Yamaha trailing arm with KYB gas shocks up to 9-in travel Yamaha 696cc, two-stroke triple Bore & stroke: 69.0mm x 62.0 mm Three Mikuni liquid-heated TM33 carbs single exhaust with power valve forced air induction They helped Yamaha make the jump from the two-stroke world to the four-stroke world quite well. Depending on what you want, the last of Yamaha’s two-stroke trail performance sleds may well be collector sleds in the coming decade. We have seen pricing for “good to excellent” condition 2003-era Vipers offered with asking prices from the high $2000 to mid and upper $3000 range (A 2002 Yamaha SX Viper recently sold in the Classifieds for $2,990). It was a quick runner with a readily adjustable rear suspension that could be fine tuned by tweaking the suspension’s control rods.īuilt with solid Yamaha quality, 2003 and later year Vipers now would make a good, reliable “back up” sled or a fine low cost entry into snowmobiling. The Viper style offered a sense of on-snow flair decked out in its Yamaha blue with contrasting aluminum suspension pieces and sitting low and lean with its dual headlights tucked under a widened windshield.
The two-stroke Viper competed well against its contemporaries like the Polaris 800 and 700 XC SP, the Ski-Doo MXZ 800 and 700 as well as Arctic Cat’s ZR and ZRT models. The Viper’s digital gauges started a trend.Īs we look ahead to the 2012 snowmobiles, we can smile as we look back a decade and reflect on where Yamaha has been. The Viper was quite a contrast to the four-stroke RX-1, as it seemed lower and more nimble on the trail, perhaps, a reflection of the four-cylinder RX-1’s added weight carried over the skis. We recall the Viper as a very precise handling sled with ample two-stroke power that contained an ample reserve for exiting quickly out of the corners. Equipped with KYB gas shocks, the independent design allowed the sled to plant its skis in the corners for secure speed handling. The Viper’s trailing arm front suspension was the end of the evolutionary scale for Yamaha’s two-stroke trail performance models. Perhaps, lost in the transition is the fact that the Viper had become a very nice trail performance unit with a smoothly powerful two-stroke triple and a good performing mogul-bashing rear suspension, the Proaction SXV with aluminum-body gas shocks and 11.5-inches of rear travel. The Viper stayed in the model mix as Yamaha transitioned from the two-stroke models to the world of four-strokes. The 2004 four-stroke lineup included the addition of the rough trail oriented RX Warrior with a 136-inch Camoplast Rip Saw track. By this time the four-stroke line had expanded from a high-performance trail model RX-1 (with or without reverse) and a long tracked mountain version, the RX-1 MTN. The Viper settled into Yamaha history as late model features like the addition of Ohlins “clicker” shocks and a standard issue bellypan protector distinguished the 2004 Viper S. Yamaha’s Viper S featured Ohlins “clicker” shocks and a bellypan protector. The Viper line included the trail performer, an electric start equipped Viper ER and the Viper Mountain, which actually performed quite well with its 144-inch track and two-inch lug profile.
By 2003, the Viper had become the subset for trail technology and the RX-1 and its offshoots were listed as “ultimate technology” in Yamaha consumer materials. The Viper would evolve a bit, but ultimately it would be shunted aside in favor of four-strokes.
YAMAHA SRX 700 FULL
The end result eliminated engine bogging under full acceleration and smoothed out overall performance.ĭesigned to be Yamaha’s hot rod for the early 2000s, the SX Viper would serve that purpose as two-stroke engine technology gave way to the oncoming four-stroke commitment Yamaha would make starting with the RX-1 in 2003. It was said to allow the engine to run cleaner at low end as the float bowl pressure was lower to match the influx of air into the new airbox. Yamaha engineers equipped the Viper with a rack style carburetor setup, using three Mikuni TM33 carbs that were vented to the new airbox. Making a “mountain” sled of the Viper was relatively easy, add a long track, a mountain strap on the handlebars and let the Yamaha triple do the work.
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