ABOUT KAWI PERFORMANCE
Skilled Professionals Offering Expert Solutions
How we came to be
KP wasn’t always Kawi Performance or even a thought, for that matter. The story starts quite a ways back in 2008 when Steve (The Owner) purchased a used Jet Ski from the local dealership. That jet ski somehow turned out to be an 08 Ultra 250, which was ridden strictly in the salty waters of the South Shore of Long Island. Steve was just getting into his senior year of high school then. Always riding the machine, he became great at filling the machine up with gas and getting down and dirty with repairs. Born from a family of builders and Engineers, figuring things out wasn’t difficult for him. In 2012 Hurricane Sandy hit hard, which took out his beloved Ultra 250. Steve purchased the ski back from the insurance company and decided to fix her. Since Steve was studying at College for Mechanical Engineering, the overhaul took about two years. In 2014 Steve started advertising on eBay and Craigslist for Supercharger repair, something that nobody could do. After getting a ton of repairs from people all around the world, a small garage in a friend’s backyard turned into a tiny shop! That was when the repair business began! In 2015 Kawi Performance was founded. Steve was only 25 at this point! KP strictly repaired Kawasaki Ultra Jet Skis. Word traveled fast as Kawi Performance became the go-to place for Kawasaki Ultra repairs. Ultra repairs turned into parts, a website, and other Kawasaki machines. A larger facility was needed, so we moved to our current shop in 2018. Our ever-popular products and high demand caused us to double our space to hold even more inventory in 2020. Currently, we house 15-25 repairs at a given time, an engine building section, and a massive ever-growing inventory floor. Keep scrolling to learn more about Kawi Performance.
Why Us
When Steve founded KP, we became a big deal for a reason. His attention to detail, remarkable vision of how things function, materials, and ever-growing ability to always improve, always brought him to the top. There is no question he cannot answer, and I urge you to try! Steve is self-taught and self-educated in the many fields required to run a successful Jet Ski business. Many things go on behind the scenes that most people do not even realize. That process starts with having the know-how to do a repair and diagnose, from designing a part to putting it on the shelf. And trust me, Steve can do every step, in every process, and still answer the most difficult questions nobody else can answer! Even to this day! The cool part about it all is the detail, and you really don’t understand until you meet him. Every KP part is drawn up on Autodesk Inventor from scratch. Steve makes a 3d model and has all the components made to his specifications. If parts are not to his exact specifications, they are remade or thrown out. Trust me; a lot is thrown away. This is why you get a premium part! Anyways, once the parts are made, Steve does the assembly and the testing. If the part works as intended and passes a vigorous field test, we put the part on the shelf. Most companies these days are in the business of copying. They copy the OEM product or copy another manufacturer that has a great product. Look at Riva; for example, everyone tries to copy them, and it is sad to see. They put a ton of money into R&D, and it isn’t honest to steal their ideas. In order to combat this, we keep assembly, manufacturing, and suppliers in multiple locations so that no one supplier can make our complete part.
Kawi performance
today
Today, we have a pretty fast-paced facility, with the addition of a larger, ever-growing crew. Inventory continues to grow as well as demand for new, higher-quality products. We currently have a new marketing department that is well underway, creating new videos, content, and ideas for an even bigger future. Keep a lookout for cool stuff! Steve is still heavily invested in daily processes, and if you call the tech line, most likely, you will be talking to the man who makes it all happen!
What Our Future Looks Like
KP is dedicated as always to offering the absolute best customer service and quality. We plan on expanding our inventory even further and are already branching into Seadoo and Yamaha parts. So you will see those soon! Our new and long-awaited new website is underway, which will be up soon. In the next few years, we plan on expanding a location down in south Florida with an additional warehouse and parts supplier/ repair shop. Lastly, our biggest goal is to work side by side with Kawasaki Motors and their development and testing team. We definitely bring a ton of experience and know-how to the table that nobody else can even touch. We would love to work side by side with Kawasaki and transition that out of Australia to where it should be!