hey im thinking about buying a very clean 99 SRX 700 but i've been reading that they dont perform like the later years.do the 00's have more compression? Pat hauck offers a head mod but the 99's need a base gasget which tells me the 00's must have a thicker gasget from the factory. What are the best mods for this sled...after 10 years on Cats i dont know much about Yamaha motors.
Thanks
Thanks
mopar1rules
Active member
welcome to this site bro and hopefully you left that cat craze for good... 
the '00-'02 srx's had i believe 4cc smaller domes from factory. the '98-'99 srx's were rated at 140hp and the '00 and newer ones were rated at 145hp. the stock porting is suppose to be better on the '00-'02 models, and that's probably why hauck is supplying a thicker base gasket....to raise the port heights and change the timing. for the average rider, they probably won't notice a power difference between a '99 and a '00 srx. i seen turk post a cheap mod on here a while back about '98 and '99 srx's....shave the stock heads .025"-.030" and run a total of 3 base gaskets (2 stacked on top of the first original one). he said it was good for 6-8hp. the clutching i would change on it tho. change the bottom sprocket from the stock 37t, to a 38t and run some heavy hitters or heel clicker weights, with a hi-tech roller secondary. keep the power valves clean and adjusted and she will provide you will many years of reliability 
i forgot to add that if you need/deside to get your heads shaved, that i'm able to do that for you.
the '00-'02 srx's had i believe 4cc smaller domes from factory. the '98-'99 srx's were rated at 140hp and the '00 and newer ones were rated at 145hp. the stock porting is suppose to be better on the '00-'02 models, and that's probably why hauck is supplying a thicker base gasket....to raise the port heights and change the timing. for the average rider, they probably won't notice a power difference between a '99 and a '00 srx. i seen turk post a cheap mod on here a while back about '98 and '99 srx's....shave the stock heads .025"-.030" and run a total of 3 base gaskets (2 stacked on top of the first original one). he said it was good for 6-8hp. the clutching i would change on it tho. change the bottom sprocket from the stock 37t, to a 38t and run some heavy hitters or heel clicker weights, with a hi-tech roller secondary. keep the power valves clean and adjusted and she will provide you will many years of reliability i forgot to add that if you need/deside to get your heads shaved, that i'm able to do that for you.
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ok so are the 98 SRX's as good as the 99's...i found out its a 98 not a 99.what about the crank issues? was this a recall? this sled will be used for drag racing mostly,im planning on cleaning up the transfer ports myself(done lots of Firekitty's lol) what about pipes or are the stock pipes as good as it gets?i'll be in touch with you about the head mod for sure...mopar1rules said:welcome to this site bro and hopefully you left that cat craze for good...
mopar1rules
Active member
the '99 are identical engine wise to a '98. yes, the '98's were good sleds. the recall on the crank was for it coming out of "phase". this usually happened on heavily studded sleds. yamaha did warranty this and fix it for the '99 models and newer. they tightend up the tolerance on the press fit of the crankpins/counterweights, and welded the pins to the counter weights. the stock pipes are about as good as it gets for stock bore. the only pipes that made more hp than stock pipes, was power inc pipes. it was approx a 6hp gain. if you go big bore, than bender big bore pipes are the ticket. you could buy a porting template from race logic and then give it a complete port job yourself 
thanks for the info...so the heelclickers do work on the SRX's? i had no luck with them on my Cats.i plan on porting the motor myself...with some good clutching i should be able to stay close with the F-cats...im hoping.
Thanks again Mopar
Thanks again Mopar
mopar1rules
Active member
heelclickers work f'en awesome on srx's. you won't have trouble hanging with the f7's. 2 of my buddies had brand new '05 600ho rev's and then 2 of our other riding buddies had brand new '05 f7's. believe it or not, but the revs would take the f7's off the line to top end. those f7's were f'en junk. total dogs. your srx should make mince meat of them f7's. the only ones that could possibly give you fits are ones with big bores/heavily modded. i guess if you get beat by one.....big deal.....his engine will only be together for like another 20 miles.......stupid suzuki motors. 
oh yeah, i think the '00-'02 srx's had 24c domes and the '98-'99 srx's had 26cc domes.
you won't have trouble hanging with the f7's. 2 of my buddies had brand new '05 600ho rev's and then 2 of our other riding buddies had brand new '05 f7's. believe it or not, but the revs would take the f7's off the line to top end. those f7's were f'en junk. total dogs. your srx should make mince meat of them f7's. the only ones that could possibly give you fits are ones with big bores/heavily modded. i guess if you get beat by one.....big deal.....his engine will only be together for like another 20 miles.......stupid suzuki motors. oh yeah, i think the '00-'02 srx's had 24c domes and the '98-'99 srx's had 26cc domes.
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I had a 05 f7..they were dogs outta the box but within a year it had won the 700 class twice in some major ice events.i've always liked the srx's and now its gonna be fun to try and beat my f7 buddies..lol,but i do think i have my work cut out for me.i've also found a 02 SRX..can the detonation sensor be eliminated?
thanks for the info.
thanks for the info.
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mopar1rules
Active member
yes the dcs can be unplugged.
i found a 2000 srx with 7000km's,what are some things i should look for?is that alot of km's for this motor? it also has a some kind of rear suspension upgrade so it has 11.5 inches of travel which i dont want because this sled is gonna be a lake runner.
Anything i should check other then the normal Compresstion,bearings,etc
Anything i should check other then the normal Compresstion,bearings,etc
Yamidude59
New member
This is a first! A cat guy finally sees the Light.... YaMaHA.... Good work. You wont be dissappointed with any year srx.
Yamidude59
New member
7000km (4200 miles) isn't bad at all, You don't even need to touch anything motor wise till at least 6500 or 7000 miles. Crank bearings should be checked though just in case of premature failure. Check motor mounts.
Triple X
New member
If the crank is questionable on the 98-99, pull the primary clutch and attach a dial indicator (one with a magnetic base) to the side of the engine. Zero the gage on the crank, turn the engine over slowly to get a reading. Yamaha say's that 6 thou. is ok but IMO anything over 4 thou. is way out.
lol..i still like Cat,the firecats were wicket fast but im not impressed with the lineups from any manufactor this coming season so im gonna try a SRX(always loved the look of these sleds) Next season im gonna build it into a pro-stock Race sled.I'll probley pull the cylinders off and trail port it,and do the topend this season.the Cranks in the 2000 and newer models were known to be as weak as the 99 and 98's correct?i will be running 160-190 ice studs.Yamidude59 said:This is a first! A cat guy finally sees the Light.... YaMaHA.... Good work. You wont be dissappointed with any year srx.
Yamidude59
New member
No, the crank wasn't an issue once you get into a 2000 and newer srx, I reccomend a 2001 srx over anything, for one, it has the dual warmer controls unlike the 2000, and doesn't have the finiky DCS like the 2002, and like the 2000 and 2002 it has 5 more horsepower then the 98 and 99's, more to work with for baseline if you want to race it.
congrads.....you seen the light ,,,,,i used to ride doo and some cats ........THAN i got my FIRST YAMAHA SRX.....and never looked back ....they did there homework when they made this one .....i now own 3 srx`s and i cant belive i waited that long to switch .....and have never had any problem with any yet always gets you home ....spark plugs are a bit pricey ...welcome aboard you wont regret it ....i took my buddy on a 06 doo 600 ho with my srx 600 ....get the clutch tuned perfect ...and she will just keep building up speed ....just cant say enough about them .....