What Do You Consider High Mileage On a Sled?

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Diceman

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Been driving a 1981 Yamaha 340 Enticer for a few years now and will be upgrading to something alittle newer for the upcoming winter. Man that machine has never let me down, stranded, always runs strong after all these years. Anyhow, looking at a Yamaha in the mid to late 90's. Have looked at a few 600 v-maxs. My question is what is considered high mileage on a sled? I realize it depends on how you ride it, how you look after it, etc. Lets just say if a machine is well looked after and it has been driven hard, what would your opinion be about mileage. What is high mileage? How many kilo's can people get on machines? Any help would help me on my search. Also if you are looking for an old Enticer, it is still for sale. Thanks Diceman
 
Ive heard of people with 15,000 miles on triple-cylinder sleds without any problems.
What matter much more than the milage is what the general condition of the sled is.
Look at the track, check for torn/missing lugs, places where the studs ripped out and torn track windows. Also, check for dents/cracks in the bulkhead, as well as bent or otherwise damaged trailing arms and radius rods. I think you get the idea, just looks at the general condition of the sled. If it looks like it was abused and not well care for, chances are thats the case.
 
I used to think 5000 miles, but now I think closer to 7-8000 and you'll need to put some money in her. I was ready to trade my viper in two years (2300 miles currently) but I think she'll last a lot longer then that!
 
I think that the condition is more important than the miles like everyone eles was saying. My sled hit 10,000 at the end of last season and the motor has never been apart, it still gets 10-12 mpg and its just as fast as the day we go it
 
I'm just gonna reiterate that it's how the sled has been cared for and not the miles on it. Some sleds can be in need of a rebuild after 5000 miles or less if they were beat on and not taken care of, others can go 10,000 miles without any engine work. I had an ExciterII that had over 8000 on it, with the original track on it, never had it rebuilt, it still ran strong (and probably still is). I just took care of the sled, had it pre-seasoned every year and it looked and ran great.
 
Like all these guys are saying it depends on the condition of the sled and the previous rider but whenever ive had a high mileage sled usually before 5000 miles it gets rebuilt, simply because if it blows up it will cost you alot more than it costs to rebuild it before failure.

mitch
 
My srx has 11 or 12,000 miles and looks pretty beat... however it does run great and has never left me stranded.

My point is a clean sled that looks well taken care of can have many hidden problems such as pulled through pv cables, worn or shot bushings, premature engine wear due to the use of sub-standard oils, etc.
 
My 94 VMAX 600 had 4,000 miles on it then it broke a piston ring. It was still running though too $250 to fix. Put in new pistons and rings run a hone through cylinders and reassembled in one evining and it runs like new again. Starts on first or second pull. For reliability it is hard to beat a yamaha. We had a 1985 DR225 3 wheeler that we sold to a friend. 18 years later still had original spark plug and always fired right up and ran strong. Someone stole it in 2003. People wouldn't have stole an 18 year old piece a crap. They must have figured it's a Yamaha and felt the risk was worth the reward of riding a Yammy. My friend still missing that old 3 wheeler. It's think it's better to keep the old ones going than piece them out. I bought a old 78 Enticer 250 for my son. Brought back alot of memories when I rode that old sled when I was a kid. Had a blast then 25 years later can still have a blast on it. I think it's next to impossible to have too many miles on anything as long as it's maintain properly.
 
you got that wright ;)! it will always bring ya home!!!

brother inlaw has a '88 exciter with 11,000 miles and still kicks a** , un real!!
 
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A sled that is very clean and not a (just had it's First bath so I can sell it sled) is more likely from someone who takes pride in his toys and is always doing preventitve maintenance and catches problems before they become big $. Do a compression test to determine the health of the top end especially on high mileage sleds !
 
my dad had a 96 500 XT that had about 13k miles and still ran good. he was all over preventative maint, always went through it, but NEVER had the engine apart. if the sled look sbeat on the outside, chances are they didnt care about the inside. not ALWAYS true, but a good guideline
 
My V-Max has 6k on it. I just put a new track in it, all new bushings and bearings on the suspension, new set of all 4 shocks (picked up one of the retrofit kits Yamaha put out for the '02 Vipers). I haven't touched the engine or clutch either - still runs great. PM is the key. ;)!
 
It's funny, on my hunt for a newer sled, when I looked at Polaris, ski-doo, Artic Cat, and told guys some of the mileages were around 10,000 k's, they said I was nuts, way to many clicks, but I found a 1998 700 triple Yamaha and many people then said on that sled no problem. My buddy has a 1994 v-max with over 25 k on it. Would others agree that Yamahas can go forever but other brands can't??? Diceman
 
If you are using the term "forever" loosely. I guess any sled could last forever if you want to do all the work and stick all the money into it doing all of the preventative maintenance. It is pretty much undisputed however that Yamaha's take a LOT less preventative maintenance, and break a lot less than the others on average in putting 10, 15, or even 20,000 miles on. Reliability continues to be a main selling point for Yamaha.
 
yamaholic22 said:
If you are using the term "forever" loosely. I guess any sled could last forever if you want to do all the work and stick all the money into it doing all of the preventative maintenance. It is pretty much undisputed however that Yamaha's take a LOT less preventative maintenance, and break a lot less than the others on average in putting 10, 15, or even 20,000 miles on. Reliability continues to be a main selling point for Yamaha.
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Would you condider 10, 000 k alot on a 700???
 
Not if the sled was well taken care of, but probably time to think about tearing the engine down to check the condition of everything: pistons (especially the skirts), rings, nickasil plating, crank bearings, reed petals, etc to verify the condition and check tolerances. If skirt clearances get too big there is excessive pivoting of the piston in the cylinder and can cause the skirt to break over time, which isn't good. Crank bearings can get loose over time and eventually lock up. Nickasil plating is VERY hard but does wear, so the cylinder bores need to be checked. Reed petals loose their tension and start to not seal well, or worse can chip and pieces get into the engine. Rings wear and the ring end gap increases, both causing blowby and lost compression = lost power. With 10,000 miles if nobody has ever been in the engine it is probably time to get in there and see what's cooking. A little preventative maintenance can go along way in saving you money from preventing a failure and ruining your weekend.
 
yamaholic22 said:
Not if the sled was well taken care of, but probably time to think about tearing the engine down to check the condition of everything: pistons (especially the skirts), rings, nickasil plating, crank bearings, reed petals, etc to verify the condition and check tolerances. If skirt clearances get too big there is excessive pivoting of the piston in the cylinder and can cause the skirt to break over time, which isn't good. Crank bearings can get loose over time and eventually lock up. Nickasil plating is VERY hard but does wear, so the cylinder bores need to be checked. Reed petals loose their tension and start to not seal well, or worse can chip and pieces get into the engine. Rings wear and the ring end gap increases, both causing blowby and lost compression = lost power. With 10,000 miles if nobody has ever been in the engine it is probably time to get in there and see what's cooking. A little preventative maintenance can go along way in saving you money from preventing a failure and ruining your weekend.
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That would be 10 000 k's not miles??? What should compression be on a 700 triple?
 
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