2019 release

[Wannaviper]

When Yamaha and Arctic Cat signed their agreement they should have stopped using the Yamaha name on the shared tech sleds. Yamaha should have just come up with another brand name for those sleds. The "new" company would be owned by Yamaha but those sleds would have their own brand name, heritage, and history. This would preserve the Yamaha history and heritage before the agreement. The Yamaha history and heritage is what people desire when they say they want an "all Yamaha" sled. If they had done this then the Viper and Sidewinder would not have the Yamaha name anywhere on them except for the engines. And if pre-agreement Yamaha wanted to put their name on a sled with the 1049 or the 998 turbo then it should be in a chassis designed and made by Yamaha.

The agreement as it stands now is like GM selling their Corvette engine to Ford and in return GM gets to put that same Corvette engine in a Mustang chassis provided by Ford and then sell them with Chevy badging. That Chevy powered Mustang is about as much Chevy as the Vipers and Sidewinders are Yamaha. The Yamaha AC agreement sounded promising when the CEOs were saying what was coming in the next five years, but as one that is hoping for an all new Yamaha Sled, I have been extremely disappointed. I am not saying the shared tech sleds are bad, in fact they are good, but they are not a Yamaha.

What should they call this new Yamaha powered snowmobile company?

It is sad that Yamaha fell behind in the design and development of snowmobiles. As much as Yamaha "purists" don't want to admit it, being pure Yamaha meant riding sleds that were technologically inferior to Arctic Cat, Ski Doo and Polaris. Yamaha was losing the sled battle badly; I saw two Yamaha dealers within 50 miles of where I live go out of business before the Viper came out. Yamaha had to do something, either spend lots of money on R&D at the same time they were falling even further behind, or just close up shop and get out of the snowmobile business altogether. What Yamaha did, partnering with one of their direct competitors for a mutually beneficial sharing of engines and technology, was thinking "outside the box", and I think it was brilliant. Dealers are selling Yamaha Pro Cross sleds, and lots of them. A local dealer who sells Yamaha and Polaris told me he has already sold 90% of his Viper/Sidewinder inventory; for every Yamaha he has left, he has four Polaris sleds still on the showroom floor! Sure, I still see the old DB II sleds on the trails, but the Yamaha Pro Cross Sleds are everywhere I go.

I love Yamaha engines, I have said it before, and I will say it again; my outboard engines, my UTV, my generator, and my snowmobiles all proudly display the Yamaha name. The first accessory I bought for my new snowmobile trailer was a big "YAMAHA" sticker. I have built in Japan Yamaha Vector and Phazer sleds in my trailer, but far and away the best sleds we own are the Pro Cross Vipers. I never think of my sled as an Arctic Cat; my 1049 cc 4-stroke engine is pure Yamaha, and my sled has Yamaha written all over it. I love the ride and handling, and I love the performance. As far as I am concerned, I am riding a Yamaha, and I am happy!

 

[20/80]

When Yamaha and Arctic Cat signed their agreement they should have stopped using the Yamaha name on the shared tech sleds. Yamaha should have just come up with another brand name for those sleds. The "new" company would be owned by Yamaha but those sleds would have their own brand name, heritage, and history. This would preserve the Yamaha history and heritage before the agreement. The Yamaha history and heritage is what people desire when they say they want an "all Yamaha" sled. If they had done this then the Viper and Sidewinder would not have the Yamaha name anywhere on them except for the engines. And if pre-agreement Yamaha wanted to put their name on a sled with the 1049 or the 998 turbo then it should be in a chassis designed and made by Yamaha.

The agreement as it stands now is like GM selling their Corvette engine to Ford and in return GM gets to put that same Corvette engine in a Mustang chassis provided by Ford and then sell them with Chevy badging. That Chevy powered Mustang is about as much Chevy as the Vipers and Sidewinders are Yamaha. The Yamaha AC agreement sounded promising when the CEOs were saying what was coming in the next five years, but as one that is hoping for an all new Yamaha Sled, I have been extremely disappointed. I am not saying the shared tech sleds are bad, in fact they are good, but they are not a Yamaha.

What should they call this new Yamaha powered snowmobile company?

"SNOWJET"

 

[farmerschiferl]

New phazer would be a great step for yamaha for sure! everyone assumes that the new srx is coming from the cat factory just because it has the cat chassis similarities, maybe it is way more yamaha than anyone wants to think. My opinion is that everyone needs to just go out and enjoy what is left of winter while we will find out in a few days

 

[vodoo child]

I have no problem moving on, everything is all good but trust me my viper has all the power of a apex and then some. I do disagree with you on more people happier on a apex vs viper or sidewinder maybe we should start a poll and then will know. I'm done beating this topic have to death everyone have a good summer peace out (time to get xyz out of storage)

So, your Viper has all the power of an Apex and then some! Well since no one else called it ""I WILL"" I rode the pre-production Viper's at the Old Forge NY. Snodeo in March of 13 and was not impressed. Yes they rode and handled great, but the power compared to my Attak was underwhelming to say the least! Now the Sidewinder I'm on this year is a whole new animal, but even it doesn't have the torque of the 4 cyl. when you just blip the throttle. Turbo lag is there just for a split second but that's the difference of the 3 to 4cyl. As far as the 19's go, you can have your Pro-Cross chassis anyway, and any color you like. With either Cat or Yamaha clutches and snow flap! Remember, ""WE AIN'T SEEN NOTHING YET""

 

[3wheelerdude]

It is sad that Yamaha fell behind in the design and development of snowmobiles. As much as Yamaha "purists" don't want to admit it, being pure Yamaha meant riding sleds that were technologically inferior to Arctic Cat, Ski Doo and Polaris. Yamaha was losing the sled battle badly; I saw two Yamaha dealers within 50 miles of where I live go out of business before the Viper came out. Yamaha had to do something, either spend lots of money on R&D at the same time they were falling even further behind, or just close up shop and get out of the snowmobile business altogether. What Yamaha did, partnering with one of their direct competitors for a mutually beneficial sharing of engines and technology, was thinking "outside the box", and I think it was brilliant. Dealers are selling Yamaha Pro Cross sleds, and lots of them. A local dealer who sells Yamaha and Polaris told me he has already sold 90% of his Viper/Sidewinder inventory; for every Yamaha he has left, he has four Polaris sleds still on the showroom floor! Sure, I still see the old DB II sleds on the trails, but the Yamaha Pro Cross Sleds are everywhere I go.

I love Yamaha engines, I have said it before, and I will say it again; my outboard engines, my UTV, my generator, and my snowmobiles all proudly display the Yamaha name. The first accessory I bought for my new snowmobile trailer was a big "YAMAHA" sticker. I have built in Japan Yamaha Vector and Phazer sleds in my trailer, but far and away the best sleds we own are the Pro Cross Vipers. I never think of my sled as an Arctic Cat; my 1049 cc 4-stroke engine is pure Yamaha, and my sled has Yamaha written all over it. I love the ride and handling, and I love the performance. As far as I am concerned, I am riding a Yamaha, and I am happy!

I see it more like the Pontiac Vibe and Toyota Matrix partnership. Or the Subaru BRZ and Toyota FRS partnership.

Its a joint effort with shared patents and technology. No shame here. It was proven to work well in the past.

 

[InRBigness]

My dealer told me yesterday that they are going to be offering the APEX for one more year but only as a spring order. They must have some parts left over to get rid of. Guess we will see in a few days.

 

[pdiddy]

That's not a good sign. Means nothing ready to replace it.

 

[InRBigness]

That's true. That being said my dealer still has 3 he would love to get rid of as well as two used ones which is why its only going to be a Power surge special.

 

[journeyman]

I have no problem moving on, everything is all good but trust me my viper has all the power of a apex and then some. I do disagree with you on more people happier on a apex vs viper or sidewinder maybe we should start a poll and then will know. I'm done beating this topic have to death everyone have a good summer peace out (time to get xyz out of storage)

Did you forget to tell us you have a turbo installed on your Viper? Otherwise you have to be kidding me. I tell you what, your profile says northern Wisconsin. Next time I am up in the area we need to hook up. In fact I'll make an offer. I'll put $500 on the line and race you across the lake. If you don't have a turbo I'll leave that Viper by a long, long ways!

 

[TPAY243]

voodoo child you asked so here ya go my viper has hurricane 190 turbo kit installed along with cold air intake a clutch kit and gearing. Unless you are running some sort of boost your old apex wont stand a chance and don't tell me it will because one of my buddies has a 12 that runs strong with fix ram air lid and programmer and he doesn't stand a chance. Never once said that my viper was stock.( what fun would that be) I'm not you average joe I spend a lot of time messing around with my machines that's all part of it oh and by the way my o8 apex would run right with my buddies 05 f7.

 

[Irv]

voodoo child you asked so here ya go my viper has hurricane 190 turbo kit installed along with cold air intake a clutch kit and gearing. Unless you are running some sort of boost your old apex wont stand a chance and don't tell me it will because one of my buddies has a 12 that runs strong with fix ram air lid and programmer and he doesn't stand a chance. Never once said that my viper was stock.( what fun would that be) I'm not you average joe I spend a lot of time messing around with my machines that's all part of it oh and by the way my o8 apex would run right with my buddies 05 f7.

If you are going to tell a story, then tell the whole story. Your misleading original post was not telling it all nor was it telling the truth. Curious, and to keep things fair, I wonder how you'd make out if the Apex in question had the same mods done to it?

 

[vodoo child]

voodoo child you asked so here ya go my viper has hurricane 190 turbo kit installed along with cold air intake a clutch kit and gearing. Unless you are running some sort of boost your old apex wont stand a chance and don't tell me it will because one of my buddies has a 12 that runs strong with fix ram air lid and programmer and he doesn't stand a chance. Never once said that my viper was stock.( what fun would that be) I'm not you average joe I spend a lot of time messing around with my machines that's all part of it oh and by the way my o8 apex would run right with my buddies 05 f7.

As Paul Harvey used to say, now for the rest of the story! If your Viper has all that done to it. Then a ""STOCK"" Apex would have no chance, no argument there. Oh, and your 08 should have walked all over the F7 stock vs stock. I had an 05 F7 efi Sno-Pro Black Widow all stock, very quick up to 85-90 mph. but that was it! The diamond drive gearing and 1 3/8th track sucked the top end right out of that sled. In fact my wife's 04 F6 efi Sno-Pro would show me the taillight on a regular basis!

 

[TPAY243]

Pretty sure I told the whole story I'm sure mod for mod apex running boost the apex would be faster that's kinda of a no brainer. Not sure where your going with your post there Irv. I never said it wouldn't, all I'm saying is the viper is a better riding and handling machine and I guess if you have a turbo on it probably faster than apex unless the apex has a turbo than the apex would be faster round and round we go where we stop nobody knows. What does all this have to do with the 2019 machines anyway my bad got a little off track. I just don't understand how you guys think that the apex is a better machine than either the viper or the winder and now the srx but hey to each there own.

 

[journeyman]

Pretty sure I told the whole story I'm sure mod for mod apex running boost the apex would be faster that's kinda of a no brainer. Not sure where your going with your post there Irv. I never said it wouldn't, all I'm saying is the viper is a better riding and handling machine and I guess if you have a turbo on it probably faster than apex unless the apex has a turbo than the apex would be faster round and round we go where we stop nobody knows. What does all this have to do with the 2019 machines anyway my bad got a little off track. I just don't understand how you guys think that the apex is a better machine than either the viper or the winder and now the srx but hey to each there own.

It doesn’t have anything to do with the 2019’s but go back and read your own posts, you yourself got it off track. You were making it sound you had just a Viper, not a turbo equipped Viper and that a stock one was more powerful than an Apex. Enough said.

 

[TrueBlue]

My dealer told me yesterday that they are going to be offering the APEX for one more year but only as a spring order. They must have some parts left over to get rid of. Guess we will see in a few days.

I also heard the Vector will also be made for 1 more year.