2020 Release

[03RX1-ER-LE]

Good job whitedust1, 50 pages.
I know I will never go back to 2s, do not miss the smell on my gear, the expensive oil at gas stops, and the noise and off trail riding from the ditch pickle/backpack wearing yahoos jepordizing our trails.
I think we will see something big from Yamaha soon, after all the Japanese are very proud of what they do with this company, not just snowmobiles but every aspect of the business from instruments to recreation.
They pulled a great business decision to fix inventory and ready the new sled production, which I think it will be mostly spring order in the future to control inventory. Just like buying a car, the focus is on ordering or building inventory in control to keep from flooding the market.
One last thought, if you build a sled that lasts forever like a 4s, you will sell less as the demand will be low since the 4s just keeps going like the energizer bunny.

 

[Mototown]

.

One last thought, if you build a sled that lasts forever like a 4s, you will sell less as the demand will be low since the 4s just keeps going like the energizer bunny.

thats Yamaha s sales problems with only 4s, they last forever,
The 2008 Apex with tall seat & revalved rear shock still works great , and still beats all the current 2 strokes . It puts little desire for customers to buy a new sled . I Only really bought a sidewinder because of the power potential options with tunes.

 

[T-Bone]

I don't believe it is the fact that they only produce four strokes that led to diminished sales. I believe it is the fact that they didn't update their chassis or suspensions. You cant run the same chassis for over 10 years, especially if it wasn't a industry leader to start with.
There are plenty of people who would buy a four stroke with a killer chassis/suspension.
I cant understand why everyone is all horny over these 850 two strokes. Has anyone built a big bore 2s that would last? Suzuki with the 800 and 900 twins would last but other than that they are mostly time bombs. Polaris has an absolute horrible record with big twins yet everyone thinks this new 850 will be great. Why? What have they done prior to this that makes anyone think this will be better than the other piles of crap they made? The joke around here is that the 800 Ski Doo odometer starts at 3000 miles and counts backwards to 0 so you know when the crank lets go.
These new big twin 850's have absolutely no appeal to me without a few years of trail use behind them.

Make a reliable engine with a killer chassis and it doesn't matter how many strokes it takes to make power, it will sell.

I agree that it was just not the lack of a 2-stroke. You're right, Yamaha just seem to quit with development after the Nytro. 10 years is way too long for a chassis update. Apparently the vast majority of people that buy sleds don't care that their two-strokes will need rebuilt at some time. Sure they would love to have the reliability and longevity of a 4-stroke but they vote with their wallets and buy 3 two-strokes for every 4-stroke sold. I've never had engine problems with any two stroke and neither have any of the guys I ride with. Maybe we are just lucky. I think the Ski-Doo 900 ACE Turbo will be a good indicator of where the4 stroke market is.

 

[tommyt5078]

Just saying, Yamaha had a massive display at the annual snow show this year, and some hints of possibilities for the new sleds to be released for 2020. It is highly, highly unlikely that they are exiting the sled business, unless one supposes for some reason that the several inside folks who have spoken to it on record are lying and/or ignorant. On the contrary, the (re)introduction of the SnoScoot should perhaps point towards some possibilities for filling gaps in their lineup. I think that they recognize that the $20k sleds are just plain out of reach for most folks. I'll be hammering that website in March for sure.

Not at the Milwaukee show...……………….I wish they would have made sleds this year or came out with something new, I had to replace my 08' Vector and went with a 900 ACE Skidoo...……….I did find a couple 17' Vector but the ACE was $2500 cheaper which is almost an enclosed trailer!!!!!

 

[greatwhite89]

Not at the Milwaukee show...……………….I wish they would have made sleds this year or came out with something new, I had to replace my 08' Vector and went with a 900 ACE Skidoo...……….I did find a couple 17' Vector but the ACE was $2500 cheaper which is almost an enclosed trailer!!!!!

They had the Brewer game on at least on the tv at the Yamaha booth at he MKE show.

 

[TPAY243]

Tommy T you mean to tell me that a 2017 Vector was $2500.00 more than a brand new 90o ace ??? Yamaha did make sleds this year and not only that there are some real good deals on left overs but maybe you don't like the 2017,18,and 19's line up. I guess you need to move on and enjoy your Ski Doo.

 

[stevewithOCD]

.

thats Yamaha s sales problems with only 4s, they last forever,
The 2008 Apex with tall seat & revalved rear shock still works great , and still beats all the current 2 strokes . It puts little desire for customers to buy a new sled . I Only really bought a sidewinder because of the power potential options with tunes.

Good point! I forgot to add this. I have 20,000 miles on my GT & it still pulls hard. (takes an 850)
All the maintenance up-keep & little fixes i've done every year amounted to WAAAAY less then a new sled.
I rebuilt & went through WHOLE front end last year & WHOLE rear end this year,
I'm selling it to my cousin, who i got addicted, completely rebuilt with new track & 5000 mile belt life.
Not to mention his own personal mechanic. LOL

POINT IS: I didn't need to buy a new sled for 10 years because this sled rocks. I would have bought 3 or 4 new 2-strokes by now.

 

[1nc 2000]

True words spoken there!

 

[Mototown]

I chuckle when I hear statements "inventory reduction " "Yamaha just seemed to quit development after nitro " . You can comepare those to movie 2012 , when the Governor of California has a press conference over the small earthquakes and says "everything is fine , just a couple tremors" .... but really the exact opposite . Lol
The years leading up to the 1997 Yamaha release of the trailing arm sleds , yamaha didn't really have any quality upgrades in chassis from the 93 sx exciter on , but they did put the rear suspension in the xt 600 year before in 96 . It seems to be a coincidence the single rail rear suspension comes out from cat . Also when the trailing arm chassis was out the dealers couldn't give away the leftover pogo sleds in inventory. It's just the lead up to something big .

 

[03RX1-ER-LE]

I will say that I really thought my Rx1s were the last sleds I would ever own. They rode great, reliable and an absolute blast. Anyone that ever took one for a spin raved about the 4s power. If my sled had not been stolen a few years ago I would have never picked up my 09 Apex, which I even love more. My Son has a family now and has not rode the last couple years and my wife complained about it is hard on her to ride, so to keep her interested a while longer I sold the last 2 Rx1s and picked the XTX hoping the power steering would keep her into it a few more years. I rode a buddy's 2016 Viper ltx dx and thought it would sway me to another upgrade, but love my Apex better all around. I really feel these are my last sleds I will ever own as they will last many years and turning 60 next year they will more then likely outlast me. So that is my 4s Apex story.

 

[biffdotorg]

Good point! I forgot to add this. I have 20,000 miles on my GT & it still pulls hard. (takes an 850)
All the maintenance up-keep & little fixes i've done every year amounted to WAAAAY less then a new sled.
I rebuilt & went through WHOLE front end last year & WHOLE rear end this year,
I'm selling it to my cousin, who i got addicted, completely rebuilt with new track & 5000 mile belt life.
Not to mention his own personal mechanic. LOL

POINT IS: I didn't need to buy a new sled for 10 years because this sled rocks. I would have bought 3 or 4 new 2-strokes by now.

This is not an uncommon story. There should be no question in anyone's head why Yamaha was not selling more snowmobiles. If you don't change them, and they last for next to forever, why buy new?

Smells like a Maytag story to me.

 

[Farmer 73]

From what I heard yesterday the trade agreement still has 3 more years. Also heard that Yamaha's goal is to have all business segments to be profitable, including sleds! And one more thing, there's going to be more shuffling in management on the snowmobile side! Combining departments, another corporate squeeze!

 

[Farmer 73]

Oh I forgot to mention that the direction of pre season orders only, that we had discussed on here, sounds like the direction their heading!

 

[cobrajet ltx dx]

From what I heard yesterday the trade agreement still has 3 more years. Also heard that Yamaha's goal is to have all business segments to be profitable, including sleds! And one more thing, there's going to be more shuffling in management on the snowmobile side! Combining departments, another corporate squeeze!

Yup... heard the same about the agreement. Will be very interesting how the future unfolds.

 

[whitedust1]

From what I heard yesterday the trade agreement still has 3 more years. Also heard that Yamaha's goal is to have all business segments to be profitable, including sleds! And one more thing, there's going to be more shuffling in management on the snowmobile side! Combining departments, another corporate squeeze!

Both Yamaha and Textron should want to continue the agreement for some term and preorders make a lot of sense on Vipers and Sidewinders. It’s the what else is the question? If no new products I could care less other than Yamaha still connected to snowmobiles thru their dealers and AC production in TRF. I wouldn’t be surprised if this is all we get.