Mohawk 14 ft

[Erica]

https://hartford.craigslist.org/boa/d/west-hartford-mohawk-solo-14-canoe/6804260077.html

Just FYI. It is too far away from me to purchase. They are not made anymore, these royalex boats.

 

[recped]

That particular boat is probably Royalite not Royalex and should not be confused with a Mohawk XL14 (more of ww boat).

Still, it's a nice boat and a reasonable price if it's in as good condition as indicated in the ad.

 

[dougd]

That looks like a nice hull but I'm not a fan of RX lite, had 2 and got rid of them..although I do regret selling one. I'm pretty sold on my MR Courier for WW.

 

[yellowcanoe]

its a flat water boat I haf a Solo 13 for a while
It could do low class 2
Its priced a tad high for a ten year old boat
IIRC I paid $450 for mine new
And it is indeed Royalite

 

[Erica]

We have a 14' royalex Mohawk that weighs 40 pounds. I would expect the royalite boat to be lighter, right? It is not a white water boat, but it does take low WW well, and also the swells in the Gulf.

We have one and I am looking for another, which is why I saw this.

 

[yellowcanoe]

We have a 14' royalex Mohawk that weighs 40 pounds. I would expect the royalite boat to be lighter, right? It is not a white water boat, but it does take low WW well, and also the swells in the Gulf.

We have one and I am looking for another, which is why I saw this.

Not necessarily The layup schedule for R84 was different than RX and dang if I remember how
Shame it didnt turn up ten days ago
We came through Hartford and are now near Ocala

 

[recped]

I have an XL14 (two of them actually), they are both over 50lbs (or I'm getting REALLY weak!), the XL is a bit different design but still not different enough to be 10+ lbs heavier.

Given the cracks in my XL I've suspected it might be Royalite as well. Also consider that Royalex sheets were all custom produced (especially back in the Uniroyal days....pre-2000). The old Mad Rivers for example were thicker and heavier than other Royalex boats of a similar vintage.

 

[stripperguy]

My Mohawk 13XL tips the scales at nearly 60 lbs but it’s definitely built for WW with a saddle and bow and stern bags
It’s a joy in WW but tough for me to lug around

 

[yellowcanoe]

we are comparing oranges and apples.
We should stick to oranges

 

[Steve in Idaho]

Yeah, they're royalite. 40 lbs is right in there for royalite weight in that length. My Sojourn is royalite and more like 45 lbs. The RX Guide is 54 lbs, IIRC.

That's a great boat for a novice solo, and not boring for intermediate use. But $700! That's a little stiff. It should look about brand new for that, and come with a real nice paddle. I paid $350 for the Guide and $250 for the Sojourn - both in nice shape.

Yeah, Doug - the Courier is definitely better all-around than the Solo 14, for all but maybe the novice, IMO. The Solo 14 is capable of more than it would appear on paper though. Great little solo, but that seller is high.

 

[yellowcanoe]

The Solo 14 is an excellent FreeStyle boat

It has outstanding aecondary stability
Heeled you have to practically jump on the gunwale to bury the word Mohawk

Spins on a dime then

Hmmm. maybe if it stays on sale ot could be rehomed on the way north.

 

[pblanc]

Mohawk molded the Solo 14 in both Royalex and R84. The listed weights were 39 lbs for the R84 version and 44 lbs for the Royalex version, so if the advertised weight is accurate, it is presumably an R84 boat.

The "guts" of Royalex and R84 were essentially the same, with an inner foam core of expanded ABS sandwiched between two, thin solid ABS layers. But the solid ABS strata of R84 models was often a bit thinner than that of the Royalex versions for additional weight savings. The main difference is that R84 eliminated the inner and outer vinyl color layers of Royalex substituting instead thin colored acrylic layers bonded to the ABS. I never owned a boat made of R84. Those friends who did use such boats for whitewater use seemed to feel that they were more subject to abrasion damage, and some vinyl adhesives did not bond reliably to the inner acrylic layer when it came to outfitting them for whitewater use. But some who were more performance-oriented found that these potential drawbacks were made up for by the modest weight savings. For primarily flat water use I would not hesitate to buy an R84 boat.

Although the Solo 14 was not billed as a whitewater model, I know one individual who used a Solo 14 for that purpose for Class I-II whitewater for many years, and still owns it. The hull certainly is nimble enough for easy river running if heeled a bit. I do not believe that any of the Mohawk XL series boats were ever molded in anything other than Royalex.