Snowmobile Rookie, 700 triple acquired.

Long story short, I've never owned a sled before. I'm 35. I have restored a couple cars and two vintage Harley's, so I'm pretty mechanically inclined. I am brand new to the snowmobile world though. After researching, I new I wanted a Yamaha 700 triple. I found a killer deal on a 98, with 4770 miles on it. $850 US. It runs, but admittedly the guy said it has sat for two years.

I joined the forum because I know this is where I will get the most accurate information. Where do I start? I don't want to assume everything is good, because it runs, and obviously I don't want to wait for winter to take it on the snow and find out it needs worked over, and miss the whole season. So, where should I start, or what are the most obvious things to do? I'm going to change all the fluids, lube everything that needs lubed, but what advice do you have for a complete and total snowmobile rookie?

Any help is appreciated! Thank you!

I would start with a basic compression test, you should be somewhere around the 120 PSI range.
What your looking for is all holes to be within a couple psi of each other.
Then, I would pull the carb rack off.
Pull all jets out, needles, seats, ect.
Clean
I like to replace needles and seats when I get a new to me sled.

Hi Dan,

Welcome to the forum. This site has many many members who have seen it all. Ask away and you can get all the help you need. Keep in mind its August and not many members are here until the fall.
The sled is 22 years old and does require a guy like you who is capable and can keep up with the annual maintenance. Yeah the the carb rack as stated above is a must. I would pull the rear suspension. Get it out on the floor where you can inspect and replace whats needed. Three bolts on either side of the tunnel and the suspension drops down and pulls out. Check bearings, check the swing arms for cracks paint and weld and gusset as needed, swing arm bushings never last very long remove and replace. hyfax if needed.
---mac---

Thank you! Whats a good resource for parts? Im assuming OEM yamaha is the best to use?

Mac said:

Hi Dan,

Welcome to the forum. This site has many many members who have seen it all. Ask away and you can get all the help you need. Keep in mind its August and not many members are here until the fall.
The sled is 22 years old and does require a guy like you who is capable and can keep up with the annual maintenance. Yeah the the carb rack as stated above is a must. I would pull the rear suspension. Get it out on the floor where you can inspect and replace whats needed. Three bolts on either side of the tunnel and the suspension drops down and pulls out. Check bearings, check the swing arms for cracks paint and weld and gusset as needed, swing arm bushings never last very long remove and replace. hyfax if needed.
---mac---

Click to expand...

Thanks Mac! I was curious about rebuilding the rear skid. Assuming the track needs replaced also. Where is the best place to get one, and how do I know what size I need?

So it sounds like your gunna be all in...... and bring this sled back to good running order. That Yamaha Pro Action skid was never considered very good. Barely acceptable in 1998 in my opinion. installing to a newer suspension would be the best upgrade and because it most likely will need parts now anyway this would be the best time to install. Newer Yamaha Apex Mono skid would be perfect. Others on this forum have installed Ski Doo, Polaris, and Cat skids and everybody agrees it was the best upgrade you could ad to the sled. Check the classified ads here on TY for parts. The tracks back then came in several sizes. Count the ribs on the track. 48 ribs equals a 121 inch track. They also came with the 136 inch. Changing out the track means you will have the chaincase apart and removed so that will be all serviced and inspected.

Travis at "Barn of Parts" is real helpful and great to work with. He has a Yamaha salvage business. Google him.
Lets see a picture of this beast? I installed a 121 track last year. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UbJFIDckE7U

Triple pipes are the best mod Mac...lol
Me, I like keeping everything Yamaha.
Chaincase bearings are good to replace, and the first bearing to always go is speed side bearing.

Can you post a picture of it? Not sure which model 700 you have? SX, SRX, XT, XTC, XTC DLX, Venture or Mountain max?

welcome to the site!

these guys are steering you the right way on all the maintence stuff.

if it has aluminum bodied shocks you can have them serviced and revalved from a site vendor like cannondale (Cannondale27 - The Shock Doc - Shock Rebuilder) for your weight or hygear to ride it for the 1st season before you decide on if you want to mod the sled with a longer track or different rear suspension. the pro action can be set to ride pretty well but that is your choice.

do a few of the free mods from the tec pages for lower buget power adders as they are starting to hunt for most piped sleds as they are loud.

new reeds wouldn't be a bad idea. i recently installed factory yamaha ones in my 98 srx and it woke it up some definitely more crisp throttle.