Where to Get Parts?

WildMax

WildMax

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Joined
Aug 26, 2005
Messages
98
Age
68
Location
Black Hills
I haven't had my VX800 out for a few years but did so a few weeks ago. Needed to do some engine work and found parts are kinda hard to come by - pistons, head gaskets, certain bearings, chassis/body stuff. What are other VMax4 guys doing for engine rebuild parts?
 
Yep, been a member there for lots of years. What I'm finding is OEM Pistons, head gaskets, waterpump gaskets, and crank seals are no longer available from Yamaha. Looks like stock rings will still be available but they are on backorder for some time.

Hauck plans to have Wiseco piston kits for stock bore 750's and 800's, head and base gaskets, crank seals, and other discontinued gaskets. If you need an 800 piston you'll have to wait awhile though.

So, the 'dinosaurs' might continue to live!!!
 
WildMax said:
Yep, been a member there for lots of years. What I'm finding is OEM Pistons, head gaskets, waterpump gaskets, and crank seals are no longer available from Yamaha. Looks like stock rings will still be available but they are on backorder for some time.

Hauck plans to have Wiseco piston kits for stock bore 750's and 800's, head and base gaskets, crank seals, and other discontinued gaskets. If you need an 800 piston you'll have to wait awhile though.

So, the 'dinosaurs' might continue to live!!!
Click to expand...

Good to know. I have a 95 800 I have in storage.
 
That was last spring. Fixed it and rode it a few times this year. Runs like a scald dog again.

With my modded engines of the VX800, SRXs and Viper, motor repairs are not frequent but not uncommon either. I believe the VX800 issue that opened my eyes to certain parts not being readily available anymore was a blown base gasket. Kind of a rare failure for me - can't think of another engine this has happened and I've had a lot of them. I would think there is not a lot of pressure there. Perhaps the intake porting and modified reed cages was a little aggressive for the crankcase. Hauck and Pizor both did the engine work and this engine ran for 2000 miles without a hiccup. Another possibility is the base gasket material was or became weak.

What I found was a lot of OEM parts have been discontinued. I have many spare specialty parts, like the reshaped heads, jugs and pistons, and usually a supply of various gaskets to get a machine up and running. As you probably know, the VX800 can take a lot of gaskets when playing with the squish, timing and compression set up. I was just thinking about the future breakdowns and if this really makes the VX800 obsolete.

In the days past of squeezing the most performance out of a sled our most common engine repair was piston damage - running too lean. We ran as much compression as possible knowing everything had to be set up perfect. Even with carefully setting squish, constant plug burn and piston inspections, fresh clean high octane. It just happens. Could be a little air getting in the fuel line from the sloshing, maybe a piece of crud clogging a jet for an instant, maybe water/fuel issue, who knows. For me, the days of chasing or running from the Mach Z and Thundercat are over and I mostly boondock in the forest right outside my door (on a mountain Cat - please forgive my sin). But I still like the hard and fast enduro run when appropriate. Probably keep my one remaining VX800 around just for the nostalgia - and it's still a thrill to pin that throttle.
 
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