Key Figures

Key Figures · Performance shop and parts maker

Dave Bamdas

Called the boss man at Riva Yamaha in 1996, elected in 2005 to the IJSBA board by its associate members, and named president of RIVA Racing by The Watercraft Journal in 2015, 2018 and 2026.

At a glance

Role: Performance shop and parts maker
On the record: 9 years, from 1996 to 2026
Titles on the record: none read off a held results document yet
Companies: RIVA Racing (ran), RIVA Motorsports (ran)
In the archive: 1 history chapter

The eras this page's records fall in are drawn solid; the others are hollow.

How we know: Each bar runs the years printed on that era's panel, and which eras a page falls in is the archive's grouping of its records, not the length of anyone's career.

Business

2012 · Confirmed

The IJSBA's business directory, as captured on 20 June 2012, lists RIVA Motorsports as an IJSBA Associate Member and names Dave Bamdas as its contact. The listing gives no office (read in full, 2026-10-07).

Sources: IJSBA business directory 2012

2012 · Confirmed

Three documents from three publishers name him as an owner of the Pompano Beach dealer. The IJSBA's post of 5 August 2006 calls him the owner of Riva Motorsports. A search highlight from Paul R. Josephson's book Motorized Obsessions (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007) reads "Dave Bamdas, owner of Riva Motorsports in Pompano Beach and" and breaks off there; 2007 is the book's year and not a year of his activity. Powersports Business's Power 15 profile of 28 December 2012 quotes him on the share of its Pompano Beach unit volume that is watercraft or boats and on its departments, says he owns the dealership, and lists him among the principals and owners it lists in its fact box. The 2012 profile makes him one of several principals and owners; the 2006 post and the book use the singular "owner" and do not say whether others share the ownership.

Sources: IJSBA post Bamdas reelected 2006; Motorized Obsessions 2007 highlight; Powersports Business RIVA profile 2012

1996 · Likely

Personal Watercraft Illustrated's test of Riva Yamaha's bolt-on parts for the Yamaha WaveRaider 701, run in March 1996, calls him "the boss man at Riva Yamaha of Pompano Beach, Florida". It says he sponsors four racers, sells Yamaha WaveRunners, and manufactures a complete line of aftermarket parts designed solely for Yamahas, which he researches and develops through his team of riders. The magazine met him at the Riva booth at the Dealernews Expo in Cincinnati, where he was showing new parts for the WaveRaider. The archive reads this Dave Bamdas of Riva Yamaha of Pompano Beach and the Dave Bamdas of Riva Motorsports in the later documents as one person on the name, the company and the town.

Sources: PWI 1996 Riva WaveRaider test

2001 · Likely

A Personal Watercraft Illustrated online test of Riva Yamaha's Stage II kit for the 2001 Yamaha GP1200R, captured on 16 August 2001, calls him "the head honcho at Riva" and says he insisted that the craft first be radar tested before the magazine rode it. The page prints no date of its own (read in full, 2026-10-07).

Sources: PWI online Riva Stage II 2001

2015 · Likely

The Watercraft Journal's shop tour of RIVA Motorsports and RIVA Racing, printed on 17 July 2015, says the magazine was invited by "RIVA Racing President, Dave Bamdas" to tour the facility. It quotes him on the company's engine dynamometer, on its Vi-Pec ECU tunes, and on RIVA working with the makers months ahead of their new models so that it has performance parts ready when the models are announced. The article uses the bare "Bamdas" for those quotations; the archive reads it as the Dave Bamdas the article names in its opening paragraph.

Sources: Watercraft Journal 17 July 2015

2018 · Likely

The Watercraft Journal of 20 March 2018 calls him the president of RIVA Racing, with what it calls his 30-plus years helming the Pompano Beach dealership, and quotes him presenting the 2018 RIVA Racing Limited-Edition Yamaha GP1800R, which the article says RIVA hand-assembles in a run of 25.

Sources: Watercraft Journal RIVA GP1800R 2018

2023 · Likely

Powersports Business of 19 December 2023 calls him an owner of the RIVA Motorsports dealer group, which it says had grown to four locations with the purchase of a dealership on Florida's Space Coast, and says he and three others oversee them. In the same report he says RIVA Racing is the group's aftermarket parts manufacturing and distribution business, and the report says that in the early 2000s he oversaw its development into a multi-brand manufacturer and distributor. The report uses the bare "Bamdas" from its second paragraph on; the archive reads it as the Dave Bamdas the report names and quotes in its lead.

Sources: Powersports Business RIVA Space Coast 2023

2026 · Likely

The Watercraft Journal of 12 March 2026 calls him RIVA Racing President and quotes him on the launch of RIVA Jetboat, a platform of performance kits, pump impellers and original-equipment parts for Yamaha jet boats and the Sea-Doo Switch. The article says RIVA Racing operates as a division of RIVA Motorsports, and he says the demand came from jet boat customers who already knew the company's performance work on personal watercraft.

Sources: Watercraft Journal RIVA Jetboat 2026

Contested

The documents do not agree on when RIVA Racing began. Powersports Business of 19 December 2023 says he started RIVA Racing in 1992. RIVA Racing's own history page puts the birth of RIVA Racing after the Yamaha factory race team's budget ended, without a year. Neither cites a document (each read in full, 2026-10-07). The report uses the bare "Bamdas" for its sentence; the archive reads it as the Dave Bamdas the report names and quotes in its lead.

Powersports Business RIVA Space Coast 2023 says: The report says he started RIVA Racing in 1992, before the race budget it dates to 1993.
RIVA Racing About page says: The company's own history page puts the birth of RIVA Racing after the Yamaha factory race team's budget ended, giving no year for it.

Sources: Powersports Business RIVA Space Coast 2023; RIVA Racing About page

Contested

The documents do not agree on when the dealer became Yamaha's factory race team. RIVA Racing's own history page puts the dealer's appointment as the first official Yamaha factory race team in 1992. Powersports Business of 19 December 2023 quotes him as saying he got a race budget from Yamaha in 1993 and that the Yamaha factory race team on the personal watercraft side was based at RIVA for over 10 years. Coastal Angler dates Yamaha's designation of the dealer as its official factory race team to 1997. None cites a Yamaha document (each read in full, 2026-10-07). The archive reads the bare "Bamdas" quoted in the report as the Dave Bamdas the report names and quotes in its lead.

RIVA Racing About page says: The company's own history page puts the first official Yamaha factory race team at the dealer in 1992.
Powersports Business RIVA Space Coast 2023 says: The report quotes him on a Yamaha race budget in 1993 and a factory race team based at RIVA for over 10 years.
Coastal Angler on RIVA 2018 says: Coastal Angler says Yamaha designated the dealer as its official factory race team in 1997.

Sources: RIVA Racing About page; Powersports Business RIVA Space Coast 2023; Coastal Angler on RIVA 2018

Organising the sport

2005 · Confirmed

The IJSBA's own post of 13 April 2005, "Dave Bamdas Elected to IJSBA Board of Directors", announces that Dave Bamdas, of Riva Motorsports, was elected to a first term as a representative of the IJSBA Associate Members, and that the new board would officially take office on Friday 22 April 2005. In it he is quoted as saying he looks forward to using his experience to further the sport of personal watercraft racing. The page's byline line also carries a record stamp of 16 December 2012, which the archive does not read as the posting date.

Sources: IJSBA post Bamdas elected 2005

2006 · Likely

A second IJSBA post, shown with the date 5 August 2006, says the association's aftermarket members had again chosen Dave Bamdas as their representative on its Board of Directors, calls him the owner of Riva Motorsports, and says he is in regular communication with the association and presents details of the concerns of aftermarket producers and their customers. The text prints no year, so 2006 is the date the page displays (read in full, 2026-10-07).

Sources: IJSBA post Bamdas reelected 2006

Elsewhere in the archive

History chapter: The aftermarket: shops, dealers and the teams they ran
Organisation: International Jet Sports Boating Association
Era: The makers and their machines
Era: The rule book years
Era: Three rule books, 2021 to 2026

What the archive has not read (3)

No registry record (a state corporate filing) naming him as an officer or owner of RIVA Racing, RIVA Performance Products, Inc. or RIVA Motorsports is held (searched the archive's mirror and research cache for Bamdas, 2026-10-08). The documents that do name him are the ones the claims above cite: the IJSBA's post of 5 August 2006 and the Motorized Obsessions highlight (owner), Powersports Business of 28 December 2012 and 19 December 2023 (an owner, among those it lists) and The Watercraft Journal of 2015, 2018 and 2026 (president of RIVA Racing). A Sea-Doo OnBoard post of 9 October 2012 that calls him president of RIVA was seen only in a copy saved during research and is not held, so it is a lead and not a source (searched the archive's mirror and research cache for Bamdas, 2026-10-07). The Florida Division of Corporations record is searched through a web form, which was not used.
The 2005 post says the elected directors' list would be posted shortly after, and no held document gives that list, the length of his board service or any term after the 2006 post (searched the Wayback Machine's index of ijsba.com, as saved during research, for Bamdas, board and director addresses, 2026-10-07).
The documents use different words for him: boss man at Riva Yamaha (1996), head honcho at Riva (2001), owner (2006, 2007) and an owner (2012, 2023), and President of RIVA Racing (2015, 2018, 2026). None says which post he held in which years beyond the dated document itself.

Documents cited on this page

IJSBA post Bamdas elected 2005 (web.archive.org): Dave Bamdas Elected to IJSBA Board of Directors (IJSBA news post dated 13 April 2005, Wayback capture of 22 September 2020), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2005-04-13; sanctioning body, high. The association's own announcement that its associate member companies had elected a representative to its Board of Directors, naming him, his company and the date the new board takes office (22 April 2005). High for whom the association announced and for the year of the term. The page prints the date April 13th, 2005 in its byline line beside a second date, 16 December 2012, which the archive reads as the site's own record stamp and not as the posting date; the text itself places the term in 2005. The managing director's praise and the post's statement that this was a first for the association are not used. Site menus are omitted from the held copy.
IJSBA business directory 2012 (web.archive.org): Business Directory (IJSBA website, Wayback capture of 20 June 2012), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2012-06-20; sanctioning body, high. A page of the association's own business directory, as its site showed it on 20 June 2012: RIVA Motorsports, category IJSBA Associate Member, with a named contact. High for whom the association listed as the contact; it gives no office. The company's address, phone number and email are replaced in the held copy, and the rest of the page (a members and posts sidebar) is omitted.
IJSBA post Bamdas reelected 2006 (web.archive.org): Riva Motorsports Dave Bamdas reelected to IJSBA Board of Directors (IJSBA news post dated 5 August 2006, Wayback capture of 21 September 2020), International Jet Sports Boating Association, 2006-08-05; sanctioning body, high. The association's own announcement that its aftermarket members had again chosen him as their representative on the Board, calling him the owner of Riva Motorsports. High for whom the association announced; the year rests on the date the page displays (August 5th, 2006, beside a record stamp of 18 December 2012), because the text prints no year. The association's descriptions of the company and of him ("most established", "well respected") are praise and are not used. (as IJSBA post Bamdas elected 2005 above)
Motorized Obsessions 2007 highlight (archive.org): Motorized Obsessions: Life, Liberty, and the Small-Bore Engine, by Paul R. Josephson (Johns Hopkins University Press, 2007; Internet Archive full-text search highlight), Johns Hopkins University Press, item held by the Internet Archive, 2007; editorial, medium. A scholarly book held by the Internet Archive as a lending-library item, so only one search highlight could be read, copied from a capture saved on 5 October 2026. The highlight is the end of a sentence about a local environmental assessment of personal watercraft use, then names him as owner of Riva Motorsports in Pompano Beach, and breaks off there. Medium as a published book; what the passage says about him beyond that, and what the assessment was, is not known. The year is the book's publication date and says nothing about when he did anything.
Powersports Business RIVA profile 2012 (powersportsbusiness.com): RIVA Motorsports & Marine (Power 15 Dealers, Powersports Business, 28 December 2012), Powersports Business, 2012-12-28; editorial, medium. A dealer profile in the trade magazine's Power 15 series, with a fact box that gives the year founded (1979) and lists the principals and owners by name, and a body that quotes one of them on the dealership's departments. Medium: an independent trade publisher printing a fact box of unstated origin, so it records who the magazine listed as principals and owners in 2012 and not a registry's list of officers. The profile says the dealership has an aftermarket parts business, RIVA Racing. Family details in the body are replaced in the held copy and nothing from them is used.
PWI 1996 Riva WaveRaider test (web.archive.org): Test: Riva Yamaha's WaveRaider 701 bolt-on performance package (Personal Watercraft Illustrated, 1996, Wayback capture), Personal Watercraft Illustrated, 1996; enthusiast media, medium. A period magazine's test of Riva Yamaha's bolt-on parts, run in March 1996 and posted in the magazine's 1996 web archive, which names the riders the Pompano Beach dealer then sponsored. Medium as a period trade report. The held copy has the dealer's phone and fax numbers replaced, and one sentence about a rider's 1995 season omitted under the archive's rule on minors.
PWI online Riva Stage II 2001 (web.archive.org): Riva Yamaha Stage II GP1200R (Personal Watercraft Illustrated online, Wayback capture of 16 August 2001), Personal Watercraft Illustrated, 2001; enthusiast media, medium. A magazine test of a Riva Yamaha parts package, run at a February performance demonstration and posted on the magazine's site; the page prints no date of its own, and the capture date is the only date held. Its opening says the dealer had announced a racer-support programme some months before and was, for the first time in years, not fielding a pro-level team. The article's product verdicts and the dealer's claims it repeats are not used. (as PWI 1996 Riva WaveRaider test above)
Watercraft Journal 17 July 2015 (watercraftjournal.com): The Golden Ticket: Behind-The-Curtain of RIVA Motorsports and RIVA Racing (The Watercraft Journal, 17 July 2015), The Watercraft Journal, 2015-07-17; enthusiast media, medium. A shop-tour feature on RIVA written from a visit, naming the racers the dealer's team sponsored in the 1990s. Medium as trade press; what it says of RIVA's own past is the company's account as told to the writer, and it gives no years for the riders it names. The held copy has one family detail and an editor's address placeholder replaced in place.
Watercraft Journal RIVA GP1800R 2018 (watercraftjournal.com): Gallery: RIVA Racing Limited-Edition 2018 Yamaha GP1800R (Video), by Kevin Shaw (The Watercraft Journal, 20 March 2018), The Watercraft Journal, 2018-03-20; enthusiast media, medium. A magazine's review of a limited-edition machine that RIVA Racing builds on a Yamaha, written from a ride at RIVA's test lake. It calls him the president of RIVA Racing and quotes him on the machine. Medium as trade press; the review's praise and speed figures are not used, and the dealer's account of the machine is the dealer's. A sentence on his appearance and tastes is replaced in the held copy and nothing from it is used. The editor's address is the site's obfuscation placeholder.
Powersports Business RIVA Space Coast 2023 (powersportsbusiness.com): RIVA Motorsports dealer group expands alongside space industry, by Madelyn Pegg (Powersports Business, 19 December 2023), Powersports Business, 2023-12-19; editorial, medium. A trade-magazine report on the dealer group's fourth location, built around an interview with one of its owners, with a photograph caption that names six people of RIVA Motorsports and a section on the group's history that dates the first store to 1979 and names who opened it. Medium as trade press; the history is the owner's telling to the writer. The interview also dates the start of RIVA Racing to 1992 and a Yamaha race budget to 1993, which the figure records do not print but which bear on the dates for the Yamaha factory team in the aftermarket chapter on shops and teams. Family and personal details in the body are replaced in the held copy and nothing from them is used.
Watercraft Journal RIVA Jetboat 2026 (watercraftjournal.com): RIVA Racing Launches Dedicated Jet Boat Performance Division, by Jessica Waters (The Watercraft Journal, 12 March 2026), The Watercraft Journal, 2026-03-12; enthusiast media, medium. A magazine's report on a new RIVA Racing product platform for jet boats, built around quotes from its president. It says RIVA Racing operates as a division of RIVA Motorsports. Medium as trade press; the report's promotional wording is not used, and the product plans are the company's. (as IJSBA post Bamdas elected 2005 above)
RIVA Racing About page (rivaracing.com): RIVA Racing's History: Humble Beginnings (RIVA Racing About page), RIVA Racing; manufacturer primary, low. The company's own account of its history, read from a copy saved on 5 October 2026: a shop opened in 1979, its watercraft years from 1987, and the dealer's appointment as the first official Yamaha factory race team for personal watercraft competition in 1992. Low, because every date on it is the company's own telling of its history, and it cites no Yamaha document. The held copy omits the site menus and replaces one family detail and the phone numbers in place.
Coastal Angler on RIVA 2018 (coastalanglermag.com): Built In Broward: RIVA Motorsports (Coastal Angler, Fort Lauderdale edition, 1 February 2018), Coastal Angler Magazine, 2018-02-01; editorial, medium. A short business profile in a regional fishing and boating magazine. Medium as printed trade-adjacent press; what it says of the company's past (its 1997 date for Yamaha's designation of the dealer as its official factory race team, and its superlatives) is told without a source, so a page citing it attributes the year to the magazine and uses none of its praise. The held copy omits the site menus and replaces phone numbers in place.

Cite this page

“Dave Bamdas”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/key-figures/dave-bamdas/

Add the date you read it.

On Key Figures, by name
Previous figure: Cyrille Lemoine
Next figure: Don Moyle

0 titles on the record · 12 sourced facts · 13 documents