WaveRunner (WR500)

The Yamaha WaveRunner (WR500) is recorded for seven consecutive model years, 1987 to 1993. Where recorded, every WaveRunner (WR500) year is a carburetted two-stroke, with the engine recorded as 500.

At a glance

Years made: 1987 to 1993
Engine, as the records hold it: 500
Strokes: Two-stroke
Fuel system: Carburettor
Hull type: Sit-down
Japanese market code: MJ-500T and MJ-500TP
Model years on record: 7
Checked: None of the seven WaveRunner (WR500) model years verified, which needs a check against the maker's own document, which the row names, and an engine figure; all seven name a source below.

Some Yamaha numbers are measured sizes rather than the number in the model name: a GP760 is held as 753, a GP1200R as 1131, a GP1300R as 1296. None of these figures has been checked against a Yamaha document unless a cited source states it.

Not your year? For other WaveRunner years: WaveRunner III, 1990 to 1993, 1995 to 1996; WaveRunner VXR650, 1992 to 1995; WaveRunner III GP, 1994 to 1995.

1987
1988
1989
1990
1991
1992
1993

Solid: a row in the table

The Yamaha WaveRunner (WR500) from 1987 to 1993, one square for each model year, a decade to a row; follow a square to its row.

How we know: The 7 WaveRunner (WR500) rows in the year table, with each row's grade and the engine cells it prints in bold.

Year by year

No recorded engine, fuel system, stroke count or hull type changes across the WaveRunner (WR500)'s 7 model years.
Model year	Engine, as the records hold it	Fuel system	Strokes	Hull type	What the record says	Source
1987	500	Carburettor	Two-stroke	Sit-down	The first WaveRunner. Yamaha's own histories give a November 1986 Japanese release for the MJ-500T, and the US parts catalogue carries the code WR500H for 1987. Yamaha did not invent the sit-down, which was Bombardier's in 1968; what Yamaha made commercially successful was the seated tandem runabout.	Source 1
1988	500	not recorded	Two-stroke	Sit-down	US model code WR500G. The weakest row in the Yamaha block. Yamaha names no 1988 model anywhere: its own chronology gives the bare code MJ-500TP and nothing else, so the name and the year come from a parts catalogue rather than from Yamaha. Two stroke is a deduction from Yamaha's own claim that the 2002 FX140 was the world's first four stroke personal watercraft. Listed under its own name until 2026-10-02, when the code family and Yamaha's MJ-500TP placed it in the WaveRunner (WR500) line.	Source 2
1989	500	Carburettor	Two-stroke	Sit-down	US model code WR500F.	Source 3
1990	500	Carburettor	Two-stroke	Sit-down	US model code WR500D.	Source 4
1991	500	Carburettor	Two-stroke	Sit-down	US model code WR500P.	Source 5
1992	500	Carburettor	Two-stroke	Sit-down	US model code WR500Q.	Source 6
1993	500	Carburettor	Two-stroke	Sit-down	US model code WR500R.	Source 7

Sources

Partzilla OEM parts catalogue, Yamaha WaveRunner 1987 model index, listing the code "WR500H" (the page prints no name beside it), partzilla.com ; Yamaha Motor Co. Japan, Marine Jet history, yamaha-motor.co.jp (the MJ-500T, "Wave Runner", released in Japan in November 1986) ; Yamaha Motor Co., global WaveRunner history, global.yamaha-motor.com (1986: "Yamaha released the WaveRunner 500 (Marine Jet 500T)") ; Partzilla and the Yamaha Japan pages retrieved 2026-09-21; the global history retrieved 2026-09-09. (model year 1987)
Promo-JetSki OEM parts catalogue, 1988 WaveRunner year index, promo-jetski.com Retrieved 2026-09-10. Model year and model code only. Enthusiast compilation, not a Yamaha document. (model year 1988)
Partzilla OEM parts catalogue, Yamaha WaveRunner 1989 model index, listing the code "WR500F" (the page prints no name beside it) for that model year, partzilla.com Retrieved 2026-09-21. (model year 1989)
Partzilla OEM parts catalogue, Yamaha WaveRunner 1990 model index, listing "WAVE RUNNER - WR500D" for that model year, partzilla.com Retrieved 2026-09-21. (model year 1990)
Partzilla OEM parts catalogue, Yamaha WaveRunner 1991 model index, listing "WAVE RUNNER - WR500P" for that model year, partzilla.com Retrieved 2026-09-21. (model year 1991)
Partzilla OEM parts catalogue, Yamaha WaveRunner 1992 model index, listing "WAVE RUNNER - WR500Q" for that model year, partzilla.com Retrieved 2026-09-21. (model year 1992)
Partzilla OEM parts catalogue, Yamaha WaveRunner 1993 model index, listing "WAVE RUNNER - WR500R" for that model year, partzilla.com Retrieved 2026-09-21. (model year 1993)

In Yamaha News

Other Yamaha models named WaveRunner

Cite this page

“Yamaha WaveRunner (WR500)”, BaddJet archive, https://baddjetarchive.com/reference/yamaha/waverunner-wr500/

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