Stay Away From 1997 v-maxs????

D

Diceman

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Nov 13, 2005
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New Hamburg, Ontario
Was told that there were lots of problems with the 97 v-max's the year they changed the body style, especially the xtc's. Is this correct??? Diceman... I have been looking at these sleds so would like to know if I should stay away from it or not???
 
no they are good sleds. Just make sure it has the updated spindles. The only other problems i can think of is sometimes the rear trailing arm mounts come loose, but that is easy to fix with some bigger rivets or even bolts with locknuts. The other thing is that the pto bearings on the early models were smaller, they were updated later on because they had a few problems with the bearings failing. Overall great sleds though!
 
Crappiest sled ever made, LOL thats funny I don't care who you are. My sons first real sled will be a 97 sx. They where the best handling sleds out there. I miss mine still. Maxdlx
 
the 97's were great sleds. I assume it's ment for the twins. They had a problem with the rings catching the exhaust port and tearing up the cylinder. A simple set of wisecos solves that. If it's still running now I doubt it would happen anyway. The tripples were great motors. Lost running pipes and pretty much bullet proof.
 
my 500xt was a great little sled.also the other thing with xtc's were the center shock,bending the shaft. they didnt have bumpers on the rails i beleive which cased the shock to bottom out and possibly bend the shaft.i know this is what happend to my brothers sled,but other then that and the spindle update the sled was a good runner.and i still see quite a few of the 97's running around my area.the 3 cyclinders are awsome handling(sx)97-99 corner carving demons
 
What was the spindle update??? Was it a dealer recall? If a sled didn't have the recall could it still be done if you are not the original owner? Thanks Diceman
 
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REDMATER said:
the 3 cyclinders are awsome handling(sx)97-99 corner carving demons
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yes. I believe the sx with the short travel is still considered one of the best handling sleds ever. It rode like it was on rails.
 
Still have a 97 SX 7 thanks to some parts from Maxdlx. I love the sound, it's fast, and on a twisty trail it's a blast. I spent most of my riding time last weekend on my new Apex GT but took a nice spin on the SX, the first since repairing a crash. I still love the ride. I had the larger rivets put on the trailing arms and smoked a stator last year. I've heard that some will lose the stator, no biggie really, just bad timing when it happened.
 
I own a 1997 SX 700, I have never had any problems with this sled, it's got over 10000 miles on the original motor, no rebuilds or anything! I can hit turns at 65 mph easy, It handles like a dream! I did have issues with the trailing arms, but a few bolts took care of that.
 
I have a 97 600 XTC... the exact sled you are refering to. The ring issue did have a recall on it. You can check with yamaha to see if it was done... something about a pin coming lose and grabbing the rings or something. Previous owner of mine had it done at the dealer... even showed me the paperwork. Look for one with aftermarket skis though.... the stock steel skis with skins suck. Night and day difference in handling after I put some aftermarket skis on it.
 
I loved mine. My brothers got it now. With C&A's on it and adjustable transfer rods cranked down it would handle like an indy car. You can actually lay down on that sled like a sport bike and crank through the turns. least i could 35lbs ago. I would look for a 700 though. The 600 has vibrations you feel through the bars. The triples are so sweet:)
 
those are popular machines and the guys that have them love them.
I hade tried them and think they are great sleds myself.
 
yes the recall was for a piston update because the ring locater pin would come loose and allow the ring to turn, catching the exhaust port and destroying the cylinder, piston, and possibly rod.
 
daman said:
WTF........I don't know about that....there's alot of crapper sleds out there i can think of.
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LOL, I think Paul was just messing around ;):D
 
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Lets just put it this way:without the SX700,and xtc600 yamaha wouldnt have had a snocross campaign in which in 97 took home some serious gold and brought excitement to owning one of thease sleds,i wish they could bring that excitement back to the snocross track with a 2 stroke clean burning sled to knock the rest of the snowmobile world in x cross on their asses.bumblebees,cats and some other lame brand at the time were no match for the open class sx with titus and vincent in front of the bars,so if you have your doubt, then goin and pout,and by a bee or a kitty and whatever that other sleds name is called LOL
 
to sum up dont be afraid of the 97 SX. You will find alot of guys on here with them and all love them. Reliable, great on gas and an all around great sled.
 
Quality Service Plus in Holland (yammi, cat, and doo dealer) has 3 very nice 97 SX's for sale right now. One 600 and the other 2 are 700's. Red machines. Guy who's got them there has 6 of them!! Kids are older and moved on so he doesn't need them all anymore. All have about 2000-3000 mile on them, all dealer serviced, and all are priced at I think he said $2195 (the 600 has about 1000 miles less than the 700's). Looked like nice sleds when we were there Monday.
 
I agree, if your gonna get one go with the 700..The 600's are fine, but the power difference and the smoothness of the 700 are like a night and day difference..
 
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