Anybody ever own a '98 600 SX? Give me your honest opinions about this sled.
Hebi

Nice trail sled through the twisty's. Not so good in the big bumps. Power was way down compared to the other sleds availible at the time. It had all it could do to see high 80's on the speedo. FWIW Buy a used 500 poo,doo, or cat. :div20:

What kind of mpg did these sleds pull? Im guessing 10-12 mpg because Ive heard that the 600 twin Yammies werent known for great fuel economy.
Hebi

i hate to be frank, but it is my nature so here goes.........
i bought a brand new 98 600 sx yammie in the fall of
97. thoughts, well mainly i am glad i at least got out of
it what i owed on it when i sold it. seriously low on power,
10 to 12 mpg you say? huh, try more like 6-7 if your lucky.
i don't have a calculator handy but i believe they had 13 gal
tanks and at 70-75 miles i had to look for a gas station, and
quick! didn't matter how you rode it or what the conditions, that's
all she got. track clips, replaced them all after 800 miles. slides,
carbides, damn near two sets a year. i had it studded with 96
1" trail studs and 6" carbides and one good thing, it would corner
harder than any other sled i have ever ridden. for only having
8" out back and 7" in the front the suspension was pretty good.
not even a comparison to anything newer that is for sure. i sold it
with about 1800 miles on it and the clutches were ready to explode,
it needed to go. now, i know what you are saying, "he's hard on sleds"
that may be true, but you can ask anyone that knows me, my sleds
are IMPECABLY maintained. no question. so hard on sleds, yes. that's
why i bought something that can hold up, POLARIS. i have not had
one bad experiance with my poo and it has had the crap beaten out
of it sence day one. it now has 2400 miles on it, and i will most likely
still be riding it when 5000 miles appears on the odometer. my opinon
no contest. stay away from the sx. maybe a little newer srx, but not
an sx. even the 700 sx's were way under powered for what they were.
at least they got better gas mileage though......and a few tweaks and they
ripped. i still can agree, nothing sounds better than a piped yammie triple :div20:

Yeah, thats kind of what I was thinking too. Ive heard from a few people to avoid the red SXs. Supposedly the XTCs from that era were pretty good though...
I hear you about riding your sleds hard but maintaining them well, Im much the same.
I have absolutely no reservations when it comes to pushing a sled to it's limits and beyond. With every sled Ive ever gotten, the first thing I always want to do is head to the lake and see what it'll do. Ive ran my '90 Phazer II pretty hard but yet anyone who has ever seen it tells me how it still looks like its brand new.
I appreciate your honesty, sayatodaup,.eh. I wanted an honest opinion and that what you gave me. As much as I would like to stay on a Yamaha, its hard to turn down a deal where you get more sled for less money.
Hebi

so true, glad i could help :div20:

I would guess that was one bad 98 twin...there are a hand full of them. The 600 is not a bad motor, it had more problems in the 97 chasis, oil pump issues and rings turning. Stick to the triple if you want a good reliable sled in the later sx style chasis. The 600 twins that I had would get 10 mpg and not any worse but not any better either.

Later
Tom

Hey Mr. Sled! How the heck are you? What ya been ridin'? Ah I see you got the new RX-1 coming. Enjoy it. Should be the best one yet......My riding partner has a red one on order too. I'm sure he'll let me try it out.

I got a F7 last year and really like it and have been hanging out over here. Good people here too. But, I check in over at your site once in a Blue Moon.

Take it easy...

nm3

Hey Nick....been doing well. Hows the Cat runnin for ya??? Quick machines. Sites doing well, just like to help out where I can .

Hebi, as you can see, I own both an sx and a edge chassis polaris. both are nice and both have their downfalls. newer sx's are great machines. the 700 and 600 triple small blocks are great motors. with triple pipes and some clutch work, they keep up to the competition. plus, they are very light for a triple. my 700sx-r has been extremely reliable and handles well, but not as well as the polaris. no major mechanical defects with the yammie, but the polaris has had it's share of problems. motor mounts breaking, sspension parts breaking, burnt the motor down on stock jetting. i let those downfalls slide as it was the first year of that sleds production. if you find a 00-01 sx thats in good shape for a decent price, go ahead and get it. you won't be disapointed. triple pipes enhance those motors by 30hp!

I'VE PUT OVER 8000 MILES ON MY 98 500 XT
THE ONLY PROBLEM WAS IBROKE THE STARTER ROPE
HYFAX WEAR MUCH FASTER THAN MY ZR-8
BUT IT'S A GAS AND GO SLED
I HAVE NEVER HAD THE CLUTCHES OFF OR APART
PREATY MUCH BULLETPROOF
AVG ABOUT 12-13 MPG

Well, as you have probably read, I traded in my Phazer for an '01 Polaris 600 EDGE X.
I really wanted another Yamaha, but the fact is that 600s are almost impossible to find. I managed to find a couple of '01 Vmax 600s, but thats just not my style. I would look kind of silly with my Yamaha jacket with blue flames, orange MX helmet with all of its GYT-R stickers on a touring sled. Nope, an SX-r was my only option.
Well, I managed to get this 600 XC for a sweet deal and it looks like a well-maintained sled, so I bought it.
I wasnt sure if I could live with all of the yellow thats on it, but I figured what the heck. I wasnt too keen on riding my old Phazer for another winter and I figure if I dont like this XC I could always ride it for 5 years and then trade it in on an '04 SX Viper.
I dont think I will regret getting this XC though, everyone I have talked to who has owned an EDGE was very pleased with it.
Im pretty happy with my purchase. I like Yamaha, but I really wasnt too keen on going back to a triple and even the suspension on the SX-r's isnt even close to what the EDGE has. I look at it this way, I would have to put about $2000 in an SX-r (pipes and M-10) to get it to when its equal to a stock 600 XC. So I figure I will ride this XC untill I cant get parts for it anymore, which I hoping is at least 10 years.
I have much respect for Japan, which is a large reason why I bought a Yamaha in the first place. However, life is just too short to ride an inferior sled with a poor dealer network.
Hebi