2018 Yamaha Release

[Sevey]

I can understand why Yamaha has taken the direction it has with AC and there are so many elements of the partnership that could be exceptional for the consumer.
But based on the Vipers I have been around, they haven't built a better sled. Everyone I know has had some serious issues with theirs, and I am not talking about - just a relay failing.
If this partnership is the real deal - build a better sled!

Start with putting a drain plug in the chaincase.

Ms

 

[BIG BLACK WARRIOR]

RX-1man said "Truly disappointed in the Apex offering. Certainly not convinced the singleshot will offer a better ride than my current mono with Ohlins. Don't need or want the lame front shock YRSS. If I could justify spending this kind of money on something I can't even use two months out of a year I'd spend an extra 1K and get the sidewinder 50th anniversary offering more power and better ride/handling."
Dave, Does that mean you will be on a new Sidewinder next year?. I did 65 miles on the hill today. Started at 8:30, and was done by 10:15. Trails were just groomed and pretty good. May be last ride of the season.

 

[excallibur101]

In my own opinion Yamaha is only riding the wave with Cat as long as their agreement allows,who knows what the future holds,keep in mind the snowmobile industry can't rely on the weather to survive spending absorbant amounts of money to accommodate the small number of people buying new machines as I mentioned about the weather,our winters have been quite warm in the past few,they know this,so in correlation to this both companies can survive and profit on what they currently have.It seems as if everyone wants this new jet fighter snowmobile to come out every year,but need to keep in mind with the cost of retooling and all other costs incurred to may not allow them to do so if only a small number of sleds can be sold.Cat supplies the chassis,Yamaha blew their nut on the engine and electronics making both combos a very desirable sled they both can capitalize on.Yes there is always room for improvements and ideas and usually after market companies pick up that slack in due time to accommodate your fix.When you have something good ,you can make it great,otherwise be happy with what you have.

 

[Metallicat]

Where's the next Enticer, a sled that anyone could ride from youth to adult? OK. The low priced 9hp thing can exist too, but who here did not experience at least a 300 Enticer and love it in their youth? Something in the 35hp range? Simple, strong, cheap, just a basic chassis...but 9HP?

 

[Metallicat]

I'm just happy that Cat has a 100 percent Yamaha TSS sled in their garage! That in itself is amazing.

 

[Farmer 73]

It's interesting watching the snow trax video interview of the VP Tewes. He said we ain't seen nothing yet! I know we ain't seen nothing, but will we someday? Yamaha could you please give us some sign of hope?

 

[T-Bone]

I sold the '11 Apex XTX the Phazer and the trailer at the beginning of this season. No good riding here in WNY for the last two seasons is just one of the reasons I sold my stuff. Its frustrating to me that all I want is for Yamaha to try. When they do try, no one can compete with them, for example the Sidewinder engine. But they are like the student that has the ability to get an A in every class but constantly come home with a bunch of Cs. You know they are so capable but no matter how much you want them to try they refuse. Then the student says they don't get good grades because you don't praise them enough for their hard work.

Other than the Sidewinder engine what major elements of a sled have they developed? Some refinements on the Apex, PS, Exup, and YCC for the Vector. Nothing for the Phazer. Yamaha chassis are from 2006 and 2007. I could go on and on. No point in doing that. Yamaha is the student capable of As but constantly disappoints and brings home Cs then blames you for not buying enough sleds

 

[Farmer 73]

I sold the '11 Apex XTX the Phazer and the trailer at the beginning of this season. No good riding here in WNY for the last two seasons is just one of the reasons I sold my stuff. Its frustrating to me that all I want is for Yamaha to try. When they do try, no one can compete with them, for example the Sidewinder engine. But they are like the student that has the ability to get an A in every class but constantly come home with a bunch of Cs. You know they are so capable but no matter how much you want them to try they refuse. Then the student says they don't get good grades because you don't praise them enough for their hard work.

Other than the Sidewinder engine what major elements of a sled have they developed? Some refinements on the Apex, PS, Exup, and YCC for the Vector. Nothing for the Phazer. Yamaha chassis are from 2006 and 2007. I could go on and on. No point in doing that. Yamaha is the student capable of As but constantly disappoints and brings home Cs then blames you for not buying enough sleds

Could not have said that any better!

 

[yz250]

You have a right to complain and express your concerns but what did you actually expect? This season has been one of the worst to date and when was the last time you could actually use your sled more then a month without having to travel 4 or more hours? This sport is expensive as hell and do you really think its any easier to run a Snowmobile MFG business. Ill tell you this, it was a smart move partnering up with Arctic Cat ... they need Yamaha as much as Yamaha needs them..we have to learn to cherish the season and the time we have to ride.

The problem with that is both Polaris and Doo were also impacted by the same weather conditions yet still continue to innovate and release new models and improvements. Innovate or die and Yamaha is now the poster child for what happens when you fail to innovate. How long do you think Yamaha will continue to be able to sell rebadged Arctic Cats? If I was Textron I'd want those lost sled sales for myself and leverage Yamaha to only supply engines or we'll just build them ourselves in our USA plant or from Weber. Cat can make a lot bigger margin selling new units to customers than it can to Yamaha. Cat is in the drivers seat now IMO.

 

[lakercr]

PS2 is good people, and a die-hard sledder just like anyone else on TY. You'd have a hard time convincing me there's a better guy to have at the helm. Keep in mind that the snowmobile division of YMC is (at best) a rounding error on their balance sheet. Based out of Japan, there are insurmountable challenges with profitability, agility, ROI on new product development, to name just a few. As an example, say for the sake of argument it takes $1m (it of course is much more) to design, develop, test, produce and market a new Yamaha product. Say that product "A" is the snowmobile you want, and that Yamaha hasn't yet built. Product "B" is a new Yamaha scooter. The cost of bringing A and B to market are going to be similar. There are 196 countries in the world, and all of them are potential markets for product 'B'. Product "A" has ~6 countries in the world where it can be marketed, in a season ~1/3 as long.

The partnership with Arctic Cat is not a panacea for all of this, but I promise it is better than the alternative. I know there has been (on more than one occasion) serious contemplation of the Snowmobile division of Yamaha going away.

 

[petey_sx700]

BRP's way of selling sleds is building them to fail at around 4000 miles. The biggest thing holding Yamaha sales back is longevity. I have loved the three cylinder from the first Vector and the Procross chasis has won more races than anything so bang Viper was a great option. But Yamaha had to agree to take a certain number of units each year for this deal to work. Hence new 2014 Vipers wholesaled out to dealers from warehouse right before season starts. Not a good way to move Sidewinders. I have 7300 miles on my 2014 Viper w/turbo and love it. Still have a year of warranty left as that was the promotion at the time. With so many units available cheap I will ride it till warranty is up.

Yamaha's website leaves much to be desired. Seems like they have no quality control(must all be on assembly line). I wanted a set of Tuner skis for my RX1 and had to dig through my shop to find an accessory book from 4 yrs ago. They need to have all parts and accessories listed online if they want to sell them.

I can see why they do not have the new tandem front shocks on the Cat sleds as they do not want to give up the tech. But I would love to see them available as an accessory along with power steering and a fancy gauge pod with boost afr gps and even caller id built in. These things sell and would especially sell to guys that love their sleds till they die around 25,000 miles.

 

[yz250]

It's interesting watching the snow trax video interview of the VP Tewes. He said we ain't seen nothing yet! I know we ain't seen nothing, but will we someday? Yamaha could you please give us some sign of hope?

Was that the same guy that promised us 5 new sleds over the next 5 years? How'd that work out? Viper, reworked VK 540, Sidewinder and... umm.... well that was three. Of course the Viper was a 7 yr old motor in a 3 yr old chassis so kind of a stretch on "new". Sidewinder was a new motor so better there but the VK was just updating an old model that wasn't available in the USA. I'm glad Yamaha cleaned house with the sled division management, now they need to do it in the upper ranks because the company is being run into the ground. No other OEM only offers 700cc utility quads as the only choice. I feel bad for those that are single line Yamaha dealers. I don't know how they can survive?

 

[Allan]

The SRVenture DX it has the 1049cc engine. It looks to be the same machine as my 2016 stx dx 146 sr viper. The question I have is it 140hp like the viper or 120 hp like the venture tf?

And the put a 1" lug track on the SRVenture DX . it's this only machine in there line up with a 1' lug other than the SNOSCOOT .

 

[clarkman]

I noticed on the cat 2 up as well as the Yamaha that the passenger seat looks like they took a seat jack and made it stationary. If I were to get a 2 up I would get the tf. Just because 2 up riding has more to do with comfort and quality and less with hammering the moguls and corners. They should have dropped the 4 banger in for the 50th just to get a feel for the market.

 

[Allan]

I noticed on the cat 2 up as well as the Yamaha that the passenger seat looks like they took a seat jack and made it stationary. If I were to get a 2 up I would get the tf. Just because 2 up riding has more to do with comfort and quality and less with hammering the moguls and corners. They should have dropped the 4 banger in for the 50th just to get a feel for the market.

I have a that same seat on my stx dx 146 viper.