my story about switching to yamaha

csargentmaine

csargentmaine

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Joined
Nov 19, 2013
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Madison Maine
so i was a die hard arctic cat fan i had a 94 wildcat 700 efi last year and my buddy 99sxrider had a 99 vmax sx 600 triple and with my jackshaft going efi having problems and my battery dying he towed me home about six times his sled never broke down and sounded awesome also was never rebuilt with about 8000 miles on it and it still ran great the last nail on the arcic cat coffin was when i traded for a 98 zl 440 and 38 miles later top end went:whine: so im not gonna have cats as my primary sled anymore they will be fine as beaters and a good ice fishing sled tell us what you story is switching to the best brand
 
I had a skipoo 500 that went on the second ride. Found my 500 sxr for a good price and have been loving her ever sense day 1. Yamaha has always been good to me and that carried over in to snowmobiling. So far about 5000 miles trouble free!!


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Grew up only what ever el cheapo crapper my old man would buy (usually Cats) I would go threw them and get em all up to snuff....then while I was at school he would sell it and get another crapper (pocketing the difference! Did this with "MY" first car too!) After I was out on my own I had a Wildcat, a few jags, a prowler, 2 thunder kitties and a couple 580s (ZR/EXTs) Got to busy, swapped the thunder kitties for lift kit and tires for my truck and sold the rest to a buddy for next to nothing. A decade later was getting the itch back and stumbled across a Vmax 600 twin. Dinked around with twins for 2 seasons and have ben trippled out ever since......4 stroker coming soon......I think!
 
When growing up my dad was a Doo guy and I really didn't like the way they rode or sounded for that matter. Whenever out on the trails I'd hear Yamaha sleds go by and they sounded pretty tough(early-mid 80's) So, when I re got back into snowmobiling in the mid 90's after being out on my own for awhile I bought a Yamaha V-max 540 and moved up from there... Have previously owned '91 Exciter II, '96 V-max 600XT, '99SRX 700, '00 Sx700R - "Hot Rodded" Current sled.
 
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My first sled was a '94 AC EXT 580 EFI. It ran like butthole all the time and efi was stupid. I wasted so much time and money on that thing... Then I bought a very clean '81 SRV and it was WAY more reliable and was a fun little vintage sled. I now have had my sx700 for 2 seasons and it's an awesome motor that has crazy milage but has always ran great. RELIABILITY is why I'm here I think. ;)!
 
Started on dads old 1980 SS440 then veered off to Ski Doo for a couple seasons with nothing but bad luck and came back to Yamaha. Haven't left since and don't plan to.
 
Several years back had a friend going through a nasty devorce. He had 4 sleds he had to sell quickly so I helped him out. Luckily one was a Vmax 4 w/ PSI's. Fell in love w/ the power and sound of that machine. After a season I decided I needed a snowmobile w/ reverse and a better suspension for trips up north. Kept the Vmax 4 for local driving. When making a decision on what to buy I knew I Didn't want less power and somehow ended up w/ a Crossfire 1000. That crossfire was extremely fast but in season 1 I shattered the primary, cracked the w and then blew the motor w/ 1800 miles. Installed a new long block which blew in season two. The Cross Fire did not make it through one trip w/ out a major mechanical problem. That was the last non-Yamaha I will ever own. Replaced it w/ an Apex and now I'm a loyal Yamaha owner!
 
I had always wanted sleds growing up but we were a "skiing" family even though my dad would taunt me with stories about his old john deere sled that he got rid of a few years before I was born. Back in 2008 I bought my first beater, a 87 indy 600 that someone had bored out to a 720 and drag raced the shit out of, then a neighbor had rebuilt it and trail sledded it. I rode it for one season, then it pretty much sat the next season and the third season I rode it a little bit when we finally had snow. I decided I was going to try and freshen it up, put a new track on it and recover the seat. It was running funky when I took it into the mechanics and he said it had a wasted pto crank seal. He changed the seal with the track and the thing burned down the pto cylinder on the test ride. No hope in finding a single piston that matched the other 2, no casting marks at all so I decided to do her in.

I traded it to Al's up in Newport Vt for the price of the track off a used sled. I knew I wanted a mountain sled and I have always had great luck with the quality and reliability of Yamaha outboards so I figured I'd give a Yamaha sled a try. Brought home the 02 mountain max and after some mods and tinkering I'm sold on it. I'm casually in the market for a low mileage SXR 700 or Viper for a trail sled to keep at my Father in Law's up in VT to ride with them. He's into doo right now but I'm all Blue!
 
My first sled was a 86 phazer when I was 12, that was way more sled then a 12 year old need, I loved that thing, I had it for 2 years..unfortunatly the fan belt broke one day and I fried it, and being unklowedgable about working on them I sold it...i shoveled roofs like crazy and saved ever penny I got and finally bought a 98 skidoo formula z 670...had that for a couple seasons I like it, but I needed a car so I sold it for a set of wheels...a few years later my sister offeres me this sled that had been sitting in her garage a few years...it was the 99sx 600 triple that csargentmaine(orginator of this post) talked about...that is where I FELL IN LOVE WITH YAMAHA! I found it funny how much csargentmaine made fun of the sled but after he drove it and I had to tow him home multiple times he converted...well retardedly I sold that 600 triple this spring, and as soon as it left the driveway I kicked myself like crazy..so I shopped around this fall and found a 98 vmax deluxe 700 triple, but it was blown up...so I ripped every thing out of it tore it apart amd rebuilt it, got it all back together a couple nights ago and fired her up...im in love. We just need snow now and ill be ripping up those trails

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ILVmax4 said:
Several years back had a friend going through a nasty devorce. He had 4 sleds he had to sell quickly so I helped him out. Luckily one was a Vmax 4 w/ PSI's. Fell in love w/ the power and sound of that machine. After a season I decided I needed a snowmobile w/ reverse and a better suspension for trips up north. Kept the Vmax 4 for local driving. When making a decision on what to buy I knew I Didn't want less power and somehow ended up w/ a Crossfire 1000. That crossfire was extremely fast but in season 1 I shattered the primary, cracked the w and then blew the motor w/ 1800 miles. Installed a new long block which blew in season two. The Cross Fire did not make it through one trip w/ out a major mechanical problem. That was the last non-Yamaha I will ever own. Replaced it w/ an Apex and now I'm a loyal Yamaha owner!
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I hear them big Cat's have weird issues with the reverse too??

:lol:

opsled
 
I got my first sled from my uncle. he purchases an 87 SRV 540, an 87 Ovation 340, and an 87 Inviter 300, along with a 3 place trailer for $1250 from some older gentleman. (the highest milage was on the SRV and i do not think it was over 700 miles.) anyway none of his daughters wanted to ride the Inviter, because it looked really goofy compared to the other 2. so he had it for sale for $100 bucks. that weekend i coincidentally won $100 on a $2 Scratch off ticket. i bought it the next day. I rode that thing as much as i could that year (only could go like 30 mph on hardback :rockon: ) Then i rode my neighbors 2001 polaris xc 800… it was down hill from there, i needed something with power, so for months i looked on craigslist. I finally found on 01 SRX 700 in jackson MI. it had 18xx miles on it. picked it up for $1750. and i have been happy ever since !
 
Bought my first Yamaha back in 1975 it was a SM292F and I have been hooked on Yamaha ever since NO need to buy any other brand when you have had the BEST!!!
 
I've had them all. Started with a cat for my first sled, got the Indy trail, then a doo formula plus that I more with a little help from FAST, then another we got the Indy 5, and then my xc, and lastly the venture. All but the cat have been good. I'll never buy another cat, unless I could ride it for a season, then sell it for at least what I paid for it. I've just seen to many issues with cats to ever really want one.
The new sr viper is probably the correct I would get to buying a new cat.
 
In 1997 I bought a 95 xlt 600 from my brother-in-law. I started riding steady with a guy who had a 97 vmax 500 and another who had a 97 sx 700. One day the vmax 500 guy broke a hiem joint for his steering rod and we went to the Yammy dealer to get a new one. They had a couple new srx's in there which was the first time I'd ever seen one and immediately fell in love. I snow checked my 99 that March and have had it ever since. Just added a 2003 viper to the stable last year to keep it company.
 
Was over on the Honda Rincon forum and was thinking of getting into S/M ..well the consensus was Yamaha Triples especially from the Canadian brethren..I figured they would know so last year bought a 97 700 SX & '01 600ER for little less than $4000 altogether.. both lower milage, all stock..replaced the ski skins and skegs w/Bergstrom..they run and drive awsome..fun.
 
dblshock said:
Was over on the Honda Rincon forum and was thinking of getting into S/M ..well the consensus was Yamaha Triples especially from the Canadian brethren..I figured they would know so last year bought a 97 700 SX & '01 600ER for little less than $4000 altogether.. both lower milage, all stock..replaced the ski skins and skegs w/Bergstrom..they run and drive awsome..fun.
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yah nothing like the sound of a redhead screaming at almost 9000 rpm make sure you tell them honda guys that they sent you in the right direction;)!
 
We service all brands. We ride Yamaha, Same for the PWC's. We just completed an Actic Cat F8. Found the fuel pressure regulator stuck as well as the fuel injectors stuck. We cleaned both and prepped the sled. Now, that F8 Sno Pro is a very quick sleds. Seems to drop off at around 80+ mph where the Viper is still pulling hard. But, that F8 can sure hit hard off the line. Wow.
 
I grew up riding Yamahas, from the day I was born thats all we ever had. We went thru 2 ovations, phazer 2, exciter 2, vmax 4 800 & 750, vmax 700 trip deluxe, 1998 srx. I remember half of these sleds being sunk a couple times, dried them out and ALL ran perfect afterwards. Out of all these sleds, which we put tons of miles on the only one that we ever had to do engine work on was the 98' SRX, but in its defense it had 19,100kms on it at that point and it only required one jug/cylinder. (probably wouldnt have been as bad if I didnt drive it home 25kms on 2 cylinders.)

This is the reason I still only buy Yamaha, Im on my third year with my 97 vmax 600 XT 9500kms on it now and itll still hit over 100mph on the lakes... Couldnt ask for more. The 1984 Phazer 480 136" is almost complete and should be up and running as my back country sled soon.
 
opsled said:
I hear them big Cat's have weird issues with the reverse too??

:lol:

opsled
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Phil- lol----First I tear apart your grass and then you fix the CF 1000 for me the second time I blew the motor. You should post a picture of what I did to your yard when that "reverse issue" occured...If you had it on video I'm sure we could win AFV contest!
 
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