2014
- Thread starter ViperTurboPete
- Start date
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yamaha1973
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At this rate we could hit 100 pages by the release date! haha
dilligaf
Pro
Yamaha would be better off coming up with a new name instead of a retro name IMO.
Ak Yammy
Expert
dilligaf said:
Agreed and agreed Viper name doesn't make me all excited. Buddy bought one in '02 was a decent sled but nothing iconic like the SX/SRX was.
nytro-king
Extreme
jp111
Pro
AKrider said:
Some of that has to do with the law of averages, there are way more Cats in that form of racing then any other brand.
jp111 said:
Why you think that is?
yamajammer76
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SledFreak said:
It seems everyone now believes that Yamaha and Arctic Cat are partners, however Chris Reid says that Yamaha did not buy shares in any company. Without any shares trading places who knows how committed they are to each other.
With that said I think technology sharing could be a great thing, but if all we get is a blue Procross re-badged Viper then I'd say Yamaha is on the verge of an exit from the snowmobile business. If it is still a Yamaha built sled only using chassis technology from AC in trade for AC using Yamaha engines then they might be on to something.
If you go to Arctic Cat's corporate website they still have an article on there from back in 2010 saying they are committed to building all of their own engines in-house. If that is the case then maybe this is just a re-badged agreement where AC paints a certain part of their Procross build blue with Yamaha graphics and installs a Yamaha engine.
I'm not sure how well a "fake" Yamaha will sell if that is the case because most re-badged products are usually pretty cheesy. Remember the Isuzu Rodeo re-badged Honda Passport? Or how about the current Chrysler Town and Country rebadged VW Routan? Or the Dodge Dakota rebadged Mitsubishi Raider? None of those products were ever successful and other then the Routan which has barely held on were cancelled soon after.
I'm not saying that the sled business is the same as the car business, but re-badged products have never lasted long in the market and are usually overshadowed by the donor brand and product.
Paraclete
Expert
this should be the new logo
yamajammer76 said:
It seems everyone now believes that Yamaha and Arctic Cat are partners, however Chris Reid says that Yamaha did not buy shares in any company. Without any shares trading places who knows how committed they are to each other.
I dont think there is as many "everyone" as you state, me for one!
Reason I believe they will use a Cat chassis is because Cat already owns patents and is licensed to use patents Yamaha doesn't have. Same goes for engine patents that Cat doesn't have. Yamaha doesn't sell enough sleds to make it profitable to continue to build and develope their own chassis. Combining their strengths with Cat allow both companies to develop new sleds without as much financial burden. Yamaha can focus on its area of expertise, motors and Cat theirs, chassis. I would not be surprised if Cat comes out with a DI two stroke using some of Yamaha's patents.
To me it's a real win win, but a bummer that we'd be down to three sled makes. They could always find out they don't get along and go their separate ways. Cat is into sleds for the long run. I don't think Yamaha cares that much about them, particularly when they are such a small silver of their product line up. Their sled assembly line would be better used building scooters and motorcycles for Asia. I suscept that would be the real reason for even going this direction.
To me it's a real win win, but a bummer that we'd be down to three sled makes. They could always find out they don't get along and go their separate ways. Cat is into sleds for the long run. I don't think Yamaha cares that much about them, particularly when they are such a small silver of their product line up. Their sled assembly line would be better used building scooters and motorcycles for Asia. I suscept that would be the real reason for even going this direction.
yamajammer76
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AKrider said:
You might be right about all of this, but I think there are many of us who are not very excited about seeing a re-badged blue Yamaha coming out of the Arctic Cat factory because that means Yamaha's sled business is at it's end. If it is a re-badged Thief River Falls product then I would assume Yamaha will only keep a skeleton design crew at that point for new graphics and slowly phase out of the business. That is too bad because they have always been the ones that set the bar in assembly quality and fit and finish. They have also set the bar in engine technology as well.
I see some interest in a re-badged product for the first year or two and then like most re-badges people will simply move to the product from the original company. Something about buying "fakes" just never seems to set well with people in the long term.
So if their direction is a line of re-painted AC's then I would say it is a temporary solution until they can phase out of the sled business completely. Since I see you no longer ride Yamaha I doubt that would upset you much, but some of us however will really miss Yamaha because of their excellent build quality and wonderful engines. Going from 4 to 3 companies doesn't really help things and you have to wonder how long AC can hold up against the Giant 2 in a 3 way race.
kingedwards99
Expert
Its gonna be called the NYPER!!! 
