What are the essential mods to a '02 700 MM?

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Fasterblaster

New member
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Jan 13, 2004
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84
Location
Vancouver, B.C.
Hi all

Finally got my blue 700 triple. Low miles at 1500 km. Bone stock. Rusty in a few spots because it was left outside uncovered.

On my '97 600 MM i reduced the head gasket; only the smaller reduction, and it woke the sled up as if it should have come from the factory that way. Its nice smooth power now.

I'm not a hill climber, but elevation is a fact of life riding on the West Coast. And I don't want the 700 to be too loud. Its pretty quiet now. I could stand a little more noise, but not too much.

I haven't even ridden the sled yet, so i don't know what shortcomings might exist. Whereas the 600 was obviously short in the low end before the gasket mod. I've got the machine apart right now, so if the reed notch or air box mod or other mods were deemed 'essential' i'd do it now.

thanks
 
id say definatly the gasket go down to one layer. if u wanted id say get ur head shaved i think u cna go 50 thousands. id only go 35. but remeber each layer of gasket is 9 thousands. so if u took 2 layers thast 18 tousands right tehre. i maybe wrong on the measurments. but u would have to run premium fule. and id say if u ride alot of powder to get the transfer enhacment kit from MAXX perfomance. i dont ahve it in my sled cause i trail ride but ive heard real good reviews for mountain riding. for teh reed stoper notch id go with that or buy spacers or even both. i got spacers and realy gave the sled alot of responce on low and mid range. as for the airbox mod i wouldnt do that but i ride closer to sea leve then u. higher u go the more air ur gonna need. an alternitve to the airbox mod is TPI valves they to teh same thing but they are adjustible so u dont lean out teh sled too much.
 
Well I have a 2001 MM 700 and this is wut i did:
SLP Triple Pipes
151 track 2 ''
rear suspension droped 2 inches
Wieght Transfer rods
Hartman Extensions
Extrovert Drivers
3 Inch Rox Riser
chromolly FabCraft Bars and mtn strap
Kyb Rear Shox
Ohlins Front Shox
Simmons Skis
Low Cut chrome painted windy
Custom flame painted hood
skid plate
low cut mud flap
less than 800 miles
waxxed after EVERY ride! lol
 
First I would do all the free mods (air box, head gasket, reed notch). Then I would add a set of pipes (benders seem to have the best rep for MM's) for around $400 USD and get a custom clutch set up from hartman inc. Next would be some other essential mods (MPI transfer kit - $55, 151" camoplast with hartman tunnel and rail extensions - $500 with a used track, simmons skis - $400, reed spacers - $50, 3" bar riser - $20) .

Different front and rear shocks can easily be picked up used on here for a couple hundred.

So for around $2000 you could really have that sled hanging neck and neck with the newer 800 twins without giving up any substantial reliability. My main riding partner has essentially the set up that i described and his sled totally rips and is still going strong at around 7000 miles.

Good luck.
 
MountainMan - those are the essentials??
Your Mod would be scary man. I checked out your site. Nice sled.

Maybe I should re-word my request.

If you could only do two modifications to the stock machine. What would you do to make it the most complete performer with those two, inexpensive, changes... can always do more next season.

My carb cleaning got sidetracked last night as a couple of float bowl screws stripped on me.... so i notched the reed stopper instead. Shopping for allen head screws to replace all today.
 
Faster,
Question: Where does essential begin and end? Answer: in the wallet! My opinion is you just start in the areas where you need immediate improvement and stop when your happy with what you have. Since you already have your carbs off I would definately take care of the reed problem. Your machine has an inherent off idle burble. Reed spacers will clear that up. Leave the airbox alone. Yeah it will increase performance but it will get fussy when temp and altitude change. You need to get more cool air under the hood. You can get a set of filter pods and prefilters for your dash from SLP or MPI. I do NOT recommend peeling gaskets. If you do, make sure you don't peel more than one and CHECK THE SQUISH AREA. If you shave your head make sure the squish area is cut back in if needed. I like the Peak Performance head because you can change out domes and it cools the engine better. If you are a powder rider get rid of your sway bar and definately get the MPI transfer enhancement kit. Also, Handlebar riser is a must. I went 6 inches. If you need help routing cables I can help. If you go 2 inches you won't need to change any cables. If you decide you want to wake the 700 up you can do the stock can mod in the tech pages or buy a can. That will help but give you alittle more noise. If you really want to wake it up put on some triple pipes. This alone is the biggest gain you can make. WOW! If you want top end go SLP. If you want bottom end go with Benders. I personally like the Benders. I ride the mountains and like the stock shocks. What altitude are you riding at? What kind of riding do you do? What are you looking for out of your machine? I would hate to steer you in the wrong direction.
 
Thanks Boondocker.

To be honest, I haven't even ridden the machine yet. What I percieve as shortcomings will be revealed when i ride it. I'm not likely to get into a bunch of expensive modifications. I don't ride enough to warrant it.

I bought a nice 97 600 MM two seasons ago. It was stock except plastic skis and a 1.75 Ski-Doo track. The blubbery low-mid was an issue as soon as I rode it. I dropped the needle jet down a notch and that cleaned it up a bit. The exceptional improvement came after I installed a thinner head gasket; I only went the first reduction as I didn't want to give up any reliability. Its like a different machine now. The power rolls on nice and easy. Its a joy to ride. I haven't even completed the reed blocker notch on this sled. Some members have complained about the smart carbs. I covered the drain holes on the clutch side of the air box, which seems to keep most of the belt dust out of there. I think that was causing some of the problems I've read about on this site.

I want to get the 700 dialed in the same way. I completed the reed blocker notch last night, so i'll never know how it was going to run without it. Maybe I should have waited, but as you say, since the carbs where off. Thanks for the advice on the air-box. I'm use to smart carbs and I don't want to get into 'tempermental' carb probs. I'm not the kind of guy who is going to change the jetting in the field.
What do you think of the ATTAC? system for temp and elevation changes?

My riding is a mixture of trails, some small hill climbing, and frolicking in open areas. Sometimes we can get a lot of powder. Riding elevation is 3500+. Rarely, if ever, lower. I'll have to check on the elevation of a couple of areas i just started riding late last year. They might be in the 5-6000 ' range. Not many trees left up there, but i don't know, so I better confirm.

thanks alot for the suggestions. I posted a WTB in the parts classifieds to see what opportunities might arise. I'll let you know how I make out.
 
ATTAC or TEMPAFLOW in place of the smart carbs. I use the Tempaflow because we have a wider range of temps to deal with than altitude changes. I would say that if your average ride sees more than 2000+ ft altitude change, then the Attac is better for you. If on the otherhand, your average ride changes less than 2000 ft altitude, get a Tempaflow. The Tempaflow has manual altitude compensation that is a breeze to adjust.
 
Well i finally got to ride my new-to-me 700 MM.

There wasn't enough snow around to go off the trails. I also had my 600 MM which i have dialed in quite nicely, so there was a basis for comparison.

I played on a 2 mile lake. The 700 pulls strong all the way to the top, but
I noticed it was over-reving. It would pull up to about 8000 rpm and then start reving and not hook up. I had already taken off the rollers and cleaned and inspected. The clutch fingers were loose, so i didn't take them off. I took the secondary off and apart and cleaned it up, but it didn't change anything. A quick trip to the Kamloops Yamaha shop found that the primary was spinning. It came off the shaft without having to torque on the removal tool. I guess I should have checked that myself, but no damage done except a quick $90.


Regardless, the 600 seems to have more top end. It pulls nicely through the mid range and it really likes the high rpm's. It seems to rev more freely. Is this just the diff between a twin and triple?

I bought the 600 used, and I am not aware of any clutching changes. It has a first stage thinner head gasket from Max Perf and I think the can has been bored out, as it is quite a bit louder than the 700. But it seems to be more willing. The clutching seems to match the machine really well. Last year this 600 kept out climbing my 99 600 RMK. The RMK kept eating through and getting stuck and the 600 MM power rolled on in a way that let it work its way up the hill with, what seemed, a lot less effort.

I haven't gotten the 700 to the mountain areas yet and I couldn't really ditch bang at all, so theres more analysis to complete.

Do you suggest any changes to the stock clutching for general purpose riding?

thanks for your opinion.

Wishing the Pinapple Express weather system would piss off!!
fasterblaster :yam:
Vancouver, B.C.
 
The 700 MM engine really responds well to an ATACC. I fought with jetting and air boxes for years with mine and never got it to run as well as when I intalled one. Boondockers advice about the Tempa is probably solid. I have never used a Tempa. Sounds like he has so I'd take that advice. Reed spacers used on a stock engine did not produce much change much for me, just made installation fo the air box a little more interesting. Reed spacers used with porting and pipes does make a difference. Sure didn't cure my low end burble. I never noticed much change from peeling the head gastket. Again, I'm with boondocker. The MPI head is the way to go. You can change the compression ratio by using a slightly smaller head chanber than stock. Compression is cheap horsepower. Handlebar riser for sure. I use 6" but I'm 6'1" and exclusively ride steep and deep. Depending on your height, and riding style, use something that is comfortable. 2"" and you don't need to change cables or brake hose. Next level of mods starts to cost money. Pipes are lots of fun and produce a great power and sound. Head, roller driven, lightweight skid, longer track, lightweight front end, BOSS seat, roller driven, porting, nitrous, lightweight hood, aftermarket tunnel, the skys the limit but it all costs money and some of it costs big money. The good news is that you have a great sled, and one that works really well in stock or slightly modified form. I'll pass on a word of caution that was offered to me. Apperently if you spin this engine over rated RPM for any lenght of time, the crankshaft will come out of true, leading to failure. If you go to pipes that want 8900 - 9000 RPM such as SLP's, you should have the crankshaft welded and retrued. After years of screaming abuse, I replaced the crankshaft in my engine. I had the new one welded. The original one did not fail but was out of true by 4 thou. on the PTO side. Don't know if 4 thou. is good or bad. Just know it was out. Mongoose machine in BC did mine. Maybe talk to them if you want more info. Hope this helps you
 
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