel as your mariner is ok for me
I like the layout on this for the family . Room for caja behind me or with me or mum on the back seat .

Alice · 23 June 2006, 19:33

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian parkes

ALICE !! how are you

So this is ok is it ??
Half as much fuel as your mariner is ok for me
I like the layout on this for the family . Room for caja behind me or with me or mum on the back seat .

Where is this boat advertised? I've not read the details.

ian parkes · 23 June 2006, 21:40

Help
The seller is prepared to meet me at Bristol this weekend. There is nowhere to launch in that area to try the boat , how big a risk would I be taking to just buy it after hearing the motor run with a hosepipe .
Seller sounds very genuine and want's me to try the boat , but that means getting to North Wales I guess .

To top it all the exhaust has just broken on the transit so have borrowed Mums car for the Day as my car has no Hook .

Alice · 23 June 2006, 21:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian parkes

Help
The seller is prepared to meet me at Bristol this weekend. There is nowhere to launch in that area to try the boat , how big a risk would I be taking to just buy it after hearing the motor run with a hosepipe .
Seller sounds very genuine and want's me to try the boat , but that means getting to North Wales I guess .

To top it all the exhaust has just broken on the transit so have borrowed Mums car for the Day as my car has no Hook .

Where's the ad for the thing?

ian parkes · 23 June 2006, 21:50

se your PM's

Downhilldai · 23 June 2006, 21:50

You can launch in Bristol Docks, but you'd need to get all the way down the River Avon to Avonmouth before you can open her up (M5 road bridge). You've got about 2 hrs either side of HW on the Avon, but HW being 18:00ish probably puts that one out of the window.
Can't you meet the guy somewhere else, where you can give it a blast?

Alice · 23 June 2006, 21:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian parkes

se your PM's

I've deleted 'em by mistake.

Send again please.

ian parkes · 23 June 2006, 21:54

Yes I can go up North wales and meet him there . He lives 50 miles from the water in Cheshire

Neil Harvey · 23 June 2006, 22:08

Hi Ian,

A few years ago, I'd have said you'd be fine buying a boat having only seen it running on a hosepipe...before I did exactly that and bought a boat that was happy running on muffs, even in gear at revs, but always cuts out on the water after about 30secs at any sort of speed. I think it's a fueld problem but have not managed to fix it yet. Now have another boat and have to find the time to fix it before selling on, as I don't want to land someone in trouble whilst out on the water. Stupid thing is, it always starts straight away again after it's stopped.

So anyway, if you can water test it, it'd be much better. I insisted on it when I bought the Searider. Putting a load on the engine can highlight problems not apparent with no load.

Hope this helps and good luck with the hunt.

Neil

ian parkes · 23 June 2006, 22:18

There is a reciept for a full service at Bill Higham Marine in april and the boat has been used once since .

Was thinking of a fair deal I could do to cover any problems .I could Drive the thing back from Bristol and check it out on the water at Saltash within 2 hours of purchase . But no on is going to let me take the boat without all the money up front ,and writing something is no good , I would just have trust .

Alice · 23 June 2006, 22:31

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian parkes

There is a reciept for a full service at Bill Higham Marine in april and the boat has been used once since .

Was thinking of a fair deal I could do to cover any problems .I could Drive the thing back from Bristol and check it out on the water at Saltash within 2 hours of purchase . But no on is going to let me take the boat without all the money up front ,and writing something is no good , I would just have trust .

Just threaten to break his fingers if it's not 'all good'.

ian parkes · 23 June 2006, 22:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alice

Just threaten to break his fingers if it's not 'all good'.

Iam takin the missus that should be enough , I won't feed her untill after we have seen the boat , she will probably make the guy swear an oath with his nuts in her hand

Alice · 23 June 2006, 22:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by ian parkes

Iam takin the missus that should be enough , I won't feed her untill after we have seen the boat , she will probably make the guy swear an oath with his nuts in her hand

Then eat 'em!!

ian parkes · 23 June 2006, 22:42

she never gets that hungry