Thread: Overdue Review

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  1. #1
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    May 2012
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    Overdue Review



    This review is long overdue. I will be posting a more detailed review on individual components and features of the boat but I wanted to get a summary out here for everyone considering a Falcon.

    In bassboats I have owned a Triton 186 and 03 Ranger 521 and for a very short amount of time, a Phoenix 921 PHX. I have ridden in a LOT of different brands and models over the years and the one truth I will tell you is that driver matters more than the boat in many cases for ride quality. That said, the 921 PHX and the Falcon 215 are fantastic rough water boats. They will ride well with an average driver and be absolutely amazing with a great driver in rougher stuff than you can handle. If you follow any offshore racing, the person turning the sterring wheel on an offshore racing driver is the junior driver. The person adjusting the trim tabs and drives or throttles is the senior driver and the one who makes the most difference in the race. Anyone can learn their boat and learn to drive better. The Falcon keeps it nose up and does not want to stuff it's nose. It does this while keeping a relatively flat running angle. A bow heavy boat will tend to dip it's bow into a wave, especially in a following swell while a lightweight go-fast will get loose in the back end and tend to want to leave the water, particularly in a head sea. The Falcon does not display either attribute. The boat corners amazing well and does not slip. You can cut the boat hard at slower speeds or turn sharp enough at higher speeds to exert significant side G-force. The 215 does not display any tendancy to bow hook. It stays dry in side swells and crosses boat wakes very well. It does get a bit nose high on holeshot but that may be related to the prop and overall setup I am still fine tuning. Boat is still in break-in and Southern California lakes have a 35 mph speed limit around me so I am going to have to wait until I get to some big water to give final numbers. I am currently running a very clean (but used) bravo 25 XS which has the 1 inch holes that cannot be plugged. I think the 250 ProXS 4 stroke would benefit from having the holes plugged as I have to feather the throttle to avoid a touch of blowout. I have not had the boat in larger than 2 feet waves except for boat wakes so I cannot give a real rough water report yet.

    Build Quality is good. With Falcon growing quickly, there are always a few new or uninspired people that get brought in and have to be weeded out. My boat got caught up in that process and had a few things that were not finished correctly. The dealer offered to make them right both by bringing the boat by their shop or paying for the repairs required at a local dealer here in California. My water pressure gauge, jackplate gauge and one rod locker light were not connected. The factory was also helpful when I contacted them. I think the factory needs a full time customer service guy who works with owners to make sure everything is perfect but that will come with growth and time. I was planning on installing my own electronics so I have been resolving those issues as I completed that work. The wiring on the boat is standard and meets industry standards. The Phoenix had a superior wiring harness on the 921 PHX but the Phoenix has, by far, the best wiring I have ever seen in a bass boat and rivals some high end bluewater boats. I installed a positive and negative busbar at the cranking battery and will do the same at the console and the bow for my electronics. (the console already has a fuse box that is well placed and well wired but it was full with the options I already added so I want to run separate lines for my electronics. The console and bow are both very open to work on but there is not a hidden mounting place for additional electrical pieces. A mounting crossmember in both the console and bow would be good. (I am mounting my busbars with slow cure 4200 but will not be able to use screws in the bow since the out hull is what you have to work with) Carpet and fiberglass work are excellent. The padded deck is thick and immediately noticeable as a welcome feature and relief. As is obvious in any photo compared to a Phoenix is that there are less color transitions on a Falcon. A falcon can be made with a few colors as there are not that many transitions. I wish the overall gelcoat lineup incorporated a few more lines of color and flowed smoother from top cap into the hull. The color selections are a bit hard to make. The black frost on the side of my boat looks very similar to the ash that is part of the topcap. The silver is great. The burgundy seems like it was made darker by adding black flake instead of a darker red flake if that makes sense. I think it made it stand out a bit less than I expected. Bottom line is my wife says the Phoenix was prettier. True bottom line is she still thinks my Falcon looks good and so do I. Excessive staring at the boat on long road trips can result in embarrassing moments when you make a rest stop and realize you can't walk around like that but you really gotta go...… especially when everyone wants to come up and talk to you about it.

    Fishability is AMAZING. This does not get mentioned enough by anyone talking about a Falcon. This boat fishes better than my Ranger 521 or Phoenix did. The shallow top cap at the bow makes flipping easy. (ok it might make laying rods on the deck all haphazard a bit scarier) The sheer amount of room is unbelievable on the front or back deck. I think the cockpit could be smaller by a few inches to get a longer front deck but I am not sure if you need it. There is ample room to retie with two people on the front. Side to side stability is topnotch and moving around does not move the boat much at all. (and I am not a small fry at 260) Spot lock on the Ultrex on a very windy night can be enough to keep you on your toes with it's motor surges the first few seconds after you hit it but the boat always feel safe and it seems to move quickly more than the lurch you get on some other hulls. Back deck is amazing. (10 foot power poles are tall... plan accordingly to cast short folks) Seating is very good both in the cockpit and the fishing seats. I store my net in the driver rod locker but the integrated net storage the Phoenix had was a nice feature. Fishing deep or shallow this boat handles well. I have not fished any docks but it has no problems tracking a curvy shoreline or dealing with boat wakes and weather while you fish. It truly fished much better than I expected and may be one of the strongest features of the boat. I will reserve final judgement until I get around some docks but so far so very very good.

    A few thoughts on the options I selected. I bought my helix's The Bass Federation deal for state team. 3 helix's 12's are overkill but in such a good way that I will never want to go back. I used a bass boat technology mount at the bow and cosole. They are perfectly fitted for the boat and are impressively constructed out of aluminum. They are amazingly stable and fit the Helix's like a glove even if I had to drill out the helix gimbal mounts to use the provided nuts and bolts to mount the bases. Now that they are on and installed, I am glad I chose to go this route. (Installing everything when it was 109 outside had me running a few other thoughts through my head) I worked on electronics in the USMC before I went into the computer industry so I knew a good deal about electronics installation before I tackled doing my own. Your mileage may vary. I chose mega SI at console and Mega Di for the other two units. 1 unit at the console is configured for mapping and occasional sonar depth. The other console unit is the SI unit and is used for side imaging when searching and a large scale map when running. I like 2d sonar or DI at the bow more than SI so I went with that. A single unit on the bow now gives me room to grow if required on the bow if something new comes out that I HAVE to have. (Maybe Garmin Live Vu) At this stage everyone knows just how good power poles and the Ultrex are so no need to go into that. Two guys in bass club are buying Ultrexes after being on my boat though so keep that in mind. It is a bit nosier but it is like having a third person on the boat who is never in your way.


    The new four stroke 250 pro XS. The sound it makes at startup makes you want to turn it off just so you can start it again. Well done Mercury Engineering taking a page out the pony car playbook. it seriously sounds badass idling around. it makes me feel like a 50 something year old teenager. it does get quiet at midrange while cruising and sounds good at the top as well. Performance is great. Mid range acceleration is tangible and very satisfying. Torque is sufficient that it maintains speed in tight turns and does not drop off the power band. I am not sure apples to apples if it is top end faster than a 2 stroke but I did love giving one of my friends the gallon and half of 2-stroke oil I had left. The lower unit holds well and gives a lot of bite. Again that may be prop related. I will work on setup and get back to everyone. The boat ran high 60's at 5600 rpm at 4k feet altitude when I went full throttle for a few moments during hours 4-5 of break in. The Falcon does not feel as fast as some of the Phoenixes or any of the go fasts but it is a good solid ride with low 70's in the picture if you set it up for that. I am still not sure why they only wanted a 6 inch jackplate on it. It may be to keep the boat handling safer for newer boaters but it certainly feels like a 10 or 12 would be nice on it and maybe give a touch more speed at the cost of chine walk. As the boat is now chine walk is negligible.


    The rod lockers are the most visually different item on the boat. (btw I love the bilge access) I take my rod tip and place them inboard of the rod locker handle when I open the rod locker and I can rest assured that the rods will never fall off. They are very stable up there and the t-handle holds everything in place even when it is rougher.



    Bottom line is you can get a fantastic boat with a Falcon. It is already a proven tour winner. When I spoke to the factory they mentioned that the 215 was the first model and they learned and improved when they made the 205 and 195 and I believe them. I wanted the 21+ foot boat for my needs but both other models sound great. I tell my friends that the Falcon is 95% of my Phoenix 921 PHX but it certainly was not 95% of the price of a new PHX. When my other boat was stolen I had not considered what buying a 2019 Phoenix would cost compared to the deal I got a 2017 leftover model so that is the primary reason I ended up in a Falcon. Having a boat that everyone comes up too and asks about and having the first Falcon that I know of in California are all just extra icing on the cake. Give Falcon a few more years and they will have the reputation of a Phoenix and a price that has risen. I think it is comparable to buying one of the early Phoenixes when some people did not know about them but everyone who rode in one loved it. If you can be a pioneer in a brand not everyone knows, then go for the solid build and performance of the Falcon. It can be your own little love affair.


    I will post some more detailed photos and reviews of individual features later. Until then enjoy!! For reference, I think I got a great deal on my boat but no one gave me any discounts on anything mentioned in my review (except Humminbird for the TBF discount) and my only sponsors are my day job and loving wife.... I did love dealing with my dealer Surf N Turf though. They took my wife and mother-in-law out to the lake for 3 days of break-in at a dealer owned trailer with lots of good BBQ and beer on their dime and turned a trip to pick up a boat into a mini-vacation. That counts for a lot with me. I got a boat and new friends.
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  2. Member
    Join Date
    May 2018
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    Limestone, TN
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    #2
    Thank you for the review and looking forward to updates.

  3. Member
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    Mar 2012
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    Dentsville,MD
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    91
    #3
    THANKS for the time you put in to this, great information,

  4. Member
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    Feb 2015
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    Columbia SC
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    #4
    Quote Originally Posted by littleluk View Post
    Fishability is AMAZING.
    http://www.bbcboards.net/showthread.php?t=847441

  5. Member
    Join Date
    Jun 2017
    Location
    Maryville,TN
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    105
    #5
    Thank you for taking the time to give such a good review! It sounded very fair and honest.

  6. Member
    Join Date
    Mar 2015
    Location
    Palmyra, IN
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    264
    #6
    I greatly appreciate your review, specifically the comparison to the Phoenix. I find the Falcons more attractive than the Phoenix, but that is just personal preference. I like simple graphics...nothing too busy. Based on the pricing I've seen this far, Falcon is the best buy in bass boats at the moment. Congratulations on the new rig. Keep us updated on its performance, both fishing and running. If you ever get the chance to take some video while running rough water, I'd love to see some footage.