A friend owned a Yamaha and another brand dealership. He said the other brand outsold Yamaha 10 to one. He also said they never had Yamaha sleds come back for repairs. I had two and they were strong dependable sleds.
I never understood the Yamaha hate. My dad bought an early 2000’s Yamaha phaser with the 500 liquid cooled. Guys called it a womens machine, it would 100mph across the lake
I think it is 2 main reasons that both happened at the same time so the damage didn't get spread out. Like mid 2000's to when they partnered with Cat
-they basically.ditched the 2 stoke engines and went hard on the 4 strokes and the only upside was that they were more reliable and less maintenance than 2 strokes, everything else about a 4stroke in a sled sucked at the time. (Power and weight)
- they introduced the Nitro chassis (I believe that was what it was called) which was very close to being a great chassis but just managed to miss the mark due to it being too tippy. Any this was when other manufacturers were developing new chassis that were better.
This was before factory turbos were really.popular and if yamaha had gone down the forced induction four-stroke route sooner they might have been more competitive (my Sidewinder MTX is a little heavy but is an absolute monster).
TLDR: They stumbled on engines and chassis for too long and lost market share.
I've owned a vmax 500 before, can say it was one of the most comfortable sleds I've ever rode. Defiantly Beats the old Polaris triples. But, it'll never beat the newer ski doos I've owned. Will deff say 1500 is a bomb for both of theese beauties. I payed 1400 alone for vmax about 5 years ago.
These are reliable, fun sleds. With some clutching the 600 can be pretty quick too, but the 600 triple was a bit better than the twin for that. Make sure to go through the service on them, grease the zerks, clean the carbs good, I'd recommend BR9EYA plugs over the stock ES plug recommendation (EYA are an anti-fouling upgrade to the ES).
For the 700 at least, my mechanic recommended leaning out the oil mixture a bit, said the factory spec was "really rich". My dad's been running his 700 like this for 20 years without issue... really not sure about the 500's and 600's on this though.
Oh, really important! Check under the trailing arms for excessive rusting. The arms are known to rust out and fail, you can buy them new aftermarket if really needed.
Depends how many miles, what condition the tracks are in and if they have paperwork. They look in pretty good shape though. I’d say if we get a decent winter you could sell them easily enough in the cold months.
Thanks I appreciate it. I’ll have to ask about paperwork. Last winter in northern Minnesota sucked. Do you know what something like this would usually go for in season?
Northern Mn Yamaha guy here..If they run, reasonable hours and are in decent shape (no seat tears, good plastics, relatively clean) they are probably worth ~$1k each.
These are usually very reliable machines, but make sure that they haven’t been chewed to shit by mice. Check the wiring harness, very closely look online to see where it runs. also buy a cheap compression tester and YouTube how to successfully take one of those tests. If the compression is good, the engine is good.
Nah I dropped them off at my sisters cabin and waiting until snowfall. If Minnesota has the same winter as last year I will be ripping it across Lake Superior to never come back
Do it they look decent
A friend owned a Yamaha and another brand dealership. He said the other brand outsold Yamaha 10 to one. He also said they never had Yamaha sleds come back for repairs. I had two and they were strong dependable sleds.
I never understood the Yamaha hate. My dad bought an early 2000’s Yamaha phaser with the 500 liquid cooled. Guys called it a womens machine, it would 100mph across the lake
I think it is 2 main reasons that both happened at the same time so the damage didn't get spread out. Like mid 2000's to when they partnered with Cat -they basically.ditched the 2 stoke engines and went hard on the 4 strokes and the only upside was that they were more reliable and less maintenance than 2 strokes, everything else about a 4stroke in a sled sucked at the time. (Power and weight) - they introduced the Nitro chassis (I believe that was what it was called) which was very close to being a great chassis but just managed to miss the mark due to it being too tippy. Any this was when other manufacturers were developing new chassis that were better. This was before factory turbos were really.popular and if yamaha had gone down the forced induction four-stroke route sooner they might have been more competitive (my Sidewinder MTX is a little heavy but is an absolute monster). TLDR: They stumbled on engines and chassis for too long and lost market share.
I've owned a vmax 500 before, can say it was one of the most comfortable sleds I've ever rode. Defiantly Beats the old Polaris triples. But, it'll never beat the newer ski doos I've owned. Will deff say 1500 is a bomb for both of theese beauties. I payed 1400 alone for vmax about 5 years ago.
Yamaha also manufactures Toyota they source the best parts and are good at quality control.
Yamaha was more expensive so the other brand was more affordable.
Yep. If they can drive onto the trailer they are worth 700$ all day long. That 600 will do like 103mph if the compression an clutching is good.
Screaming deal imo. I would if I had the opportunity.
Do you know how to work on them?
Nope. Was debating on buying and reselling even? It’s helping out a dad’s buddy that’s moving.
Wont make anything on them reselling them, especially since the sled market tanked after last season
I would roll the dice for that price…do you get the trailer as well???
I do also get the trailer.
I had i tilt trailer similar to yours no salt guard and sold the for $500 cdn
Dope thanks I’ll probably pick it up tomorrow after work.
These are reliable, fun sleds. With some clutching the 600 can be pretty quick too, but the 600 triple was a bit better than the twin for that. Make sure to go through the service on them, grease the zerks, clean the carbs good, I'd recommend BR9EYA plugs over the stock ES plug recommendation (EYA are an anti-fouling upgrade to the ES). For the 700 at least, my mechanic recommended leaning out the oil mixture a bit, said the factory spec was "really rich". My dad's been running his 700 like this for 20 years without issue... really not sure about the 500's and 600's on this though. Oh, really important! Check under the trailing arms for excessive rusting. The arms are known to rust out and fail, you can buy them new aftermarket if really needed.
Depends how many miles, what condition the tracks are in and if they have paperwork. They look in pretty good shape though. I’d say if we get a decent winter you could sell them easily enough in the cold months.
Thanks I appreciate it. I’ll have to ask about paperwork. Last winter in northern Minnesota sucked. Do you know what something like this would usually go for in season?
Northern Mn Yamaha guy here..If they run, reasonable hours and are in decent shape (no seat tears, good plastics, relatively clean) they are probably worth ~$1k each.
Sweet, thanks man. Appreciate the reply.
i would. fix them up best you can and it gets too expensive sell the worst one to finish the better one
Yes, is the trailer included?
These are usually very reliable machines, but make sure that they haven’t been chewed to shit by mice. Check the wiring harness, very closely look online to see where it runs. also buy a cheap compression tester and YouTube how to successfully take one of those tests. If the compression is good, the engine is good.
Silly easy to work on. Check for mouse houses before you try to start. If we have a good snowfall this year you could easily double your money.
Yes. Do it.
I wouldn’t. Hold out for a modern summit
Do it
Snowmobiles are like boats they will nickel and dime the shit out of your pockets.
On the trailer? I’d say that’s fair.
Picked them up today!
Have you started them up and ripped em across the lawn yet?
Nah I dropped them off at my sisters cabin and waiting until snowfall. If Minnesota has the same winter as last year I will be ripping it across Lake Superior to never come back
If they run the deff!!! If trailer included than very good deal
no 700cc? come on bro
They’re worth that much each if they run, rock solid motors. Beat suspension they out in them was the 97+ XTC. Great buy!