HELP! Looking at an 02 Viper

SRX RIDER

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Dec 2, 2004
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Location
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HELP! Looking at an 02 Viper (UPDATE: Viper OWNER!)

Hey guys, I've only posted in the vintage area up till this point and I need some knowledgable advice on some late model stuff.

I'm gong to look at an 02' Viper tomorrow night. Approx 3800 miles, one owner and dealer built and maintained. I haven't seen the sled yet, but spoke with the dealer about it a little. Sled has AT LEAST, the following add ons: This is what I can remember anyway!:

Bender triples
Bender rear heat exchanger
Opticool head gasket
clutch kit, jetting and all related carb/wiring mods in relation to pipes
Pioneer shock revalve
transfer rods
192 stainless studs/backers
windsheild, etc.

The dealer claims the sled is done 100% right and super clean. Asking price is $4500. I need some opinions on wether or not this is a good deal. Should I stay away from the modded stuff and look for stock, or jump on this given the amount of money that has been put into hop ups. Keep in mind this is what I would do to a stock Viper if I had one.

Any thoughts/comments will be appreciated. THANKS!
 
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it really sounds like a fair price...but with any modded sled there are some risks....ask the dealer for a short term warranty. If its done right they should honor that.
 
I would bring a gauge and test compression... I request a warranty of some sort on it. Heard of a few problems with pipes on the viper.. Not all have problems but some do.
 
So, is the reliability greatly sacrificed when you go the triple pipe route? I'm told the Bender pipes are prefered since they keep the power in the stock rpm range. I'm really interested in this sled since it sounds like it has all the good parts already installed. The thought of a 150 horse Viper for the price of a stock one has me fired up. I can't leave stuff alone, so I know I would be doing mods anyway. I figure this thing has at least $1500 worth of add ons which were all dealer installed. Throw in labor and this sled has some serious coin in it that someone else took the depreciation hit on.

As a side note the sled was actually a customers that one of the owners bought for his own use. He bought it last year when it was traded in, but a new house forces sale. They sold it new and did all maintenance and mods. Original owner was the yearly trader type. I figure if it was good enough for one of the owners, it must be a pretty nice sled. I'll find out tonight. ;)!
 
Checked the sled out last night. Absolutely mint and it would take me at least $6500 to replicate it with another used one. I don't even want to think what this thing would be built from new. I found out in addition to the the Bender triples, rear exchanger, opticool, clutch kit, Bender transfers, Pioneer revalve, 192 stainless studs and Cobra windsheild, that it has V-Force reeds and a brand new top end (rings and pistons). Once again, the dealer/owner did this work since it was going to be his own ride. He wanted it fresh and then never even rode it. 0 miles new top end!

Needless to say I'm bringing it home as soon as I can. Stock Vipers are bringing $4000-$4300 around here, and I know I would never leave one stock OR be able to mod one right like this one is.

I got a buddy with a Phazer who's going to be very upset with me. :twisted:
 
Dear Santa: Please send me some snow!

Here it is! I wasn't wasting any time before someone else snagged it. It's pretty much spotless, even saw that it's wired for an electric shield. I keep finding more goodies everywhere I look. There's the SRX too for any of you that like the oldies. Thanks for the comments regarding things to check/ask about.

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What's with the 450R? The YZ450 not good enough for yah? What kind of self-respecting Yamaha guy rides a Honda? Just kidding, nice sleds and quad.
 
yamahay said:
What's with the 450R? The YZ450 not good enough for yah? What kind of self-respecting Yamaha guy rides a Honda? Just kidding, nice sleds and quad.

To be honest with you, I've been a Honda man when it comes to bikes and quads. I was close to buying a YFZ450, but they just had to many problems poping up. The 450R does the job and is a real torque monster. The wife has a Warrior, but you can't see that in the picture. At this point the Blue out numbers the Red!

Thanks for the props on the Viper. I just stood in the garage all weekend and stared at it! :rockon:
 
yamie 1 said:
did he throw in the yamaha snowshovel ?? ha-ha

ROFL.....No, but it did come with a tow rope in the trunk! Not sure if that's a good or bad sign. Maybe this Vipe towed a few kittens out of the woods?! :rockon:
 
Nice buy!

It's almost identical to my 02', except mine is red (not ER though, Swapped colors) and I have the Boyesen Rad valves instead of V-Force reeds. You should have a real reliable runner that is going to give just about eveything a run for it's money. Before you run it...check all cables that are located close to any of the pipes. (power valve cables and other wires or heat sensitive materials) make sure they are properly covered with heat tape or something equivilant. Make sure all cable are in good condition. That is the only issue I've heard of with this mod. You might want to ask if the head Modification was done to equal out the compression in all cylinders. When stock, the PTO cylinder has different compression to compensate for the stock Y-pipe. When triple piped, the viper, no longer needs the compression offset. Bender offers this mod for $125.00 and you just send in the existing head. They said about a week to get back to you. It'll also give you a couple more horses. Hope this helps. :yam:
 
Allvipedup: Thanks for the tips. I know all of the the wiring and power valve cables are re-routed and wrapped if necessary. The hood insulation was switched and all of those other little pipe specific details were done by the dealer. All the work on the sled was done by Yammy techs. No "home project" stuff!

I was under the impression that the head mod was only for the 04'? Maybe I missed that. Not sure if that was done to my sled or not. I may have to ask about that one. Seems like everything else was done that could be within reason. The original owner spent some real coin on this thing and it is just immaculate. Quite obvious this thing wasn't banging any ditches since you would never believe it has 3700 miles on it. All Northeastern PA and NY miles. The fact that a tech bought it for himself, put a brand new top end in it, and then never even rode it makes it even sweeter. I was asking him about the mileage, and when they require a top end, and he's like, "Oh yeah, I put a fresh top end in it too. Didn't need it, just wanted it done." SOLD!

Found the torque limiter on it yesterday. I keep finding stuff on it that he forgot to show me. He was having trouble remembering everything that was done to it! I'll endup ripping it apart just to find all of the mods!
 


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