viper s owners

blueblooded

blueblooded

Member
Joined
May 16, 2003
Messages
856
Age
53
Location
Lockport ny
Hi,i just sold my 01 and 02 srx 700's.I really do not want a four stroke and i am leaning on getting a viper s.One of my buddies rides an 03 zr 440 converted for trail and the other one has a rev 800 x.Im sick of being left in the dust when the trail gets rough.Yes,i tried the long travel kit,its better but still sucks.When the trail really gets bad,its either beat the hell out of the sled and break stuff or let em go and catch up when/if it smooths out.Will the viper s handle the rough stuff as well as the 2 sleds above of should i just bite the bullet and buy a zr 900 sno pro?
 
I have a 04 Viper S and I put 3200 miles on it last year and I absolutely love it! As for the rough stuff i think it handles great in it, but I only ride in Canada, so it is hard to tell you for sure. I don't think you will be disatisfied with one if you get it!!
 
I loved the viper S. I made the transition from a Vmax XT 600. Handles the stutter bumps better and the big bumps....well you just have to go fast enought to skim the tops of them.

All kidding aside....IMO, it is a great sled!

Nice to see you Yamahagirl!!!

:WayCool: :yam:
 
Sounds great,i love the way the viper s looks.Speed is important to me but i have had such good luck with yamahas reliabilty,i dont think i could go back to cat.Thanks
 
cats reliability has come a long way - Before my srx I have owned 6 cats and my next sled will probably be an m7
 
Well,i took the plunge and bought a new left over 04 viper s.My wife is a little pissed,as i sold my srx's and said i wouldnt get another sled until next year.I know the viper s is no srx in terms of speed but is it really that slow?I know my back will be thanking me this winter.
 
I think you made a wise decision.
Dont get me wrong, Firecats are very fast sleds but they have their issues.
Cat has never been able to make a good clutch. You still have to completely rebuild the clutches every 1,000 miles. Also Cat has had some issues in the past with the gears in their Diamond Drive coming apart.
Most people have to play with spring combinations to get their Cats to ride nice too. An Arctic Cat is a snocross sled. They are made for riding the ditches and the big bumps. Due to this, they have a very, very hard suspension. This might be great if you are jumping but if you are riding groomed trails it sucks. I rode an F7 at a demo ride event last winter and was not impressed. It was a very fast sled but it rode so rough and darted so bad that it wasnt even fun to ride.
Theres a couple of Yamaha dealers in my area that have Viper S'. They look like a pretty nice sled. Im not a big lover of red myself (Ive always believed that Yamaha's fastest machines should be blue) but its still sharp-looking. I like the fact that it has the Ohlins. I can remember back when Yamaha still had the factory snocross team and how it was a big thing when the 600 SX came with Ohlins. Other than that I dont see how its much different than any other Viper. Thats not a bad thing though, a Viper is an awsome sled. I hope to own one myself in a few years. Slap a set of triple pipes on that baby and you can smoke almost any sled on the trail and on the lake.
Hebi
 
Thanks,I use to own cats and i cant tell you how many of my trips were ruined due to mechanical problems.I dont care how fast your cat is ,when your sitting in the cabin all by yourself as all your buddies are out riding because your cat broke down again,you dont think about speed anymore you think about reliability.Dont get me wrong i love the cats look and handle and they are fast (when they run)i almost bought the zr900 but couldnt do it,to many bad memories.To each their own.
 
I still can't keep up to the F7 & REV 800

My buddies are younger though, but my 02 Viper still has a way to go. Ski's sux and track sux, but the 04 has better ski's and better track so you should be OK. I would suggest putting it on a diet if you want to keep up on the trail.
 
I ride with an F7 and I have a viper S. I only got 200 miles on cause I bought it late but I can tell you my experience with it was great. When switching back and forth between the F7 i noticed the f7's rear suspension felt better. I gave the front suspension nod to my ohlins though. Speed was no comparison, on hardpack I got spanked, in powder I could pull him for a little ways then got spanked again. I get a little better gas mileage and wind protection is about the same. I like the skinnier tunnel on the cat and the height of the bars and hooks. There's no better sounding sled out there than a yamaha with a can, in my opinion, and I can listen to my sled all day long.
On a side not my friend has had his f7 for two years. He had the bolts rattle out of the recoil cover (Had to tow it back), taillight wires rub and burn out lights, thumbwarmer stop working, kept missing on top end (We never did figure out why) and now his suspension arms have wopped out the rails and he needs to replace the rails. He has around 2500 miles on it and luckily he has the extended warranty. Mostly minor issues and it's a really fun sled to ride, very agile and easy to throw around in the air. I'll stick with my viper S all I need is tripples and I could run with him if I really wanted to. Oh yeah and don't forget about the DCS it makes me a little more at ease when riding.
 
Im surprised to hear you say the F7 rear suspension rides better than the Viper S. I havnt ridden an F7, but I know Im very impressed with the overall ride of my Viper S. No dought though the F7 spanks it. Im a little dissapointed with the Viper compared to an SRX. Not even a resemblence IMO.
 
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