Just purchased a late 80's warrior in need of a lot of work. This is the first yamaha I've ever owned. I'm looking for help determining what year it is and what year motors will make a good direct replacement. The motor currently has a seized rod bearing, I thinking if the crank is damaged it may be cheaper to purchase a motor on ebay in need of a top end. Your help would be much appreciated.

 

All warrior motors are the same (unless they made some change in the 80s) Go with the newest one you can find

 

i but a 87 motor in a 96 frame once all the motor mount bolts lined up but the old to new bolts were not the same size but i made it work

 

So far I've determined its not a 87 because it appears they had replaceable ball joints in the a-arms that year, why would they switch to non replaceable later that makes no sense to me. I'm now getting close to having the frame sandblasted and need to decide what color to paint the frame. What frame color and plastic color combo looks good on a warrior? (This is 1 of only 3 warriors I've seen in my area) Need ideas since there are no examples around here.

 

i think the blue and white or grey plastics looked the best. we just got rid of my girls 88 warrior ,man i couldnt kill that tank just kept going and going.peace

 

blue frames and orange plastics look good...or orange frame and blue plastic..take a look at my pics...disregard the green though....i planed on getting new a arms so i never got them painted

 

ive always liked the all silver look. its clean, simple and is boldat the same time. JMO though

 

is there a VIn number down on the lower left side of the frame below the gear shifter area? the 10th digit will tell you what year it is...
J – 1988
K – 1989
L – 1990
M – 1991
N – 1992
O – not used
P – 1993
Q – not used
R – 1994
S – 1995
T – 1996
U – not used
V – 1997
W – 1998
X – 1999
Y – 2000
Z – not used