if i were you i would run the ecs, i'll give you a description as to why. a stock srx has a wider squish band in the combustion area, than the viper and it uses premium fuel and ecs plugs. i think yamaha truely goofed to not run the ecs in the viper. the tolerences are tighter on all 3 cylinders on the viper, and the head doesnt have nearly the cooling capacity as the srx, but you are supposed to be able to run 87 octane gas and br9es plugs in the viper. now adding pipes to the mix... the heads will run a little hotter unless having a set of billet heads or jeff simons cpr head mod done. i think some of the burn down issues were detonation related due to tight squish, pipes, non premium fuel and non ecs plugs. it is just good insurance as the plugs disapate heat better. now for the big thing that alot of guys may or may not know or agree with. there are 2 (count them) two pregapped versions of the ecs plug unbenounced to the yamaha world, ngk tells us not to ever gap a ecs plugs due to possible electrode failure from fatigue. with this being said you can get the screw top ecs plug (stock number 3570) in .028-.031 gap or .8 mm whichever you prefer. the solid top pre gapped to .028-.031 are stock number (4677) but are only available at a bombardier dealer under pn 415128524. they are used for the new sdi 600's. now there are solid top ecs with a stock number of 6669, that are the tight gapped .018-.021 (.5mm) and should not be gapped. just want you to have all the info you can to make a good decision. i am running slp pipes, megapower heads, with two cometic .010 head gaskets, solid top ecs with proper gap (doo part number) and premium fuel, 91 octane or better for my new viper project sled. i am also running holtzmans tempa flow too. ski