[Flyemhigh Adventures]

Other than research I've done I won't pretend to know what I'm talking about because I dont. Bought myself a 2008 raptor 700r. Looking for upgrade suggestions other than doing the big 3 cause I already I have the monster dual exhaust, dyno jet fuel and ignition controller and fci intake system with the box in my garage waiting to be put on. There's some backfiring to it and the current exhaust had alot of black in it. Assuming it wasn't set up right and the fuel to air mixture is off. Should I look at tearing it apart and redoing any of the engine, head, piston ect? I ride with my son who is 11 so I am obvioisally not constantly racing and beating on it with thr exception of the occasion trip out to open it up and have some me time. I don't need it to go 100mph. Looking mostly at hp in the low to medium range as running 6500+ rpms will not be a constant thing as my son is 11 haha. I just want it fun and sporting, I want the power there when I need it, and for it to be as reliable as feasible. Suggestions, comments. Pointers, all welcomed please.

 

[morphrider]

My suggestion would be to put that set up on, then ride it and figure out if you need more power. That right there will wake it up pretty good amigo. An easy drop in Hot Cam stage 2 would give pretty good mid range grunt without breaking the bank or tearing into the motor. Welcome to the forum!

 

[Flyemhigh Adventures]

My suggestion would be to put that set up on, then ride it and figure out if you need more power. That right there will wake it up pretty good amigo. An easy drop in Hot Cam stage 2 would give pretty good mid range grunt without breaking the bank or tearing into the motor. Welcome to the forum!

Thanks appreciate the input. Will get those on in the next few weeks when it's no longer -20 here in Wisconsin lol

 

[Sixpack577]

Once it runs correctly, you need remote resivoir front shocks(if you don't already have them), and have all 3 sprung and valved and sag set for Your weight.
Search Jocaga suspension here.
Power is useless without handling and control.
A good suspension setup is night and day over stock.
Hand guards, they are worth their weight in gold, from briars and branches in the woods, to roosted rocks from the machine in front of you.
Upgrading the cooling system is a good idea too, especially when making more power.
Several things you can improve there.
A poly case saver for the front sprocket, a TMDesignworks or DRW are 2 high quality choices.

 

[Flyemhigh Adventures]

Once it runs correctly, you need remote resivoir front shocks(if you don't already have them), and have all 3 sprung and valved and sag set for Your weight.
Search Jocaga suspension here.
Power is useless without handling and control.
A good suspension setup is night and day over stock.
Hand guards, they are worth their weight in gold, from briars and branches in the woods, to roosted rocks from the machine in front of you.
Upgrading the cooling system is a good idea too, especially when making more power.
Several things you can improve there.
A poly case saver for the front sprocket, a TMDesignworks or DRW are 2 high quality choices.

I did order a case saver and a few other smaller recommended things from cuervo racing. I do know the shocks on it are stock. At this point that's all I know about them. I also did order hand guards, and not that it matters but new clutch and brake levers, seat cover, sprockets and chain. What would you look at for a upgraded cooling system? I do know that is stock as well. Man, not gonna lie I spent the last 3 hours reading and researching about sending it in for big bore porting, new piston, new valves, cam, throttle body the whole works. Just going from one expensive past time to another expensive past time haha

 

[Flyemhigh Adventures]

So I'm sure a few of you will get a chuckle out of this but hey I just don't know and can't seem to find the info myself that gives me a simple yes or no answer. Can you upgrade and port just the top of the stock motor, bigger piston, upgrade the throttle body to like a plus 3 to go with the rest of my mods or am I going to create issues?

 

[Flyemhigh Adventures]

And then when the engine wears down or goes crack the block bore and rebuild it?

 

[Sixpack577]

I did order a case saver and a few other smaller recommended things from cuervo racing. I do know the shocks on it are stock. At this point that's all I know about them. I also did order hand guards, and not that it matters but new clutch and brake levers, seat cover, sprockets and chain. What would you look at for a upgraded cooling system? I do know that is stock as well. Man, not gonna lie I spent the last 3 hours reading and researching about sending it in for big bore porting, new piston, new valves, cam, throttle body the whole works. Just going from one expensive past time to another expensive past time haha

For the cooling system I have already done all the possible mods, which are,
Engine Ice coolant, and inline aluminum finned cooler in the lower hose, air scoops to direct more air at the engine, a Spal brand higher cfm fan, a Mishimoto brand 30% larger radiator, a Trail-Tech Vapor Dash that also has 2 programmable temp lights(stock temp light comes on at 250f to tell you your engine is ruined), and MrCuervoRacing's early on fan thermostat that turns the fan on 25 degrees sooner.
The stock fan comes on at 225f, but my 700 has never ran over 211f with this setup, and I watched it idle up to 217f when stopped, which is the highest temp my Vapor has stored(and all above parts went on before I ever rode it, minus the radiator, which was not on it at the 211 and 217 temps, as they may have been a couple degrees lower still).
All these mods and info are in my thread in 700 modifications, 2020 SE Trail Build.
If I had to choose only one,
I would start with Cuervo's early on fan thermostat, as it will make the biggest difference by itself.

 

[Sixpack577]

And then when the engine wears down or goes crack the block bore and rebuild it?

You can go by engine hours and re-ring, replace piston, or rebuild.
Most people run them til something breaks, which is usually, but not always, the piston first.
These cylinders are plated, and will then need replated for a rebuild.
But, you never know how little or major damage will be, so just do the proper maintenance and oil changes and don't worry about it.
I would dump the garbage Yamalube oil.
As it has friction modifiers which are bad for a wet clutch(who knows why Yamaha uses it).
If you cook the clutch, the burnt clutch fibers can clog the oil screen, choke off enough oil flow, and ruin the whole engine.

 

[Sixpack577]

So I'm sure a few of you will get a chuckle out of this but hey I just don't know and can't seem to find the info myself that gives me a simple yes or no answer. Can you upgrade and port just the top of the stock motor, bigger piston, upgrade the throttle body to like a plus 3 to go with the rest of my mods or am I going to create issues?

You can upgrade the piston, cam, valves, throttle body, airbox, etc. all on the stock bottom end.
There are alot of part combos that work well.
I'll let the guys with first hand experience on those recommend what's best for your application.
But, suspension should be first.
If you have remote resivoir front shocks, and are under 200lbs, you can get a good sag setting, but a respring and revalve are ideal.

 

[Flyemhigh Adventures]

For the cooling system I have already done all the possible mods, which are,
Engine Ice coolant, and inline aluminum finned cooler in the lower hose, air scoops to direct more air at the engine, a Spal brand higher cfm fan, a Mishimoto brand 30% larger radiator, a Trail-Tech Vapor Dash that also has 2 programmable temp lights(stock temp light comes on at 250f to tell you your engine is ruined), and MrCuervoRacing's early on fan thermostat that turns the fan on 25 degrees sooner.
The stock fan comes on at 225f, but my 700 has never ran over 211f with this setup, and I watched it idle up to 217f when stopped, which is the highest temp my Vapor has stored(and all above parts went on before I ever rode it, minus the radiator, which was not on it at the 211 and 217 temps, as they may have been a couple degrees lower still).
All these mods and info are in my thread in 700 modifications, 2020 SE Trail Build.
If I had to choose only one,
I would start with Cuervo's early on fan thermostat, as it will make the biggest difference by itself.

Sounds good thanks for the input. I will look into it and at least do the early on fan right away for sure. 8 also am looking at a speedometer, tach meter and temp Guage similar to the one you mentioned.

 

[Flyemhigh Adventures]

You can go by engine hours and re-ring, replace piston, or rebuild.
Most people run them til something breaks, which is usually, but not always, the piston first.
These cylinders are plated, and will then need replated for a rebuild.
But, you never know how little or major damage will be, so just do the proper maintenance and oil changes and don't worry about it.
I would dump the garbage Yamalube oil.
As it has friction modifiers which are bad for a wet clutch(who knows why Yamaha uses it).
If you cook the clutch, the burnt clutch fibers can clog the oil screen, choke off enough oil flow, and ruin the whole engine.

Good to know cause guess what I was going to use haha. Appreciate that

 

[Sixpack577]

Sounds good thanks for the input. I will look into it and at least do the early on fan right away for sure. 8 also am looking at a speedometer, tach meter and temp Guage similar to the one you mentioned.

Yes, the Vapor does all of that and then some.

 

[Flyemhigh Adventures]

You can upgrade the piston, cam, valves, throttle body, airbox, etc. all on the stock bottom end.
There are alot of part combos that work well.
I'll let the guys with first hand experience on those recommend what's best for your application.
But, suspension should be first.
If you have remote resivoir front shocks, and are under 200lbs, you can get a good sag setting, but a respring and revalve are ideal.

I'm 172 lbs. I know the front and rear have a reservoir on each shock but when I asked the guy he said there stock but aside from that I haven't dug into them to really know much more that that.

 

[Flyemhigh Adventures]

You can upgrade the piston, cam, valves, throttle body, airbox, etc. all on the stock bottom end.
There are alot of part combos that work well.
I'll let the guys with first hand experience on those recommend what's best for your application.
But, suspension should be first.
If you have remote resivoir front shocks, and are under 200lbs, you can get a good sag setting, but a respring and revalve are ideal.

I will touch base when Mr cuervo is back in the shop and see what he reccomends I go with as far as the kits he has for the top end.

 

[Sixpack577]

I'm 172 lbs. I know the front and rear have a reservoir on each shock but when I asked the guy he said there stock but aside from that I haven't dug into them to really know much more that that.

Given it's age, they are probably tired, but you can get a good suspension sag setting at 172 lbs.
If you do get them rebuilt, you'll want to weigh yourself with whatever gear you wear too, and use that number.

 

[Flyemhigh Adventures]

Given it's age, they are probably tired, but you can get a good suspension sag setting at 172 lbs.
If you do get them rebuilt, you'll want to weigh yourself with whatever gear you wear too, and use that number.

I will most likely just get new ones. Can't hurt upgrading

 

[Sixpack577]

I will most likely just get new ones. Can't hurt upgrading

No, that's a waste of money.
New will be big$ and alot more than what Jocaga would charge you.
He will powdercoat them too if you want.
And a new shock is still generic, where as he is going to set it up specifically for Your weight and how/where you ride.

 

[morphrider]

All good advice by Sixpack577. If you do want to dig into the motors top end, what I have in my sig below works absolutely great on pump gas. I am still running the original bottom end with no issues to report. I have had this top end for the past 120 hours and love it. We also have an 08 with nothing but the big 3 added to that and it made quite an improvement. That one has the DMC Force 4's. I can't recall the Dyno numbers off hand from stock but it was a big improvement. When it was stock and running against mine in the sand i would give step son a good 40' run before i would take off, catch him and send him to Gapplebees. Not the case after the big 3. Same run I can catch him farther down and pass him, but no where near as easily as before.

 

[Sixpack577]

I also have a CFM oil tank.
It holds another quart of oil, so roughly 3.5 quarts total vs 2.5 stock.
That is a big gain in capacity, which means cooler oil, as it's out of the engine longer, as well as there's alot more of it.
It will also increase oil pressure.
The tank itself is also cooler, from more surface area, 2 tubes welded through center for air flow, and it's aluminum, which disapates heat faster than steel, which the stock tank is made of.
Cooler oil, means a cooler engine.