i cant find a forum specific to Riviera boats on this forum website... does anyone have experience with this boat? The one I'm interested in has 380 hrs on CAT C-18's... My other choice was a 2006 POST 53 but the price is ridiculously high and the seller wont come down much....
I have no experience with the boat you're asking about. I have run a smaller Riviera I think a 43' Flybridge some years back. It rode fairly well and cruised around 26 knots I believe. The electrical (ac mostly) was all sorts of weird and made no sense and looked like finding parts for the electrical here in the US would be a serious challenge.
No experience with Riviera, but can tell you that C18's are phenomenal engines. Those are barely broken in.
I've worked on a number of Rivieras, including the 51. I really had no problems finding electrical stuff for them. The switches (Vimar, Carling and lighting is available from many sources, and the heavy gauge stuff from BEP New Zealand is showing up here under Blue Seas, and comes from VDO originally, I think. I actually have the master factory wiring diagram manual for all models through 2007 that I was thinking about selling. The wiring makes sense once you wrap your head around the way they do things. Like other manufacturers (Silverton, e.g.) they have master harnesses and different sub-harnesses that plug into each other with Molex gang plugs. I can't think of any major problems with the 51. The 58/60 gets a lot of sea water mist into the engine room and is difficult to keep nice. There are several Rivieras in the San Diego area and around Rockport, Texas. I spent a year restoring a Hurricane Katrina 58' in the dealer's yard, in Texas, and I don't recall any significant issues with the local Rivieras.
We took one from Wellington to Auckland and hit swells close to 3 meters. She handled it perfectly, really nice boat, I can't remember the motors in it, but in Auckland harbour we hit 30 knotts.
All interesting points. I cruised test rode a 2008 4400 SY in moderate swells built in vacuum (the first model they build this way) back in 2008 and I must admit the ride was a bit hard and was not impressed. The 4400 was also Rivera first IPS boat here powered with IPS600. OTOH then I went on a 2007 4700 SY and that boat was a beast, feel'd really well build and you could throw anything to it. Many say the 4700 is one of Riviera best boat. You should also be aware that Riviera's are more cruisers then sportfisher, yes you have amenities for fisherman but this will be very basic compared to what a Viking, Hatteras, Cabo etc will offer. Nonetheless nice boat.
Good morning, I saw your post regarding wiring diagrams, just joined this forum so I am not sure how it works but would love to see about getting diagrams for a rebuild I am doing on a 2000 model 3900.
I'll have a look at the diagrams and see how well they cover the express models. If you're interested in something specific, I can focus on that while I look through it.
My Riviera took a 12 hour bath on the bottom in the slip 6 months ago, I am redoing or replacing every device in the electrical system and replacing every wire end. So any information you can offer would be great.
I move boats up and down Baja. Bertram's, Hatteras, Riviera's and a Maritimo. The Australians make a very nice boat. Both the Maratimo and Riviera's are very well built with exceptional wood work and finish. The Riviera's fish very well with a few modifications. The Bait tank works, but too small and poorly designed. Poll storage is minimal. Nice fish lockers but no real tackle storage. Other than that the interior is very well designed. I too could not afford a Cobo that I wanted so I bought a 42 Riviera. The Australians measure the water line not bow to stern. It is actually 46.7' and 50.10' LOA. I have not run a 53 nor do I know the actual dimensions. C-18's are great motors but might be on the small size for that boat. They might be pumped up but that reduces the longevity. Just my humble opinion.