doo 800 twin question

03viperguy

03viperguy

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dootalk wont let me start a new topic, so i thought I would ask here. father in law has an 03 renegade 800 that he is thinking of selling. has the updates done to the motor, and has 2000 miles on it. what issues should I look out for? I know they had a few problems, but not really sure what they were. tried searching and get more for the ptek motors and almost nothing for his motor. thinking of using it net winter in case I cant get the viper going in time for snowfall. thoughts? thanks guys!
 

My friend asked me to swap his 2012 LT 2 up XP 800 for a little spin on my 08 Phazer RTX. Afterwards, he kept talking on how my sled rode so, horrible. I did not even say a word about the Nasty engine Vibration, Heavy steering, running board flexing, track Howling XP. The next pit stop another Ski-Doo rider pointed out the XP had the usual 2" offset (bent bulkhead) ski in front of the other.
 
Don't know much about the motors, but what I DO know about the ZX chassis, is you will probably never keep the inside ski on the ground around a corner no matter what you do, and you will probably bend your running boards without even doing anything crazy. If you're even somewhat aggressive you may bend or kink the tunnel. Trailing arms are also very weak too and bend if you give them a sideways glance.
I'm not trying to be a dick or overly trying to bash, or anything on purpose. Just passing on what I have seen with the ZX chassis. They are fairly light, but are very weak. Things like to bend.
Even if it's the wrong color, it's a better alternative than not getting to ride at all. Besides, it will make you appreciate your Viper all the more.
 
From what I have seen, all series 2 doos the carb boots tend to crack and cause lean burn downs. I would think that if you watch that, and it had the piston update you should be fine.

I'm in Florida on the beach in 80 degree weather and still thinking sledding. Maybe there will still be snow in northern wi when I get back. That would have to be 2 weekends from now though.
 
horkn said:
From what I have seen, all series 2 doos the carb boots tend to crack and cause lean burn downs. I would think that if you watch that, and it had the piston update you should be fine.
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ditto, from what I've seen common problem

horkn said:
I'm in Florida on the beach in 80 degree weather and still thinking sledding. Maybe there will still be snow in northern wi when I get back. That would have to be 2 weekends from now though.
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oh sure, rub it in. lol
 
Thanks guys. I have ridden them before and seemed to have a pretty panted front end. Nothing like the s2000 MXZ. They seem to pop the ski pretty good. Pretty sure I will at least ride it next year, then decide if it is worth having. Thanks, and keep the comments coming if anyone has any other experiences
 
Have 2 cousins that still run this sled. I know they both have over 8K miles on them. For a sit down sled they were pretty good in their day. Not bullet proof, but very good nonetheless. I don't like them mostly because I don't like sit down sleds. But both of my cousins can keep up with the Attak on everything except straights.
 
thanks guys. isnt there something like a boyseen (spell?) setup for the reeds and boots that eliminates this? thanks again, appreciate the opinions. dootalk did let me post a thread now. one guy said he got 12mpg tops with it, and more like 8-9. thats......lower than the viper lol!
 
A bud of mine has an 01 or 02,not sure which,and he has had the piston update done shortly after buying it but has had a few issues with carb boots that he cured with Boyeseen rage cages.The real plague he's been experiencing with his sled the past few years has been the recoil,it just will not stay together it's all plastic and as far as I'm concerned junk.He even admits that LOL.I'm not sure if other Doo riders have had as much trouble with their recoil as my bud has but Saturday he was ready to burn the sled.The first time we stopped for a break it started fine but after that he had to start it off the primary every time,the dogs would not catch at all.He does have a recoil off a triple he uses from time to time but it's smaller in diameter and the mechanical advantage isn't as great,meaning it pulls over a lot harder with it vs the stock recoil.
As far as gas mileage all I can tell you is that on our way back to the trucks we stopped at a warming shack and we were comparing our fuel left in the tanks,my 01 SRX had over half a tank according to the gauge but his was reading hard on empty.If I'm not mistaken the tanks are almost the same size too,maybe within a half a gallon of each other.
 
Four barrel, how much gas did your Yamaha take vs the doo to fill it up? I really don't go by the gauges on sleds as a comparison because they are always all over the place. Well unless you know for certain that particular sled does suck fuel.

It was only 70 or so today in Florida. Cold day. ;)
 
My cousin has an 01 700 doo (not the same as the 800 but a big twin none the less), when we ride apples to apples (speeds the same) i usually get double the miles to a tank of gas. If we are fishing and I'm breaking trail I still will burn less gas. Prime example last winter - broke trail 28kms through powder and rode around on the lake. He needed over 5 gallons on fill up and i needed just under and thats with him running third in the group.
 
fourbarrel said:
snip.I'm not sure if other Doo riders have had as much trouble with their recoil as my bud has but Saturday he was ready to burn the sled.The first time we stopped for a break it started fine but after that he had to start it off the primary every time,the dogs would not catch at all.snipQUOTE]

This seems to be a reoccuring theme for my buddy. I can't tell you how many times he's had the recoil off his Doos over the years. Formual Plus, Mach1, MachZ and Rev. I always figured it was him since he's always on the limiter (type A personality).

Let's just say he had gotten real good at starting it off the primary... A 4 stroke with electric start was the cure for him.
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while we are on the Doo gas mileage i may add that I ride w a buddy that has a mxz700 and my red head before the pipes was at half when he was almost empty. The twins seem to like the gas !!
 
my father in law JUST replaced the recoil. yup, all plastic and weak. he was alos very unimpressed with it
 
Bluemonster2 said:
while we are on the Doo gas mileage i may add that I ride w a buddy that has a mxz700 and my red head before the pipes was at half when he was almost empty. The twins seem to like the gas !!
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I wouldn't say all twins are thirsty, I routinely get 16 mpg on my 600 ves xcsp. Now my venture with 20 plus less HP 600 twin With properly functioning smart carbs has never gotten over 10 mpg.
 
horkn said:
Four barrel, how much gas did your Yamaha take vs the doo to fill it up? I really don't go by the gauges on sleds as a comparison because they are always all over the place. Well unless you know for certain that particular sled does suck fuel.

It was only 70 or so today in Florida. Cold day. ;)
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Neither of us have bothered to fill back up as our season is done,the weather has finally beaten up what's left of the snow here plus an incident on Saturday night has put a major damper on things.Agreed that gauges are never really accurate but his 800 has always been harder on gas than my SRX.
 
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