What upgrades to do to a 1998 Vmax 700sx?

sleddineinar

sleddineinar

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Back in Dec. I bought a 1998 Vmax 700sx with 3700 miles. It runs well, but needs a new track, I'll be doing that this summer.

Are there any other upgrades that I should do? It's got plastic skis with 6.5" carbides. The track that's on it is looks like the original one, with 144 or 196 ( i haven't actaually counted them), studs added.

I was thinking about a can as well.

Also, I do tend ride pretty hard.

Any thoughts?
 
Stay away from the cans, they will give you some noise and weight savings but the way to go is with Triple pipes.....I have benders on mine and love it. Head gasket mod is a nice cheap mod, can't help you on the track because I will say put a long track but that is because I like the deep stuff....altought we don't get in MN anymore.....
There is some clutching to do that will get it going to if you do the pipes, maybe a shock upgrade, I have vipers on mine and is better but not awesome, it all depends on how much you wanna spend...Hope I helped

Nick
 
A better track would come to mind first as long as the motor was in good shape.

You can get a pre holed 1" track for it that will be night and day better than the stock track. You can re-stud it if you want. If you have the time and cash now don't wait just do the track now. Find a heated garage and swap it out. There are turtorials on the tech pages that will walk you thru exactly what you need to do as long as your handy. Also there are many more people here in the winter that can answer any thing you might run into.

Next tune it for your riding style and conditions. Clutch work could help.

Stay as far away from exhaust changes as possible. Not worth the cost $$$ wise.

I know you said you have plastic skis already. If your a deep snow rider and the skis are the stock type plastic you might enjoy a wider better designed for your riding pair.

The next thing is for longevity of the sled and not performance per say. At 9 years old and nearly 4000 miles you should check and replace if worn all the bearings on all the moving parts. These range from the boogie wheels to the drive shaft bearings (Especially the left side since it is not lubricated too well), and the jack shaft bearings (especially the clutch side). They are easy to change before they go bad and won't cost you anything but time to inspect them. I get my Boogie bearings from VXB Bearings. I think it was under $2 a bearing. The rest of them get from Yamaha as it is too much hassle to do them twice.

My 2 cents.
 
Thanks for the input! I'm waiting til summer, because for me riding season is just about over. I was out for a long weekend with my brothers & cousins this last weekend. Might be my last. March is a pretty busy month for me. I was planning on giving the suspension a good working over when I put on a new track. I was leaning toward a pre-holed 1" track. I like the way it studded right now - It seems hook up pretty good. I was also thinking about some new wider skis.
 
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reed spacers or notch, thin head gasket, bore your stock silencer (NO CANS) and clutch work....put a good 1" track set up the rear skid for your weight and riding style and you are good to go.
 
Can you tell just by looking if the thin head gasket mod has been done? I've read the tech note on it, and when I look at my engine up close, it only looks like one thin piece. Also, what reed spacers are best?

I'm looking at a 1" Hacksaw track with 1.080" studs. Will there be enough tunnel clearance?
 
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Yes but you will need tunnel protectors all around.

No there is no easy way to tell how much head gasket there is on the motor visually. Some gaskets might overhang the cylinders a bit and you might be able to see how many layers are there but for the most part it is very hard to tell.
 
On all my 700's the head gaskets were rivited together on the front and back of the head. So if the rivits are still there it should have all of them, but if it is punched out just spread them apart a ways to see how many you've got. Hope this helps.
 
a new track will completely transform the sled.


I got my bone stock venture this fall, rode it with the stock .510 track (you have .75") and the steel / ski skinned skis. Then I got 98 srx skis from a TY'er, and threw on a used doo .92" track, and I studded it with 108 studs from rich,and it is a ton better than it was.

I have a few more things I need to do to it, but it is amazing what things like a track and skis will do. Next I need to add shaper carbides and a little fine tuning of the shock settings and it will be set. (well oil pump replacement, and a top end rebuild for the heck of it for next season)
 
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