Food for thought/ 2023&2024 yamacat

[stgdz]

I heard it from a reliable source that is in the know, but as we all know, Yamaha is very tight lipped, so I'm not sure you will ever hear any "official" announcement. This source I'm speaking about is also disappoint that there is not more direction, news or talk on any future development or plans.

With how well my 17 has held up, I'm pretty happy that they continue the relationship for some years to come. Will Yamaha continue with the Catalyst chassis is anyones guess, but if they do, I hope the continue with EPS in it. I'd like to see Textron/Cat/Yamaha succeed with more four-stroke offerings. The Catalyst looks to be the one to have for next year in the two-stroke 600 Dpt. It's already won a Cross Country event in the open class in just its second outing.

So is cat working on putting the 998 in the catalyst or will it be in the procross till the end of time?

Cat talked about the catalyst being a two stroke chassis in the summer and fall but haven't been mentioning it lately.

 

[Skurtenb]

I’m thinking we will see a different but new cat platform for the 4 stokes. Also thinking there is a new 998 replacement coming in that platform, potentially a twin instead of a triple with power similar to the 998. Yamaha is in this with cat for years to come. Poo and Doo have zero interest in the 998 motor.

 

[Upstater57]

4 strokes are here to stay and hope the 998 is as well. My guess is that cat will modify the front clip on the catalyst chassis like ski does with a narrow and wide body on the same chassis. If Yamaha stays in the sled business they will need cat to continue making them.

 

[74Nitro]

I’m thinking we will see a different but new cat platform for the 4 stokes. Also thinking there is a new 998 replacement coming in that platform, potentially a twin instead of a triple with power similar to the 998. Yamaha is in this with cat for years to come. Poo and Doo have zero interest in the 998 motor.

There is no advantage to going twin. The Suzuki 1100 was HEAVIER. It had more displacement and LESS power, even tuned.
By the time you add enough counter-balancers to a twin to calm it down all the advantages are gone.
If anything they should go four-cylinders with Turbo.

 

[20/80]

Well Yamaha has made their 3 year sled plan, so what ever that means, will Cat share the Catalyst with Yamaha and put the 998T in it, not if they can keep selling out the blue Procross every year, the Procross is their widebody, there is still some updating to do on the procross, new gage, chain case upgrade, Yamaha will keep refining this chassis for years to come as long as they keep selling out, really, why would they change that.

 

[sidewinder 2018]

I would like to see the known drivetrain issues addressed.Why anyone would be a 2nd,or sometimes 3rdtime purchaser of this chassis makes no sense

 

[74Nitro]

Well Yamaha has made their 3 year sled plan, so what ever that means, will Cat share the Catalyst with Yamaha, not if they can keep selling out the blue Procross every year, the Procross is their widebody, there is still some updating to do on the procross, new gage, chain case upgrade, Yamaha will keep refining this chassis for years to come as long as they keep selling out, really, why would they change that.

Is selling out on building low numbers of machines good?
I guess maybe if they don't care about increasing market share.

 

[74Nitro]

I would like to see the known drivetrain issues addressed.Why anyone would be a 2nd,or sometimes 3rdtime purchaser of this chassis makes no sense

In 2019 the reverse button moved to the left handlebar as the right side wasn't very convenient. In 2020 the left side reverse button also became the start button. Also in 2020 the front suspension saw improvements. In 2022 they added PS.
Granted some of these aren't earth-shattering changes, and I think I missed a few other small changes.

 

[20/80]

Is selling out on building low numbers of machines good?
I guess maybe if they don't care about increasing market share.

When Yamaha first moved into the procross they sold lots of the painted Cats, but later on dealers had them still sitting in the crates for a year or two, and were taking a hit on resale, once Yamaha cleaned that up it was spring order only, you may see a few sitting in dealerships only because somebody back out of a order but are not sitting for long it seems, now you are waiting a year or more for a Winder with hard to get the parts issues caused from the Covid days, Yamaha are only building to suit the orders now and have a hard time doing that, If Cat has issues with building sleds it migrates to Yamaha, Yamaha prefers to be sold out with demand then machines sitting in crates with no demand.

 

[Bigblue1]

Don't assume it's a Cat issue. Rumor has it Yamaha has had some issues providing engines on time and in quantity. Production every is complicated. There are a lot of tentacles that come together to produce a finished product. Heck we don't know if some components of the engine are produced in China or elsewhere, so hard to point fingers at one entity.

 

[Upstater57]

I would like to see the known drivetrain issues addressed.Why anyone would be a 2nd,or sometimes 3rdtime purchaser of this chassis makes no sense

The reason someone may want to be the second or third owner is that for a few hundred bucks you can "cure" all known issues. A five year old low mileage 998 turbo will cost 30% - 40% of the price of a new one (that still has the exact same issues). If it's stock, the value proposition for owning a used one is very high. Not sure there are any stock ones. LOL

 

[KnappAttack]

The reason someone may want to be the second or third owner is that for a few hundred bucks you can "cure" all known issues. A five year old low mileage 998 turbo will cost 30% - 40% of the price of a new one (that still has the exact same issues). If it's stock, the value proposition for owning a used one is very high. Not sure there are any stock ones. LOL

I'm not sure that's what he meant, I took it to mean why would anyone buy two or three of the same sleds or the same chassis, like two or three times over and not switch it up.

 

[STAIN]

now is the time to buy used, there are some good deals out there right now.
I am tempted to pick up a few to resell next fall.

 

[sidewinder 2018]

no excuse for poor chassis quality ,at the current pricing

 

[number1kyster]

The top gear bushing and driveshaft bearing issues are inexpensive to fix. Yes, it would be nice if they would correct them, but it is minor IMO.

The fact that they threw cheap top gears in some of the 2023’s is a bit concerning though.