What year Byerly??

Hey all,

I have a Byerly 142 board that came with the boat I bought, and I can't figure out what year it is. I looked on the WW board guide, and didn't see it in any of the previous years for Hyperlite (all the way back to 99). I bought the boat in '01 and the guy told me it was a pretty new board. The top has a muscle bound chick in a bikini and a bunch of red splats and stuff that looks like blood. At the tail it says "shaped by Butch". The bottom says "Byerly" in that same splatty bloody stuff. I'll post a pic when I get home tonight, but from that description, does anyone know what year that board is??

Thanks!
J

it is one of the limited graphic ones from 2001.

nice ride...just swap the fins for .2's

I have same board on my wall. It's the first board Byerly did with Hyperlite, so I think that makes it a 2000? They called that one the "limited edition" so that's why you haven't found it on here.

that's wierd because they have both the 137 and 142 "limited" eds for 2000, but don't show any for 2001 up.....anyway...thanks for the trip down memory lane guys! I learned to ride on the 2000 142 Byerly, rode a 2000 belmont for a while, and still have the 2000 139 finless Byerly in my bonus room....good times!

Thanks for the input, guys. Yeah, the fins are HUGE. I need new bindings - one of the pull holes ripped through, and I was thinking of getting a whole new setup. I'm interested in the Absolute, Transcend, Watson, and Natural. Can anyone compare/contrast any of those boards with my Byerly? (pop, feel, speed) I'm 6'0" 175, an intermediate rider looking to get spins down more solid, and add more inverts to my list - and the '01 Byerly is the newest board I've ridden.

Thanks again...

Oh, and I do plan on demo-ing this weekend, but I'm trying to narrow down the list a bit so I don't have to demo too many boards.

Eric,

Your profile says you ride a Watson. 07? 06? How do you like it? How does it compare to the '00 Byerly you learned on?

Thanks,
J

my buddy actually rides that board STILL. LOVES IT. He has yet to find anything that rides close to it- wont ride anything else until then. however he has tried and bought some of the boards listed above- here is what he said.
07 Transcend- the closet comparison to that byerly is the transcend. Great Buck and nice landings- however waiting to try out he new byerly.
The 06 watson- does not have the crazy 'buck'. He actually has the board and doesnt even ride it.
The 07 absolute- didnt seem to have the crazy buck either.

He is eager to try out the new byerly- Looks similar to the old byerly but with some updates.
our local proshop doesnt have their demo program up and running yet.

jason....I have the '07 and I really like it. From what I can remember....which is less than you'd think....that Byerly was a tank but gave me a good sense of security on the water...it was big, slow, and stable. The pop was very unpredictable...but keep in mind that I was a true beginner back then and didn't really have great edging technique. It did seem like no matter how I came down, the board was big enough to right itself on the landing.....and the landings seemed very soft...which may just be the result of 24 year old knees/ankles going w2w back then versus those same parts going deep into the flats at 31.....I hate getting old! Anyway....I don't think there is anyway to compare the two....they are very different....and I am a different rider than I was back then. I will say that the Watson isn't the fastest board I've ever ridden (that prize goes to the Trip) but it's definitely not the slowest either. Hope that helps.....good luck.

Man... I loved that original Byerly shape. IMO still on of the best boards made. I wish I still had my '01 around

Thanks Eric. I just turned 33, so I can relate! I'm going to demo as much as I can this weekend, and the Watson is at the top of my list.

Randy - that helps, thanks. I like the big pop, but I'm really wanting to be more consistent now instead of just going huge every time. I agree with Eric that the pop can be unpredictable especially when you really go for it. Part of my problem might be not filling the fat sacs enough. I just want to get on the water, so I take a run without ballast, but then want to go big, so I take huge cuts at a smaller wake. It still gets me up there, but it'd be much more predictable with a w2w-sized cut at a bigger wake.

Evan - hearing you and many others say stuff like that makes me wonder if I shouldn't just get some new bindings and keep riding the Byerly. I really don't have any complaints about the board - just the bindings - I just want to try something different.

The other thing I need to figure out is size. My Byerly is 142, but I've never ridden anything smaller. I'm 175, so something in the high 130's might work. I want to try the 138 Watson. Someone is selling a blem Transcend 138 right now for cheap, so I definitely want to try that one as well.

Thanks for the input...
J

If you like the Byerly...check out the Harris.. or the new Legend Series from GB

Forrest is right about the harris. Stay away for the byerly legend IMO. I thinks it's way too slow and heavy. I think the watson rides very similar to the 03 byerly just a bit looser. The watson also has no problem with pop.

I tried all of the above and liked the Watson as well, it was too tight with the fin and a little loose for me without it. I tried some more boards and found the LF Axis is a lot like my "03 Byerly but a lot lighter. The PS3 had the biggest pop of all the boards I tried

(Message edited by liveoz on June 08, 2007)

Hmm, I would have expected the Watson to pop a little bigger. Was the PS3 slower as well? Or maybe you tried a longer PS3 than Watson so it had more surface area and felt like it popped more?

I picked up a Watson 142 and a Witness 140 today for demo. They are both brand spanking new - he took the plastic off of them right in front of me. I'm barely able to function here at work with those sitting in my SUV 200 ft away. Will be trying them out tomorrow. I'll post opinions.

!!!!

First of all, I was surprised when I took the bindings off my board ('01 Byerly) to find that it was no heavier than either of the 2 new boards. In fact, it may have been slightly lighter.

It was a nice day temperature wise, but very windy, and super choppy. We found the calmest stretch, but it was still a pretty rough.

Witness 140: I really liked the way this board rode. It was loose enough to pop it free anytime I felt like it, but edged and tracked very well. It was easy to cut hard, and hold the edge all the way up the wake. The pop was consistent, but still respectably big. It landed relatively hard - I didn't think it was any softer than my '01 Byerly. Overall, I was impressed - mostly by the handling and the board's ability to cut hard, hold an edge, but still be loose enough to surface spin easily.

Watson 142: I really wish it hadn't been so choppy for this board. Plus, I tweaked my knee a bit getting used to the Witness, so I was a little tentative on the Watson. It was a bit tighter than the Witness (we rode both boards with the 1.0 center fins that came with them), but didn't edge quite as well. I'm not sure if that's because it's a wider board, or if it's the shape or what. The pop was obviously bigger and sharper than the Witness. The landings were noticably softer as well. This board popped as well as my Byerly, but I think the pop was a bit more consistent (as close as I could tell - I wasn't riding it 100%)

I don't know if I liked either board enough more than my Byerly to spend ~ $400 on it. I'm going to try some CWB boards - maybe next weekend? I DEFINITELY need new bindings though.

Anyone have any opinions on the '06 LF Alpha?

J

(Message edited by wristy_j on June 09, 2007)