Is the 97 VMAX 700 Triple a Good Sled??

06raptorgirl said:
omg i couldn't be happier with the sabercat! got it for a steal with 1,400 miles off a guy going through a divorce. people bash Cat, people bash Yamaha.....life goes on lol
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I hear ya..my last sled was a 97 670 MXZ & before that an 87 SRV now heading back to Yamaha for a 700 triple. Cat people are like Harley people & totally back their sled/bike but I'm back in the Yamaha stable. Whatever makes you happy as they say. ;)!
 
sx 700

Supposedly the 97 had issues with the crank bearing .Alot of people i hear never had an issue and vise versa. I have a 97 and hav'nt had a problem. Knock on wood .It is a good sled .
 
oh i'm def not brand loyal or act like a harley rider lol. to tell you the truth, i had my eye on an arctic cat because i like cats (the animal) so i really like the arctic cat gear LoL but a lot of ppl i ride with have Cats, so it makes life easier getting stuff at cost through the dealer, blah, blah.

good luck with your search! other than craigslist, www.sledfinds.com is a cool site to look up stuff too, because it will let you search by regions and it will bring up all of the craigslist ads.
 
Thanks & yes, I've used the Sledfinds site.....it's great but it's search engine for the site needs to be upgraded as it seem to always go back to the first page after clicking on a link....drives me nuts but it is a good way to find models/brands ect in an area. Right now I constantly just use craigslist & have had fairly good luck in locating sleds......just need to find a good local deal. The search continues.
 
xtc700jeff said:
Supposedly the 97 had issues with the crank bearing .Alot of people i hear never had an issue and vise versa. I have a 97 and hav'nt had a problem. Knock on wood .It is a good sled .
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I haven't heard of any factory recalls/updates for the '97 crank.
 
You can clutch a yammie for far cheaper than a kittie, it wont break down, and all you need to do is give her a good once over every season both pre and post. Take your time and buy exactly what you want. Another thing Ive noticed owning my SXR is that the more love you give it, the more it gives you back. Yammies can do the same things as smaller, lighter sleds, check out my blizzard pics, both of the Arctic Cants Im riding with are both "sno pro" sleds. Yes there is a pic of me seriously stuck, but thats because I didnt have the camera when the kitties were gettin stuck.
 
redlinesrule said:
I haven't heard of any factory recalls/updates for the '97 crank.
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I heard when yamaha was making the 98 srx they tried putting pipes on the 97 vmax motor, and they had issues with the crank. Im pretty sure there was a crank recall/update for the 98srx.
 
700 triple said:
I heard when yamaha was making the 98 srx they tried putting pipes on the 97 vmax motor, and they had issues with the crank. Im pretty sure there was a crank recall/update for the 98srx.
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Correct, there definitely was a factory recall for the 98' 700 SRX but I've yet to hear of any on the 97' 700 VMAX crank. From what I've read on this site, it was a matter of the crank pins not being welded in or properly welded thus causing them to drop into the crank & seizing the engine. This wasn't in the whole line of 98' SRX's but a very low % of them. Maybe someone here can give the exact specifics?
 
I am pretty sure you are thinking of the first year SRX's with crank bearing issues. The redhead 700 is bulletproof. Olav Aaen from Aaen Performance wrote and article one time about how he used this motor in his summer go cart test mule for developing clutch components. He said he ran his triple pipes on it and beat the living snot out of it and it never failed once. When American Snowmobiler Magazine started doing the shootouts back in the 90's they had several issues that provided info on modding this engine with pipes, etc. One dealer from out east (Randy Kramer Motorsports) said they would put triples on brand new customers sleds with this engine and cover the full warranty knowing they would never have issues as long as they did the setup.
 
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journeyman said:
I am pretty sure you are thinking of the first year SRX's with crank bearing issues. The redhead 700 is bulletproof. Olav Aaen from Aaen Performance wrote and article one time about how he used this motor in his summer go cart test mule for developing clutch components. He said he ran his triple pipes on it and beat the living snot out of it and it never failed once. When American Snowmobiler Magazine started doing the shootouts back in the 90's they had several issues that provided info on modding this engine with pipes, etc. One dealer from out east (Randy Kramer Motorsports) said they would put triples on brand new customers sleds with this engine and cover the full warranty knowing they would never have issues as long as they did the setup.
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Thanks for that history journeyman & it's good to know that this redhead triple had no recalls. I'll now add this engine to my search list. How long was the redhead in production & did it stay as reliable through it's entire run? Did it evolve/change at all from 97' to ??'? What models were produced with this non exhaust valved triple...guessing here...97'-04' Vmax/SX/SXR?
 
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The red head triple was in the vmax's, and the sxr's. I think they made it up to 02
 
redlinesrule said:
Thanks for that history journeyman & it's good to know that this redhead triple had no recalls. I'll now add this engine to my search list. How long was the redhead in production & did it stay as reliable through it's entire run? Did it evolve/change at all from 97' to ??'? What models were produced with this non exhaust valved triple...guessing here...97'-04' Vmax/SX/SXR?
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As I have mentioned the 2001 and newer SXR700's and Vmax's had the 300W rare earth magneto which Yamaha claims made no performance gain but in my testing I believe it did. It was one of the keys to why the 2000 and newer SRX's had more power than the 98-99's.
 
journeyman said:
As I have mentioned the 2001 and newer SXR700's and Vmax's had the 300W rare earth magneto which Yamaha claims made no performance gain but in my testing I believe it did. It was one of the keys to why the 2000 and newer SRX's had more power than the 98-99's.
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Thanks & maybe I'm just confused.....for whatever reason I thought the redheads were non exhaust valved/3-1 700's & all SRX's were triple piped 700's separate from the redheads. As you can see, I'm still learning what came when & what is what.....confused now?? :rofl:
 
The redhead motor was also found in the Mountain Max chassis as well.

I too like others have a 97 SX 700 triple. We had 2 of them for 8 years and sold one finally this year. I love that sled and will own it the rest of my life, even if I have a piped Viper and an Apex Mtn to ride. There is nothing like the scream of a stock pipe redhead at 8000 rpm. Ride on and ride safe!!
 
redlinesrule said:
Thanks & maybe I'm just confused.....for whatever reason I thought the redheads were non exhaust valved/3-1 700's & all SRX's were triple piped 700's separate from the redheads. As you can see, I'm still learning what came when & what is what.....confused now?? :rofl:
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Yes, you are right. I was pointing out though that Yamaha added the rare earth magneto to the SRX's in 2000 which was one of the key factors to why the 2000 to 2002 SRX's were faster than 1998 and 1999 SRX's. They also has stronger porting.

That being said Yamaha added this same rare earth magneto to the 2001 SX700R redhead motor the year after they did to the SRX. So a 1997 through 2000 redhead motor is vitually the same. A 2001 and newer one would have this hotter spark ignition. That is the only difference you will see between redhead motors.
 
journeyman said:
Yes, you are right. I was pointing out though that Yamaha added the rare earth magneto to the SRX's in 2000 which was one of the key factors to why the 2000 to 2002 SRX's were faster than 1998 and 1999 SRX's. They also has stronger porting.

That being said Yamaha added this same rare earth magneto to the 2001 SX700R redhead motor the year after they did to the SRX. So a 1997 through 2000 redhead motor is vitually the same. A 2001 and newer one would have this hotter spark ignition.
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More great info journeyman. Did they keep the head red on 00's & up as well or are those all blue heads? I guess I was wondering if from 00' & up the 3-1's got the redhead & all the triple piped got the blue head? With the rare earth magneto added in 01' all those heads went blue? Another words with the 97' Vmax, SRX, SX's, & SXR, 98-00' = redhead & SRX, 01'-02' = bluehead (rare earth magneto)?
 
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redlinesrule said:
More great info journeyman. Did they keep the head red on 00's & up as well or are those all blue heads? I guess I was wondering if from 00' & up the 3-1's got the redhead & all the triple piped got the blue head? With the rare earth magneto added in 01' all those heads went blue? Another words with the 97' Vmax, SRX, SX's, & SXR, 98-00' = redhead & SRX, 01'-02' = bluehead (rare earth magneto)?
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My 2001 was a redhead but I had a friend that had either a 2001 or 2002 Vmax 700 w/ reverse(purple/blue hood) and I think the head was black.........but it was pretty much the same motor as my 2001 SXR.
 
i gave mine 1997 sx 700 to my wife i have it geared and clutched reed spacers tranfer rods it really halls *** i like it more then my 2005 rx1 good on gas cant say enough good about it 12000 kilos just like new tranfer rods are a must i have bender rods that have adjustment for uncoupling suspension helps ride alot one of the best sleds of alltime period
 
i have heard that 97 and older tripples had piston ring problems? something like the piston ring doesnt stay put in the ring land. and also, i got a 01 sxr and its got a redhead. runs great.
 
s10mike said:
i have heard that 97 and older tripples had piston ring problems? something like the piston ring doesnt stay put in the ring land. and also, i got a 01 sxr and its got a redhead. runs great.
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I'm pretty sure you are thinking of the '97 twins like the 600. I had a '97 600SX and there was a bulletin out about the rings. They called them a plasma ring if I remember right and they could break and mess your piston and cylinder up. They claimed it was known to happen after 3000 miles. I changed mine out when I saw the bulletin and I had around 3600 miles on it. A work friend has a '99 500SX for his wife and their rings exploded at around 6000 miles and caused some major problems. I never heard of the 700 redhead with these issues though but it is possible they used the same supplier of rings at the time.
 
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