Just bought a 99 SRX 700 and it has a 1.25 unstudded Ripsaw track. I want to stud it but because the original track was .92 I want to be sure there is not going to be an issue of damaging the heat exchangers from the studs. It has protectors on both exchangers. Also the bottoms of the front skis are pretty worn. I can get new Yamaha skis fairly reasonable or should I go with an aftermarket like Kimpex arrow or a USI. Mainly trail ride, don't get off trail much. Thanks for any input...........Tom
Devilin AblueDress!
New member
Sketchy on studs, those protectors are for the lugs of the track, not for studs. I would guess new oem skis would not be cheap. I am putting bergstroms tripple point carbides which come with ski savers. Might be just the ticket to get a few more years out of your skis. Keep in mind the bigger/higher amount of studs your run you need to compensate with carbides to over power the track wanting to continue its path, running in center will help as well as dont get chewed up/torn out as fast.
Heard nothing but good things about the Bergstoms and thinking of going that route. Thinking of doing 144 studs in the center of the track. I have found an online dealer that I can get new skis for $70 each but was curious to here opinions of those who have replaced with aftermarket.
speedmax4 said:
There is a TY member here that uses a 1 1/4" track with studs (1.375" I believe) on his Viper without issues but most others here go 1" max with 1.175" - Woodys (including me). Anything longer than 1" and most go to 8 tooth drivers. The HX protectors are installed from Yamaha just to accomodate studs and will keep the studs off the HXs but without 8 tooth drivers you may end up with a gouged tunnel/fuel tank.
It seems stud length measurement changes depending on the mfg. IOW - What Woody's calls a 1.075" may be different than what Routin or Bergstrom measure.
Sounds like I need to find a different height track to be safe.
bluemonster1
LIFE MEMBER ONLY ONCE!!!
got to watch them studs.When I bought my SRX from a private seller,he had stock track with 144 studs.I don't remember the stud length,but the studs were cutting the front exchanger,tunnels and almost ate thru the gas tank under neath,it was very close.I run a 1 inch track now with 1.075 studs and have not had any more stud damage since for a few years now.Originally the guy had studs on the outside edge of the track also,and was those studs that nearly cut the gas tank.They cut the metal bracket under the tunnel that has a threaded bolt that goes thru the tunnel and holds the fuel pump.Be careful
dsc577
VIP Member
Great info guys. Thank you for your responses. bluemonster, I notice in your picture you have USI skis. How do you like them compared to stock?
bluemonster1
LIFE MEMBER ONLY ONCE!!!
well they are better then stock.You just have to place the bolt in the rear hole to work good.If you leave it in the center hole,steering is harder.I installed 6"Carbide Shaper bars to mine also which really work good.They do drop the height of the front end because of the low profile bracket..I just added 1/4"layers of rubber under the bracket to get my height back to stock height..In my pic I had the bolt in the center hole,but moved it back due to hard steering effort.