A few years ago, I bought a 2004 Yamaha XLT800 new from a dealer toward the end of the season—that’s the end of summer for us in Jersey! I absolutely love this ski. It was my first and only one.
My wife and I are recreational riders when we have the time (it seems like there is never enough), but I’m to the point now where I would like to make some small performance improvements to this ski.
I believe this is the last two-stroke sit-down model that Yamaha made, but I can’t seem to find any bolt-on aftermarket products.
I swear I’ve been to every company’s site that advertises in your magazine, but no one seems to make anything. I don’t know why this ski isn’t more popular, it has reverse, all the amenities of a luxury ski, it’s light as heck, we do 55 mph on glass and we can get six hours of ride time on a tank of gas.
I’m sure you’re saying, “If it’s soooo good now, why do anything else to it?” Hey, I want to pimp my ride, too! I would love some recommendations.
Chris Riddell, Pitman, N.J.
While the XLT800 is a very nice machine, the biggest “issue” owners have is the desire to obtain more overall acceleration (and a bit more top speed). Getting “big” increases in peak speed is difficult because the large three-seater hull has so much wetted surface area that its drag limits peak speed gains. That said, there are very big gains to be made in overall acceleration ability, but sadly there are no bolt-on parts alone that can access that potential.
At Group K, we offer a Sleeper kit top-end modification ($450) that includes cylinder porting and decking, and a cylinder head modification. This upgrade requires no changes in the exhaust or carb jetting (although slight adjustments are needed for the external adjuster screws).
Our Sleeper kit yields a big increase in acceleration, along with a slight increase in peak speed. The XLT800 will still start and idle like a stock machine and will run reliably on 91-octane fuel. The added efficiency of the modified XLT800 is further enhanced by the addition of aftermarket flame arrestors. Generally, there is still no internal carb jetting needed to accommodate these new arrestors, either. We have made this mod on countless GP, GPR and XLT800 models, all with the same positive results.
Besides that, the No. 1 maintenance issue you should be aware of on your XLT800 is to keep the valve guillotines clean (and free moving). Yamaha recommends valve removal and cleaning every 40 operating hours … and that is time very well spent.
