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2014

I have the two holes on my phazer blocked... I'd say it has the same ice now as a normal sled.
 

Being an old oval racer I still feel I should check our sleds after almost every ride so they go in the shop to thaw out. Before taking them in I pound the ice/snow off the flap, tunnel, along the rear heat exchanger and some off the suspension with a rubber hammer. I catch all the water that thaws in large pan under each sled, vaccum up, dump in pails and out. No floor drain.
The occasinal very min. on a warm day is 20lb. of water. Normal amount is 35 to 40lb for each sled, plus probably at least 10lbs.already pounded off.
Of my 23 new sleds and 25 plus used I rarely replaced an idler and only greased every couple years. On these Rages (same as Vector LTX) I replace about 4 to 6 bearings and remove seals, clean and grease remainder every spring before they can rust. Not sure if this is do to all the water or a combination of water and weight.
 
Good to hear that blocking off the holes in the Phazer is working! That says to me that Yamaha needs to get the exhaust out from under/inside the tunnel!
 
I know all the rumors are just that until Feb. It will be interesting to see which rumors if any are true come the big announcement by Yamaha. I myself believe there will be something big(not bold new graphics or a Ripsaw track)

My dealer says (ha,ha more rumors I know)
No Artic Cat technology involved.
Rear exhaust is going away. Talking Apex here.
Latest R1 motor with 180hp
40 pounds lighter.

We shall see.
Time will tell.
 
I really wonder how the Yamaha sled sales were/are for 2013. The dealers will feel the need to clear out before the announcement. Good deals can be had for 2013 but will people be happy with riding so called outdated Yamaha technology when somthing totally new that is lighter with more power is available in '14?
 
I guess this will affect the used market also in terms of resale.
 
I think if the new sled is really bad #*$&@ the market will get flooded with good used yamaha's and that will drive down prices
 
RX1MPete said:
I guess this will affect the used market also in terms of resale.

If Yamaha hits a home run yes there will be lots of sleds for sale and yes that will bring down the prices a bit I cant see it going to low though.
 
trailhed1 said:
I know all the rumors are just that until Feb. It will be interesting to see which rumors if any are true come the big announcement by Yamaha. I myself believe there will be something big(not bold new graphics or a Ripsaw track)

My dealer says (ha,ha more rumors I know)
No Artic Cat technology involved.
Rear exhaust is going away. Talking Apex here.
Latest R1 motor with 180hp
40 pounds lighter.

We shall see.
Time will tell.
Hope you are right!if the four holes disappear,i will cry :4STroke:
 
This is from my latest Amsnow magazine that showed this week:

"Well we were right in our prediction last year that Yamaha would add a "Yamaha approved" power-adder to a trail sled. It added a dealer-installed supercharging option to the 2013 Nytro.

However, the real rumors that we would love to see come true is that Yamaha builds a 90-110 horsepower trail sled to take the place of the Phazer. Will it happen?

There are rumors that Yamaha and Arctic Cat are working together on a project like this where Yamaha would build the motors and Cat would supply the chassis. We have mentioned this before, but this teaser seems to have some traction, especially considering they worked together on Yamaha's new youth sled, the SRX 120.

In addition we would love to see the "race" front end available on the consumer Nytro. We had the opportunity to ride a Nytro with the same front end as the cross country racers use and it works extremely well!

Finally, could there be a new monster 4 stroke available soon in a new chassis and pumping out closer to 280 horses? We think Yamaha is still committed to the 4 stroke mantra, but bringing back a name and reputation like the Vmax 4 had when it first came out would be sa-weeeet!

We do know that Yamaha has a BIG announcement for its 2014 lineup. They have been ramping up to this launch for some time, so we're sure the Blue faithful SOON will have something impressive in their corner."
 
Taking a step back and thinking about it, this speculation and build up is probably the worst thing Yamaha could be doing. They are being so secretive that rumors are swirling everywhere and with nothing concrete to go on people, magazines, etc are sure to be building the release up into something Yamaha could never live up to. I know there is a saying that bad press is better than no press but its also dangerous to have the hype build up so much that its eclipses the actual product you are releasing. I remember when Polaris released the Rush, I knew nothing about it until there was a post on a forum with a link to their website showing a sled covered in slowly melting snow.

Something I found interesting is I did some checking on some Cat forums and guy over there aren't talking up a Cat/Yamaha merger or agreement. I've reread Cat press releases about their engine program and they don't mention Yamaha or anyone else supplying them engines after 2014. They just say they are planning to build their own engines. The general consensis on this forum appears to be that a Cat/Yamaha co branded sled will be a step backwards and since only the most enthusisatic of sled consumers frequent forums to talk about sleds, it to me seems like Yamaha would alienate too many customers with a cobranded approach. Finally, Chris Reid has not written anything in his blog to indicate a co-branded relationship in the works.

I think myself and others will have to lower our expectations regarding the new sled or we are sure to be disappointed.
 
Too bad I didn't hear of the rumors before the first week in December. An Arctic Cat factory racer some of you may have heard of... "Brian Dick"....(yes, that's his name!!)....dates one of the gals that works for my wife's company. I see him every year at my wife's Xmas party and occasionally we talk sleds. I would have liked to pose the Arctic/Yamaha rumor to him to see what his response would have been. He lives right up by the Arctic Cat factory.
 


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