Fit and finish

[Chrisj]

My dealer just got a Viper in to check out. Couldn't ride it but got a good look cause I was planning on snow checking it. Anyone notice the fit and finish of it? It's is absolutely horrible. Sharp edges everywhere, gaps galore, seat had bumps in odd places that looked horrible. The plastics are just cheap feeling. Love the look of the sled and I'm sure it rides decent, but for $15000 you might aswell buy a nytro for $10000. I like the white tunnel but I'm sure it's gonna look awful after a few rides. Maybe they shouldn't put it beside the apex and nytro when showing this sled. They make the quality of the viper look bad IMO.

 

[Mighty]

This was a concern of mine.

 

[yox185]

I saw them at my test ride yesterday. I have to agree fit and finish, at this point, is not to Yamaha standards. This is the biggest reason to wait till next year to see how they are.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

Im a apex owner and cat turbo owner....trust me when i got my cat i was shocked at the fit n finish and poor looks of plastics and how things fit together.

I saw the viper yesterday and rode the new cats at a demo too.

For any true yammie owners, you will not like what you see with these vipers. they are 100% cat product minus clutches period.

do they handle good? YES....i will post my revue on the cat demo as the zr7000 is identical to viper.

the viper/zr7000 rides exactly like my cat turbo, its no lightweight trust me. Will it feel lighter and ride better then any previous yammie? YES, so for the yammie faithfull this chassis will feel awesome, but for someone who has rode a etec or the new 600DI cat, the viper will feel heavy. here is my review from HCS.

Dan

 

[ROCKERDAN]

Im a apex owner and cat turbo owner....trust me when i got my cat i was shocked at the fit n finish and poor looks of plastics and how things fit together.

I saw the viper yesterday and rode the new cats at a demo too.

For any true yammie owners, you will not like what you see with these vipers. they are 100 cat product minus clutches period.

do they handle good? YES....i will post my revue on the cat demo as the zr7000 is identical to viper.

the viper/zr7000 rides exactly like my cat turbo, its no lightweight trust me. here is my review from HCS.

Dan

We just did a DEMO ride here at Arnies cat house in Muskoka Ontario. It is still going on today and sunday but snow melting fast, yesterday early morning snow was still great and had a great demo.

I got a good in depth look at the zr7000 and eltigre 6000. All the sleds were ZRs only. So no longer tracks to try. The 14 secondary's I looked at are the new DEEP FIN and look to be a better quality overall. The Nytro motor in the 7000 looks to be a much better motor mount system then my turbo. I actually like the gauges alot, they do look alittle "cheap" but they truly are fully customizable with 4 areas to basically put any info you want into each area, very nice IMO (other then the cheap look) I found the "coolant temp" to be very nice, all machines should have this like all my old DOOS used to a decade ago. The 7000 has NO HEAT EXCHANGER on top or rear of tunnel like my turbo does. It does however have a front exchanger only and also the viper like front radiator with vents same as the turbo has. There is nowhere to put protectors in the tunnel, but possibly they just would not be needed at all since there is more room above track, this was the 7000 only. After we yanked the side covers off the 7000, we got yelled at so I could not get an inside look at the 6000 new 600DI engine, which i was bummed about.

Onto the ride....I started on the eltigre 6 and buddy grabbed the 7000zr. My first impressions of this new DI motor from cat is WOW! Very strong!, SPOT on clutched and controlled. This motor works well, and the best part is the weight. The new 6000 is so light feeling it is a blast to throw around! I have been swapping onto a buddies etec600 X alot this winter, and I must say this new 6000cat DI is very very similar feeling in all aspects, it might even feel abit stronger, and knowing cat and spaulding, he has put a few more ponies into the little DI then doo has.

I then swapped off to the 7000 with nytro 4 stroke motor. Instantly i loved the familiar growl of the fantastic 4 stroke yammie engine. however as I got acquainted with it I instantly felt the weight. The same groomed trail(tried to find some bumps) back on the 4 stroker just was not as fun. The best way i can describe it....the extra weight over the 600DI felt exactly like my turbo f1100. The entire sled does handle flat and works well like my cat turbo does, but just lost that awesome lighweight fun factor from the 600DI. the 50 or so lbs in the front of these 4 strokes is just enough weight to change the entire ride. It really sucks cause the 4 strokes pull hard, smooth but that fun factor is gone.

Now, the 7000 FELT slower to me then the fun light 600DI. But on a straight stretch, we got side by side from about a 10mph roll on....I was on the 7000 buddy was on 6000. from the bottom initially they were damn close, but about 50mph the 7000 i was on started to pull away slowly, and i passed him. Not a huge difference in power, id guess about 3-6mph on top end maybe?? But Id still buy the 600DI over the 7000 4 stroker, just due to the fun factor.

The new seats for 14 are a much better shape then my 12. They are also slightly softer then mine. But when compared to a DOO X seat, there still is no comparison, the DOO X seats are the benchmark for softness without too much "sit in". I wish cat could have come up with a better foam. But in the end, the seat is at least better then the "brick" on my 12.

After that we drove down to yammie dealer where they had a VIEWING only of the new VIPER. The Viper is ALL CAT IMO. Only thing yammie on the viper is clutches. The windshield is different then cat, the plastics are different then cat slightly, the front vents are angled down abit, and the headlight is different shape slightly. The fit n finish of plastics is ALL CAT, not pretty just like my turbo.

Dan

 

[RobWarrior]

Dan...where's the review?

 

[RobWarrior]

sorry got it now...didn't refresh

 

[ROCKERDAN]

sorry got it now...didn't refresh

 

[dfroster]

Nice review. So....the engine is not produced by Yamaha???? Clutches only?

 

[ROCKERDAN]

Nice review. So....the engine is not produced by Yamaha???? Clutches only?

I thought that was obvious

 

[RTX Meirda]

I went and looked at a RTX blue Viper today at a dealer. I think it is the best looking machine to date. Just trying to decide what length. 129 or 137. I rode the 7000 snopro cat last weekend and loved the feel of it.

 

[09nytro]

There's more to a sled than fit & finish ...it's got a 4 stroke And it handles awesome
I have a show truck already....don't care to take my sled to one...I just like to ride it

 

[Alatalo]

So, the official list of worries regarding the SR Viper is now

- the Arctic Crap brake
- the Arctic Crap fit and finish

I owned loads of ACs in the ninetys and I have always had my concern about the fit, finish and general build quality from Thief River Falls. I do hope that Yamahas quality system will sort most of that out.

 

[09nytro]

The ones I rode the brakes worked great......one finger opp.

 

[Alatalo]

The ones I rode the brakes worked great......one finger opp.

I did not ride the SR Viper, but I have been on couple of different AC XF and M. In my opinion they all had horrible brakes with a similar feel to Polaris first hydraulic brake - stiff feel but no brake performance whatsoever. For sure not "one finger operated". However, it seems the F800RR (at least) has got a different brake. Anybody know which one is used in the SR Viper...?