Leap of Faith

[AkSteve]

Have been out of sledding for abt 5 yrs now. Last sled was a 97 583 summit. Just picked up a new 05 Viper Mtn (liked the price), why does this sled seem to be the red headed step child? Very few (if any) rider reviews. Yamaha doesn't even include it in their promotional dvd. I know the weight is more and the Hp is less than the other brands, but the looks are hot, and I think the durability will be great. Bottom line, what can I expect from this thing? Mostly rock stock, I just wanna put gas and oil in the thing and head for the hills

Tnx
Steve

 

[FuninAK]

Viper??

Steve, Welcome the the group and Howdy from another AK Yammi rider
Snowest forums has some good riding conditions reports on it if you haven't already found it yet. As far as the Viper or Yamaha being the stepchild of the snowmachine crowd welcome to the wonderful world of Yamaha! Did you happen to see the special snowmachine section in last Sunday's ADN? There was an article about buying an entry level sled that had reviews, prices, and all that. There were Doo, Polaris, and AC stuff but NOT ONE mention of Yamaha or any of the sleds they offer!! It's just bias media. It does not bother me much anymore but it does get kinda old sometimes. As far as Yamaha not including it in their DVD the only thing i can imagine is that with all the hype of "4-strokes" their marketing folks made the decision to PUSH them more than all the others?? Who knows? Go ask Danny or Chad at ER Yamaha and see what they have to say. There both pretty straight shooters and would not be afraid to give you the skinny or their spin on it anyway! Good luck with your Viper, it's a SHARP sled and should be a blast!! Drop me a line maybe we can get together for a ride.

 

[AkSteve]

Even my 18 yr old looked at me wierd when I informed him of the new purchase. I used to have and old 78 enticer 340 short track that I would take over the top of the superbowl into glass creek. That thing ran wot all the time and never missed a beat. Thats the kind of experience I've had with yamaha, we couldn't beat those little sleds into submission.
Saw your pics @ snowest. I'd immagine Petersville has a bit more snow now.
BTW whats the range on the Vipers,
and whats the good mtn rack for abt a 3gal can?

 

[nben]

Look up Wildchild on Snowest for a custom built rack. He did one for both me and a buddy of mine and they came out great (price was right too). The buddy of mine rides a 04 Viper mountain and loves it. He turned me onto Yamaha after my poo died on a trip we took and I road his back-up sled, a 99mm with 8200 (ridden hard) maintenance free miles!

 

[FuninAK]

Range

Yeah I'm sure if it's not flat light in P-ville there are more folks riding than you could shake a stick at! As for the range of the Vipers you can squeeze 100+ or so miles depending how long your thumb is touching the bars!!

 

[Mtnviper]

Welcome Steve, I think you'll be very pleased with your sled.
Yamaha has invested so much R+D/money into the 4 strokes, that they are really pushing them. While they haven't completely ignored the Mountain Viper, ( it has the good ski's and new skid) it's kind of a shame that they have let it become the "Red headed step child". Since it is a pretty decent mountain sled.
There are a couple of cheap mods, that will help wake it up a little. If you dont mind running premium fuel. Pulling two layers out of the head gasket, will improve throttle response and mid-range pull.
Also adding a couple of SLP's flowrite's will improve deep snow performance. By allowing the motor to draw in some cool air from behind the windshield. I think they sell for about $18 each.

 

[ak ryda]

The viper is a good gas/oil/and go sled with good stock gas mileage. Yes it is heavy and underpowered compared to the competition but a 700cc sled what do you expect. Just throw a light weight can on it, handle bar riser, and a mountain performance Inc transfer kit (i think the 05's still had the old rear skid but I could be wrong) and compared to what you are coming from you will be loving life.

You dont need a new rear rack for a gas can. Just pick up a rear gas can off a new 900 RMK and drop some U-bolts onto your tunnel extension and you are all set for under $30.

 

[AkSteve]

Thanx everyone for the info. Nice sled Ryda, I like the u-bolt Idea. That's $100 more in my pocket. The 05 has the pro mountain skid, so I'm assuming the transfer is allright. For now I just want/need the basics (bellypan protector and a cover). I'm dyin to get out and try the thing out. It'd be great to see 100+ miles per tank. The old 583 Doo got abt 70(ave). One thing I havn't heard abt is jetting on the viper, how do they do with changes in alt and temp? My buddy put the ataac on his RMK and swears by it. The Summit had the hac which worked great. Is the Viper not as much prone to improper jetting due to the smaller carbs, or will I be changing needle settings in the mts?

Steve

 

[Mtnviper]

Viper's as well as most Yammie tripples are fairly for-giving to altitude changes. Once you get them set up for your area, it's pretty much gas and go. I ride 2500'-7000', but set it up for 4500'-5000' where most of the riding is in our area.

 

[c-bolt]

ok, here is the scoop on range....i have 20/40 in the chaincase w/ 8T drivers. last january i was up in tok for a caribou hunt, the hunt is 60 in from the taylor highway, i rode 149.5 miles without filling up. mostly trail miles, but a few stints off of the road and several wot pulls.....other than that, ive seen 80 to 100 mile days, and never ran out.

ive put many hard miles on mine, and it has never missed a beat.

i have mine jetted for 3500-7000/0-20 degrees on the yamaha chart. the thing runs great everywhere ive ridden, the only prob was too much fuel on the nitrous up the sinclines (sp?) in eureka, otherwise its all good. i did jet down to 150's on the mains for this year.

we should have a yamaha/ alaska ride this year no????

Joe

 

[FuninAK]

Yeah!!

I'M IN JUST LMK WHEN AND WHERE

 

[AkSteve]

shakedown run on Tues. I can't wait. Nothin crazy just an easy trail ride. I don't think they have much snow on the Puritan Ck trail yet. I'm wondering if Boulder Ck is even ridable. I'll let ya know how it goes........