I finally pulled the pin last Friday and bought a 1999 260 Legend(53.2gps)Not dialed in on prop yet. last friday.It only has a 7.4mpi. But it is very clean and I got a good price on it.I can put a hp500 in it and still gave 15g's left over for what i have seen 2003's priced atwith 496(375hp) I have ran it 3 times and Im pretty happy with the rough water ride for its size.
y last boat was a 34'scarab. And I may be an odd duck but I think a smaller boat is a hell of alot more fun. This is my 4th boat in 5years. Starting with a 19 Crownline(48mph) then a Z-29 Donz(66.7gps) then 1992 34 scarab(67.2gps).I think I will keep this boat for a few years.Its not the fastest of the above boats,but im not in that mode at this time. Im in DOCKROCKERS Sitiuation a 3yr old and 1.5yr old. But I tell you what this boat would be an animal with a hp500,I would keep it for 10 years with that set up. Has anyone ever seen a 260 with a hp500?

HOTTZU98, Congrats on the purchase. We bought a 97 Legend just over two weeks ago. I've got the 454 mag EFI and she runs 60-62mph pending load and conditions. I can say the hull can handle more speed without a problem! I've got a 10 year old and twin 5 year old girls so for now the wife will kill me if she see's me working under the hatch. I'll have to wait till winter while I'm protected in the storage building out of site. I had a Scarab myself years ago and I can say no comparison in quality! Lets see some pics!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Congratulations on your 260, I absolutely love mine! I'm running the stock 502 MPI and run 69 on speedo all day long (Gaffrig but not GPS) Best I've seen (again, not GPS) was 71 with a 2' chop, low fuel and one passeneger. That's with a 23P prop turning 5100 rpms. I'm getting ready to go with a labbed 25p hoping to gain a couple mph. Good luck with your 260, you should be very happy with it. Very managable boat, yet it handles rough water well.

A friend of mine just sold his 1995 257 and it had a 500 hp in it.
He bought the motor from Riggs Marine and they installed it .
He had 55 hours on the 500 hp when he sold the boat, nothing like opening the engine hatch on 257 and seeing the BLUE MOTOR in it

What kind of top-end did that thing have with 500 ponies???

Congrats, I think you need to go BLUE........ Everytime I ride in something with the 500's I just have to smile. I love that motor, wish my wallet did.

He never got around to checking the speed with a gps.
The speedo read a hair below 70, but he never got around to trying different props.

i owned a 260 sls and it had a 7.4L (310 hp)...with a 21 pitch mirage plus i got 56 on the GPS with the wind at my back...and two people in the boat.. on an average day i would get 53...

That's a slug at only 53 mph. The 7.4 was simply not enough power for that boat. But than again it was not designed to be a speed demon.

Tell that to the guy running a 4 banger in his bayliner!

Congrats on your new boat!