Looking at my first Yamaha sled

[Shamus200]

Hey guys and gals
I am looking a buying a newer sled for my wife she is currently riding a 2010 skidoo mxz tnt 600 carb. She is not that big of a fan of the two stroke smoke so we decided to look at four strokes, and naturally if your thinking of buying a four stroke Yamaha is the front runner.

I am a skidoo and two stroke guy currently riding a 2018 summit sp, I don’t know a whole lot about Yamaha’s like what too look for or what to ask when buying one. We found one that online looks pretty nice and we’ll probably go and take a look at it in the coming days so anything you could help me with as to the questions to ask and what to look for would be great.

The sled is a viper xtx with only 5800km.

 

[RAMSOMAIR]

Quit looking and start buying! LOL
She will love it and it wont blow up!

 

[Shamus200]

Thanks that is reassuring.

 

[Wannaviper]

We have two XTX's, a 2014 with about 9,000 miles and a 2016 with about 4,000 miles and while I absolutely love the sleds, there are some things about the XTX to be aware of. The XTX is an uncoupled suspension, and it is going to handle a lot different than a short track 2 stroke Skidoo! If it has Tuner skis, you most likely are going to want to replace them with aftermarket skis. We put SLP Mohawks with fairly aggressive carbides on our XTX's and they stick like glue to the trail and have great flotation off trail. The downside is that there is some steering effort, which fortunately becomes noticeably less if you are "on" the throttle and giving some lift to the front end. Another option is to replace them with the comparable Arctic Cat stock skis and Snowtrackers; it will still hold the trail and feel like power steering.

The other downside to the XTX's is also partially due to the uncoupled suspension; they ride like "buckboards" on the trail. While my grandson likes his stock, I am in my mid 60's, so I bought aftermarket (Fox QS3) rear shocks that have made a big difference in the ride. Hygear makes a linkage kit that modifies the uncoupled characteristics of the rear skid, but improves ride quality. My stepson has that on his Arctic Cat 141" suspension, and loves it. I also added the Hygear evol chambers to the front air shocks; it was relatively inexpensive, and noticeably improved the front end performance. All that being said, my grandson runs his stock, and could not be happier, but then again, he is 50 years younger than me!

If that sounds like a lot of negatives, it is not meant to. For where I ride up in Northern Maine, the XTX is probably close to perfect. The 141" skid and larger track lugs take me places off trail where I would not dare go with a lesser sled, especially a 4-stroke. With the suspension modifications I have made, I also feel like it is an awesome trail sled that eats up 200+ mile days with ease. The XTX is not going to break any land speed records, but on a lake with reasonable conditions, ours will consistently be in the low to mid 90's on the GPS. The 4-stroke low end power is awesome, and they are simply a blast to ride. Another side effect is that after you ride a 4-stroke, the smell of burning 2-stroke oil is somewhat "offensive", so every time you get behind one of those 2-strokes, you end up passing them with a big smile on your face!

 

[Yamadog]

I also 2nd that i have 2 XTx's both are turbo sleds but have tons of suspension work done to make them trail friendly. I would advise if you want to buy and just ride go ltx or rtx. They are all great sleds but those 2 a bit more normal riding style.

 

[Stormbringer]

I have a 15 RTX Viper, bought new and I love it. If you ride hard then the skis become an issue. If your wife is out enjoying the day like my wife does, the skis are fine. The ride is by far the best I have ridden on.
Good luck!

 

[Shamus200]

This sled is going to be for my wife she’s already use to driving an uncoupled skid she rides my summit sp 146 so I’m not too worried about that. Ive heard people don’t like the skis we will probably try them and make a decision after we try them. This is going to be hopefully if the winter alows a 50/50 trail to off trail, our winters here in

 

[Carla 123]

I have a 15 RTX Viper, bought new and I love it. If you ride hard then the skis become an issue. If your wife is out enjoying the day like my wife does, the skis are fine. The ride is by far the best I have ridden on.
Good luck!

Those tuner skis are dangerous. Not too bad on hard packed trails but once there is a bit of soft snow all they do is push in the corners.cheap alternative is the cat pro cross skis .

 

[Wannaviper]

Those tuner skis are dangerous. Not too bad on hard packed trails but once there is a bit of soft snow all they do is push in the corners.cheap alternative is the cat pro cross skis .

I am not sure that Tuners are "dangerous", but they can be "USELESS" in the corners, depending upon conditions! I agree that the Cat skis are the least expensive good option for the Viper, and I highly recommend setting them up with Snowtrackers, both for control and ease of steering. If you want Cat skis, go to any of the on-line Yamaha parts vendors and order the replacement skis from the 2014 Viper XTX. Those are the skis you want; they are wider than the standard Cat skis, and better suited for an on-trail/off-trail sled.

 

[Shamus200]

I just found out that the sled has sly dog powder hound skis he hadn’t listed that with the sled

 

[Carla 123]

I just found out that the sled has sly dog powder hound skis he hadn’t listed that with the sled

Good news my friends has those on his and they work well.

 

[VyperNation]

I would agree that the tuners can be border line dangerous. I say that because they are unpredictable at best. If they were useless 100% of the time, at least you would know it, but they are only useless 90% of the time (and its the 10% that catch you off guard lol).... As soon as I get the time, the Viper has a set of Mohawks waiting for it and the Winder has a set of Curves. Wanted to try both, I may even swap them at some point.