2015 YAMAHA SNOWMOBILES

[Gman900]

That was a sweet video. Would love to try and ride the deep powder some day.

 

[sheetwright]

Vote with your dollar...don't buy a Yamaha. Then Yamaha might do something, or just get out of the sledding business.

According to ISMA, they only have 5% of the market, so now they are losing the true die hard Yamaha enthusiasts and it will be difficult to entice buyers back.

What if they combine those cat numbers one day with yamaha numbers? Cats only strong area in sales is the snowmobile market. You add our q/a, and motors to fix their sleds. Then with our jet skis, atv's, otv's, motorcycles, dirt bikes, and boats and what a mix. I smell a Trojan horse in the arctic cat factory

 

[Grimm]

Then the consumer loses and we have less options, only 3 OEMs vs 4.

 

[Yamacat21]

If cat was smart they would have used this line up to reintroduce the scorpion. They have only owned the name for 30 years now and done nothing with it. Lol

 

[yamajammer76]

Vote with your dollar...don't buy a Yamaha. Then Yamaha might do something, or just get out of the sledding business.

According to ISMA, they only have 5% of the market, so now they are losing the true die hard Yamaha enthusiasts and it will be difficult to entice buyers back.

Actually Arctic Cat's 17% marketshare is almost more troubling since the ProCross introduction has done little to improve share even with all their product investment. Figure in the fact that Arctic Cat has to rely quite heavily on the sled market to remain solvent it becomes a pretty scary business proposition. All of the companies have had up's and down's, but since 1995 Cat has really been on a downward trend.

When you see where Arctic Cat and Yamaha are in relation to the Big 2 it is easy to see why they have formed a partnership. BRP and Polaris literally have a monopoly on the snowmobile market.

Are You serious? What is a scary business proposition? How's Yamaha done since 95? My God...

It's scary that they only have 17% of the snowmobile marketshare, however sleds account for 40% of their total corporate revenue. That is a scary business proposition for investors. Yamaha hasn't done well either, but sleds are such a tiny fraction of their revenue it won't make or break them. Cat is always a couple of bad luck events away from bankruptcy because they are so small. Believe me when I say Cat needs Yamaha as a partner as development costs continue to rise without increased marketshare.

When it comes to quality Cat gets blamed many times for using poor suppliers or cutting corners. They have to because they can't live on a slim profit margin. They have to squeeze the most profit out of each unit just to survive. This doesn't mean they build poor quality sleds, it just means that they have to be very smart sourcing components and getting the low bid at all times.

 

[Schlorven]

Atleast one of those snowmobils have turbo. In sweden a new viper will be around 20 000 + mcx turbo, and if you buy the 190hp it will have allmost the same weight/hp as a AC M8, and fore those extra 4300 dollars the mcx cost, you get alot of pistongs and 2-stroke oil and belts. And you changing snowmobiles every 3e year anyway
A AC deler said that AC this year will start selling wildcat again, ac chassi turbocharged nytro engine from factory maby.

 

[DeerHuntr]

Very limited riding for me this year but in the 240 miles so far I am loving my Viper RTX. Great gauge, awesome seating position, great ride and handling and awesome looks. Very comfortable machine. Coming off a Nytro it is a definite step up and in my opinion is probably the nicest Sled I've ever ridden. Let's hope it's as trouble free as my Nytro was.... Only thing that I would change would be a little more power on the big end but my Nytro made me feel like that as well.

 

[Rockstar]

Here's my problem… I'm the Ultimate Yamaha guy. Yes that's right. NOBODY loves Yamaha as much as me. When I go on craigslist I just type in Yamaha. I will look at Piano's (i've played for 40 years) Stereo equipment, Generators, watercraft, boats etc…when I was a kid my dad got me the first year YZ80 with a mono shock. My wife jokes that if people who throw their garbage out by the road wrote Yamaha on it I would probably stop and make them an offer on it. I hope everyone understands that nobody loves the tuning fork logo more than yours truly. Something has had to have changed at Yamaha. Obviously there is no great talent in Yamaha between North America and Japan. Who would have ever guessed that all we had to do to get the greatest snowmobile in the world was mix existing chassis's and engines. I'm obviously missing something. Somehow I'm living in a parallel universe and everything is just completely F-ed up.

 

[apexgt1000]

why would yamaha make use ride an arcticcat sled anyways.it goes to show you how much they give a f@$k.yamaha stick that tunning fork logo where it belongs,on a yamaha.

 

[NOS-PRO]

Frickin AWESOME!!!!!

 

[DeerHuntr]

Still says Yamaha on the side of my Sled. Still has a tuning fork on it. Underneath the plastic there is a hell of a engine made by you guessed it, Yamaha. It even has Yamaha clutches , Yamaha belt and Yamalube in the oil tank. I guess I don't understand. It's the most complete machine that they have produced since RX1 came out in 03 and arguably ever. If everyone would pull the blinders off and look at it with a open mind it might surprise you. I would have preferred that they were able to do it on their own too but it is what it is. I test rode one and loved it so I ordered one. I am not brand blind, I have owned them all except AC and guess now can say I have owned them to. I don't see this arrangement changing any time soon, Yamaha sold more sleds last year then they have in years. I am sorry if it is a deal breaker for some of you. The writing is on the wall, doesn't do any good to bitch about it . It's not going to change anything. Enjoy your new Ski Doo, Polaris or Cat. They are all damn nice machines. I am going to enjoy my new Yamaha.

 

[ROCKERDAN]

Unfortunately for the true blue yammie faithful, Yamaha North America saw the writing on the wall, due to yammie Japan not doing any R&D or bringing anything truly new year after year except BNG.

Yamaha North America just kept watching things get worse and saw nothing new coming.

So Yam NA starts talking to Cat about some sort of agreement to keep yammie sleds from going extinct forever.

I hate it as much as the next true blue yammie guy, and maybe even more cause I owned a '12 procross cat which will go down as the biggest POS sled ive ever worked on or owned, most poorly engineered ride on snow bar none! i had to RE-engineer everything and would never dare ride it alone anywhere.

So for me i would never touch a viper, I know they are garbage when compared to a true blue yammie. And yes ive rode them, and each time i want to like them i see how heavy, and poor handling they are. They dart alot and have too hard seats that are not comfy, and have poor egos for getting close up to the front when riding agressively, not even close to the doo and poo ergos.

The motor and clutches are the only thing that is awesome about these sleds IMO, nothing else they do well. This is why 99% of guys who have tried a 1200 doo back to back will take the doo everytime, better ergos,lighter feel,better handling,and FAR better ride due to best seat in the biz and best skid with rmotion.

All this being said....I totally understand why SO MANY new Viper owners love their new Vipers! Heck, i went from my apex to my cat and LOVED the new seating position, and skid. YES the viper makes any PREVIOUS YAMAHA feel old,heavy and ancient in comparison. So i get why all the viper guys love their new rides.


For guys who are not brand loyal however, if you are honest with yourself and ride all brands offerings back to back on the same trails, rough and smooth, twisty and straight.....you will quickly see how the viper simply does not stack up in every dept.

In the end, YES yammie NA had to get with cat in order to keep yammie sleds going. And If CR is correct, maybe now if yammie makes some money from viper sleds the mother ship back across the pond will decide to actually do some r&d and build us all TRULY new from gound up yammie, and maybe finally take some of the procross DNA into account for the ultimate ride.

until then, riding a doo is where alot of others have gone, and its easy to see why once you run Rmotion down a rough trail for a mile or two.

JMO
Dan

 

[HartleRacing]

if someone is out to buy a sled based on it simply being the best on snow, must be changing brands nearly every other year. no brand has been able to STAY the best at everything over a long period of time. it takes people outdoing you to give you the drive to want to do better. i will always be a true blue faithful. this viper is better than any previous YAMAHA and that is why i will have one. im not interested in how good other sleds are, because i would never own another brand.

 

[DeerHuntr]

I rode a 1200 last spring before I ordered Dan, didn't do it for me. The dealer in Grand Forks got a customer to bring in his Sled so could give it a go. Everyone is different. I didn't care for the seat, I like a firm seat and I like to slide around allot. The Doo seat was too soft and too short for my liking. The one I rode didn't handle well at all, lots of body roll and pushed through the corners like a train on the tracks. Rear suspension was incredible I agree . Engine wise it was smooth running and pulled good through the power band. Has better top end than the Viper but bottom and mid I would say it's close. The engine doesn't have the sound or throttle response of the Yamaha, seems lethargic in comparison. I think the Ergonomics on the Doo aren't as good either. Allot of this could have been how the guy had it set up and I am sure that it was. I am a aggressive rider, I don't think this guy probably ever had it over 50. It didn't have the fun factor for me. Set up is huge! The biggest POS I've ever owned was a 03 Rev 600, 3 engines in 2800 miles and I had enough. Traded it on a 06 Fusion 700 which contrary to popular belief on the net was actually a great Sled. Just sold it last Friday. Point being is everyone makes a lemon from time to time. My buddies all ride cat, 2 procross in the group which I loved every time I rode. One has the belt blowing issue one does not one one popped a chaincase. Other than that they have been awesome sleds and have a couple years on them now. Only cat I have had to pull home is my buddies 09 turbo, he blew his diamond drive screwing around on the lake with his boost cranked up.

 

[shadow637]

The motor and clutches are the only thing that is awesome about these sleds IMO, nothing else they do well. This is why 99% of guys who have tried a 1200 doo back to back will take the doo everytime, better ergos,lighter feel,better handling,and FAR better ride due to best seat in the biz and best skid with rmotion.

For guys who are not brand loyal however, if you are honest with yourself and ride all brands offerings back to back on the same trails, rough and smooth, twisty and straight.....you will quickly see how the viper simply does not stack up in every dept.

until then, riding a doo is where alot of others have gone, and its easy to see why once you run Rmotion down a rough trail for a mile or two.

JMO
Dan

99%??? Did you do your own poll or something?

I have ridden them both back to back and I have the exact opposite opinion, the 1200 didn't peak my interest at all and the motor is not even close to the same league as the Viper. Guess I'm part of that 1%.

We all have our own opinions, thanks for expressing yours...