It’s finally over for Yamaha

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Before it closed...View attachment 173021

The Japs knew then.

 

[pdiddy]

The insiders don’t Have jobs anymore!!!!

Agree! Wouldn't be surprised if there were non-disclosure agreements involved in the exit process. The real risk is getting sued for releasing confidential info.

 

[Hoosiersnow]

Wishful thinking but maybe with the announcement being out a year they'll find some way to stay in the business. I assume Cat doesn't have plans for their engine in the next chassis (or 4 stroke adaptation). There were rumors about Poo but that must not have worked out either. If maybe it was just internet talk.

 

[stgdz]

There is a triple in development over at Polaris, the problem was getting money for it.

This may be easier now with Yamaha exiting the market and Polaris management calculating on how many 4 stroke users they can pull away from cat and keep away from doo. With the 900t out for awhile the ones who would have left the 998 would already have done it and the the NA s4 is an absolute tank and the turbo will be even heavier.


There is a pile of riders out there in the next five years that are for the taking. What manuf will get them is up in the air.

 

[1nc 2000]

With the prices of the new sleds skyrocketing every season it won't be long and they won't be any new buyers for these sleds.
We will be lucky if the market turns around.
Soon other manufacturers will be cutting back on sleds and give up also.

 

[stgdz]

With the prices of the new sleds skyrocketing every season it won't be long and they won't be any new buyers for these sleds.
We will be lucky if the market turns around.
Soon other manufacturers will be cutting back on sleds and give up also.

I think the high interest rates are going to seriously curtail a lot of power sports purchases of all makes.


Or they offer discounts....

 

[fxnytrortxkid]

They will need a good 3-5000 price drop to get back in market again imo. I mean a Polaris boost verys between 24-28k depending on options and model, the new skidoo 850t is 24k plus extras. Even cat took the same exact chassis (2012) motor combo they used since 2017 from $15k and are at $25000 now. Is electric adjust shocks and power steering really worth another $10k in 5 years? The 900t is a dog and ugly but also $24k again before options. 2018 I was 15k out the door for my sidewinder with a 5 year warranty.

Instead of limited numbers and not flooding the market so that used prices plummet and new market crashes they jacked the prices. Then interest rates tripled and now the sled I had that for those making payments would be 250-300 a month is now 400-450 a month. It actually turns my stomach a bit.

 

[STAIN]

I will say this--I have seen more riders on the trails in the last 2 years than the previous 8-10. Now, not all of them are on new sleds, in fact I think a lot of people have been dusting off the older iron and getting them on the trail. I also have seen a ton of Women riders the last couple of years.
I know the " it is a dying sport !!" narrative is popular right now, BUT I think ( hope) there is a renewed interest in outdoor activity since the Covid .
I do know the Fall water cross/grass drag event in New Hampshire has attracted @ 50,000 people over the course of the 3 day event for the past few years.
It is up to US, the people already involved, to try to get others interested or back into the game. We can sit and cry or try to do something about the interest in snowmobiling.

 

[fxnytrortxkid]

I will say this--I have seen more riders on the trails in the last 2 years than the previous 8-10. Now, not all of them are on new sleds, in fact I think a lot of people have been dusting off the older iron and getting them on the trail. I also have seen a ton of Women riders the last couple of years.
I know the " it is a dying sport !!" narrative is popular right now, BUT I think ( hope) there is a renewed interest in outdoor activity since the Covid .
I do know the Fall water cross/grass drag event in New Hampshire has attracted @ 50,000 people over the course of the 3 day event for the past few years.
It is up to US, the people already involved, to try to get others interested or back into the game. We can sit and cry or try to do something about the interest in snowmobiling.

While a lot is true, many couldn’t travel so looked into the old fashioned ways to get out. We have them had 2 horrendous winters and already expensive sled prices up by 30%. I think we fumbled the surge with price gouging and greed

 

[pdiddy]

Deep inside this feels like a well considered 10 year plan. I don't necessarily feel duped. It's more like being a parent watching his kid fail at something that seems obvious how to accomplish. Well, what do I and everyone else here know? We're just consumers.

 

[Sasquatch]

This comes as no surprise. When Yamaha stopped being a Snowmobile Manufacture and became an Engine Manufacture it was over. When they gave up on new design and started buying cats it was over. I and many others thought this, but deep down we wanted to believe they had a plan to regroup and build a new sled. Rumour after rumour gave a trickle of hope, Even now there are those who think they will continue on. My thought now is can Cat survive? Will Yamaha still build motors for them. How long till the parts dry up?
I am glad to have bought a Warrior and an Apex XTX. Loved them both. They ticked all the boxes for me with their fourstroke and looks. The XTX was the most refined sled when it came out and leaps ahead of the Warrior, yet the Warrior is still such a joy to ride.
I waited for the new Yamaha sled that never came and when I finally thought about buying a Cat the prices where crazy high, so I kept riding the last Yamaha sled. Now there is three, I wonder if soon it will be now there is two.

 

[Sasquatch]

The best riding and handling chassis that ever carried a Yamaha snowmobile engine is not the reason they are quitting the business. The lack of interest and continued shrinking market is. And that doesn’t just affect Yamaha.

I do agree the market is not there, it however was preceded by a lack of support by Yamaha. It seems they just could not design and tool a new sled chassis. Nytro was a bust and they did not want a repeat? Bean counters is my guess.
So they started building old sleds to use up inventory and dribbled out refinements to the Delta Box. They jumped their own ship and went with Cat in 14. Dropped a 3 hole in the cat and it did not fit it worth a damn. Sat to high in the frame. Then they built a new 3 cylinder turbo motor for Cat sleds. Not a thing for their own Yamaha sleds. They had lost faith and interest in themselves.
When they discontinued the Apex and announced the turbo 3 in a Cat and said that the only Yamaha way going forward was to buy a Cat. You know one of the most ridiculed manufactures by Yamaha riders. A large part of Yamaha Apex riders who used thier sleds as trail cruisers, lake runners as they excelled at, gave up, started to loose interest in Yamaha and resigned themselves to the Apex as being it. This begs the question who lost interest first?
Is the Cat Chassis better? Overall? As many wanted a big bump chassis that excelled at carving sharp corners and a turbo then yes. As a reliable high speed cornering sled and a trail cruiser that would pull big numbers across a lake I liked my Apex or even Warrior more but that was not what people wanted anymore. Yamaha could not build a better sled or would not. Now they are gone and I don't think it bothers them a bit. Bean counters. Cat will be next as they have always struggled.

 

[1nc 2000]

I do agree the market is not there, it however was preceded by a lack of support by Yamaha. It seems they just could not design and tool a new sled chassis. Nytro was a bust and they did not want a repeat? Bean counters is my guess.
So they started building old sleds to use up inventory and dribbled out refinements to the Delta Box. They jumped their own ship and went with Cat in 14. Dropped a 3 hole in the cat and it did not fit it worth a damn. Sat to high in the frame. Then they built a new 3 cylinder turbo motor for Cat sleds. Not a thing for their own Yamaha sleds. They had lost faith and interest in themselves.
When they discontinued the Apex and announced the turbo 3 in a Cat and said that the only Yamaha way going forward was to buy a Cat. You know one of the most ridiculed manufactures by Yamaha riders. A large part of Yamaha Apex riders who used thier sleds as trail cruisers, lake runners as they excelled at, gave up, started to loose interest in Yamaha and resigned themselves to the Apex as being it. This begs the question who lost interest first?
Is the Cat Chassis better? Overall? As many wanted a big bump chassis that excelled at carving sharp corners and a turbo then yes. As a reliable high speed cornering sled and a trail cruiser that would pull big numbers across a lake I liked my Apex or even Warrior more but that was not what people wanted anymore. Yamaha could not build a better sled or would not. Now they are gone and I don't think it bothers them a bit. Bean counters. Cat will be next as they have always struggled.

The delta box chassis had the 998 turbo in it testing before the Cat sled showed up...
Or was it we didn't look so hard at the Cat test sleds...

 

[Fast Lane]

A Deltabox with a 998 with a modern rear skid.... That would be my dream sled!

 

[pdiddy]

Well they tried with the single shot. Didn't get many raves. It was a bunch lighter than the Mono though. If they would've put the 998T in the deltabox that would have bought them several more years. Apex riders would have upgraded without much hesitation.