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Early in the winter of 2000 - 2001,
Yamaha's new chassis showed upon the snow cross tracks around the country.
Cool pictures of the new body styling and rumors of an awesome new power
plant flooded the Internet.
Amanda Christensen, Co-Owner of
Thin Air Powersports, was among the many people impressed with this new
look released by Yamaha. "I wish it were red instead of blue",
she said, despairingly.
Well, when the 2002 model information
was released, a Red Viper was in the line up. Amanda had been bitten and
was bitten well. The venom coursed through her veins. She suffered extreme
hot flashes, faded in and out of conciseness, and became delusional. The
prognosis was not good!!!
Amanda knew she needed special
help. So she consulted the only person that could be of assistance, Tim
Christensen, her husband and Owner of Thin Air Powersports. The only way
she's going to get better is if she gets a dose of anti-venom, which are
mainly small doses of the venom that poisoned her. Thin Air was just the
facility to help her, though it wasn't going to be easy.
The Red Viper was an "ER"
version, electric start and reverse. For riding in Northeast Nevada, these
luxuries are unnecessary and add additional weight to the snowmobile.
This machine also comes with a 121" X .9" track, definitely
to short for the mountains. The engine's exhaust is a single pipe with
early reports stating the horsepower was approximately in the 125 range.
Not bad at lower elevations, but at the 9,000 feet plus elevation that
Amanda would be riding, the horsepower would be more like 92 and insufficient.
It became immediately apparent
that major changes would be necessary if Amanda was going to get well… |
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| Tim immediately
went to "Performance Yamaha", their local Yamaha dealer
to obtain a "Red" Viper. Resisting all attempts by the dealer
to "just get a blue one", the transaction was finally complete.
A scheduled delivery date of August was to allow plenty of time to
re-engineer this machine before the snow fell and Amanda became extremely
sick. But, this was not the case... A mid October delivery of the
Viper set the healing process back a couple of months. |
2002
Stock Yamaha 700cc Powervalve Snowmobile |
Pre-Fitting
of Custom Tunnel and M-10 Suspension |
Initial
analysis showed this machine was to heavy for mountain riding.
With 3 gallons of gas and a full tank of oil, it weighed in
at 560 pounds. It also lacked traction, with a 121" track.
So, Thin Air decided a 144" X 2" Camoplast track would
be just right. But the tunnel and suspension weren't designed
for this length. To assist with this problem, Van Amburg Enterprises
and FAST were contacted. Van Amburg Enterprises provided a custom
tapered tunnel, built to Thin Air's specifications. Attached
to the tunnel was a custom rear heat exchanger to improve the
cooling. FAST then delivered a 144" M-10 suspension with
Ohlins. This suspension was considerably lighter than the OEM
pro-Action suspension with easier adjustments for the ever-changing
riding conditions found at high elevation. |
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| The
front trailing arm suspension that Yamaha has used for the last
few years' worked well, but weight is a factor at altitude.
So, Fabcraft was contacted for the lightweight carbon fiber
trailing arms. These are strong, yet they remove about eight
pounds from the weight of the snowmobile. Fabcraft also provided
us with chro-moly mountain handle bars, which are taller and
wider for better handling in the back country. |
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| Along
with lightening up the front end, the ski stance needed to be
narrowed. The factory stance of 42.1" works well on the
trails, but becomes a hand full on the side of a mountain. Mac
at Mountain Performance had put together a lightweight aluminum
radius rod kit that narrowed this machine by three inches. This
was perfect! A fresh air kit was also obtained from Mountain
Performance, since the Forced Air Induction engineered by the
factory for the Viper wasn't very efficient in the deep powder
of the Great Basin. The plastic skis that were stock on the
Viper was obviously trail skis. There wasn't an edge on the
ski for easier side hilling. To correct this, Tim chose Starting
Line Products Ultra Lite Ski. The ski has a combination of chro-moly
and plastic to provide good durability with lightweight and
good handling. |
The
First Item to be Removed was the Electric Start |
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| Next
came the power plant. Yamaha engineers had done an excellent job designing
this engine. State of the art technology that was used created good
power along with unmatched durability, although some changes were
necessary since this machine would be used at high elevation and there
is always the need for more power. After completely disassembling
and blue printing the engine, Tim at Thin Air decided that a higher
engine RPM along with triple pipes would work well. Aaen Performance
was contacted on this matter, and they had the combination that Thin
Air was looking for. In addition to the pipes, a digital gauge to
track statistics, such as water and exhaust temperatures was purchased.
Also, due to the elevation, the compression needed to be increased
helping the snake's performance. Rather than machining the stock head,
Tim decided that the adjustability and improved cooling of a billet
head with changeable domes would be beneficial. Hauck Powersports
provided Thin Air with just what they needed. |
Is
it going to fit? |
By the time
all the components could be gathered up, it was mid December.
The Ruby Mountains had received an early snow pack and Amanda's
sickness was advancing rapidly. High fevers, hallucinations
of bottomless powder, and sleepless nights plagued her. While
her husband, Tim was constantly nagged with questions like "Is
my sled done yet?" and "What are you doing sleeping
when my sled isn't completed yet?". Thin Air gave the Viper
Project top priority, Amanda needed a cure and needed it fast! |
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| First
the tunnel, front and rear suspension springs, handlebars, ski
frames, and trailing arms were custom powder coated by Thin
Air in a "black" fade to "red" design. This
color scheme worked well with the factory hood graphics and
would certainly help her failing health! Next came the engine
modifications. While blue printing the engine, Thin Air utilized
their in house coating facility to ceramic coat the exhaust
system, pistons, and drive clutches. In each application, performance
and durability were increased, not to mention that the coated
pipes improved the looks of the Viper. |
Custom
Faded Powder Coating by Thin Air |
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Pipes
Ceramic Coated by Thin Air! |
Finally
all of the coatings were completed and with the aftermarket
parts in hand, the crew at Thin Air set to work reassembling
this 2002 'one of a kind' mountain Viper. Many, many hours
were spent building custom brackets, rerouting the cooling
system, and setting this machine up to meet the needs of Mrs.
Christensen. On Christmas Day, 2001, it finally made smoke
with a final weight of 485 pounds after all the modifications
were complete!
Amanda could now be dosed with the
anti-venom!!! She was slow to recover at first, as the break
in procedure - rich jetting, tight tracks, and stiff suspension
- isn't much fun for anyone and makes the road to recovery
slow and pain full. Once the 150-mile mark was reached, she
was fully cured from the snakebite after a wide open throttle
trip up the side of the mountain was completed! |
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The
Completed Project - 2002 Custom Longtracked Mountain Viper |
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I am concerned though…. There seems
to be some after effects of her ailment - There are reports of "perma-grin"…
Thin Air Powersports would like to thank all of the people and
companies (named and unnamed) that assisted in the completion of
this project.
Aaen Performance (262) 552-9469
Fabcraft (406) 777-1200
FAST (218) 744-2101
Hauck Powersports (715) 234-6195
Mountain Performance (888) 649-4609
Performance Yamaha (775) 777-3373
Starting Line Products (208) 529-0244
Van Amburg Enterprises (509) 225-6681
Yamaha Motor Corporation
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Would
you like to learn more about the technical side of this project?
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