Good deal? VMAX

FF-Tony

FF-Tony

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Joined
Sep 8, 2010
Messages
124
Age
34
Location
Minne-SNOW-ta
Hey everybody,
Looking at buying a new sled and came across this one on CL in my area,

99 VMAX 500
New rebuild as of last winter which isn't even broken in yet,
3,500 miles on the motor before the rebuild,
Choke doesn't work but still starts up right away

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i195/moxy10/Sled VMAX 500/Yami1.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i195/moxy10/Sled VMAX 500/Yami2.jpg

Seat is bad i know, but i am liking the looks of the rest of the sled, looks clean to me

So lemme hear some opinions on this year and model,
and dont hold back i need to know the pros and cons of this sled, going to look at it this weekend!
 
Nice sled. Not that fast. Engine should be bullet proof. So, that makes me wonder why it went down. given the engine meltdown and general looks of it my guess is that it wasn't treated real good. Probably worth no more than $1000.
 
The primary clutch goes bad on them and needs frequent rebuild. The twins just were not as smooth as the triples. I wouldnt be surprised if it needs a rebuild right now. The gas mileage sucks on these and they really dont have much power. a 600 is a little faster but not by much and you still have the same issues I just mentioned. I would pass this one up

Really makes me wonder what caused it to melt down in the first place and leads me to think you are just buying somebody else problem
 
Should not have needed a rebuild by 3500. A lot of guys will do rings and such by then for preventitve maintenance but by the looks of the seat i would say no. I would pass. How much is he asking?? By the way welcome to the site and yamaha is a great choice for a sled. find the right one and you will not be disappointed. CCC
 
well 11 years old and only 3500 miles makes me think the rebuild was caused by a lot of sitting and down time, I think this is the first owner, he says he doesn't know much about them and they werent his cup of tea, he said all his riding was a lot of deep powder.

Im thinking that if it has a brand new re-build that it should be close to running like new?

The seat in the pictures is the only thing that looks bad to me, please tell me what you guys are seeing that i may be missing?

The price is 650, the guy started at 1000 and worked his way down to his latest offer of 650.

I heard they are pretty light and stock they will do 85+ and with the right tuning they will go closer to 100?
 
It looks like it has not been taken care of all that great. The seat needs to go in the garbage and a new one on order or buy a nice used one in the classifieds/ebay.

What exactly is wrong with the choke cable? what does the engine compartment look like? Is it clean or does it look like the gulf of mexico? why is it starting up if the choke is not working?

these all all questions off the top of my head as if I were going to buy this sled? Honestly if it were my sled, it would be parted out. I would not look twice at this sled and move on
 
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I belive it was the top end that was rebuilt and the seller has the paperwork on it.

It only starts up cause it is still warm here, and I am planning on taking a lot of pictures on sunday when i check it out and be taking lots of notes (this is MY first sled i am buying)

I am not sure if it is the choke cable or the seller said (stater jet???)
 
take lots of pics inside and out + under skid. If you need help resizing them you can email them all to me and I will post them on this thread for you. good luck and tell us everything you find. tomseal6@hotmail.com

BTW, How far are you from FT Carson?
 
Im bout 15 miles north of it, its on the very south end of the town and im near the north.

I was thinkin could it be possible that the rebuild was just to maybe help it sell faster????
 
A top end rebuild on a Yamaha generally needs to be done at every 3000 miles, new rings, wrist pin bearings and measure the pistons to see if they are in spec.

If the seller was that worried about maintenance to freshen up the top end , I would expect the sled to look much better then it does. It just raises a flag
 
ok i see what your saying, Well i will take a lot of pictures and probably email them too you sunday afternoon when i get back from looking at it and see what ya think, i really appreciate your input tomseal
 
Hey no problem,, I enjoy this site, always on here talking about sleds and general BS.

Im active army and up for orders to transfer very soon, probably within the next few weeks. Fort carson is on my location request so there is a possibility I couldl be out there soon. My sleds are in Michigan and would go get them before I came out
 
Well hey man, o hope you get your request, be great to have another sled head anyywhere near by, my school is down by ft. carson so im always down there
 
For $650????
I'd buy it,part it out and you should be able to double your money...Then put that towards a better sled... Or fix whatever is broke, ride it and see what happens...If it blowes up then part it out and you shouldn't take a loss on your hard earned money...Just a thought...
 
I asked the guy to get a compression reading for me, he got 135, says there is just shy of 5 miles on the top end rebuild not even broken in.

Ill be taking TOMSEAL6 up on his offer, gonna take a lot of pictures and email them to tomseal and hell put them up on this thread, as well as let me know what he sees in the pictures, not going to put money down on it when i look at it, but depending on what you guys think, if i put down some money on it, it will be early next week, if itrs a good deal i dont want to wait.
 
Colorado Springs area right?? Isn't that going to be mostly mountain riding? If that's the case I'd look for mountain type sled. Unless you plan to just trail ride it and watch the other people play in the pow.
 
Well Im on the springs now, the reason I am looking for them here is they are pretty cheap compared to the upper midwest, cause ppl just dont sled here, but i am moving to Morris MN in may and I want to find a cheaper sled here to take with me when i move, and if i buy it around this time it will leave a lot of the winter months to work on it and mod it
 
Gotcha. Makes sense I guess. Morris - eh?? I've got family in the Paynesville area.

What kind of mods are you thinking? The 700 triple is a much better motor and a guy can actually find go fast parts for them. Not much love/support for the yamaha twin anymore.
 
Ya Morris haha got a aunt and a cousin there, Ill be working for Stevens County Ambulance there, my parents are buying a house in Sauk Centre, on Sauk Lake.

I would love a 700 triple but seeing as how i am buying one here i dont have very many options, colorado springs is 400,000 ppl and on CL here there are 45 posts under snowmobiles, and like 3/4 of those are trailers or ppl selling broken down junk
 
Well guys, I may just ditch the date with the VMAX on sunday to go check this out...

94 XLT Special Triple 580
New track
Powder bar
Handle bar risers
Powder Skis
4,000 miles but last year was re-ringed and overhauled, now has full compression
Seat is mint condi. (seems to be the key to tell how a sled was kept eh?)

$400

I know you guys aren't poolaris men, but what do you say, better deal?
 
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