Relax! Yamaha is not lying Down.

[ClutchMaster]

https://snowgoer.com/news/new-snowmobile-sales-increase-2018/26139/

 

[20/80]

Your right! They are not basing their future on what is happening in the lower 48, its world wide! They, like Textron, are a large global company. If there is a profit for one of their profit centers, "snowmobiles" for example, they will promote and build it for that part of the world to make money! It was not that long ago that they were pushing their scooter division in India because that was the fastest growing market! Look how many new sleds are being built each year, its been trending down. I hate the thought of it but why would they invest money in a market that is dwindling and not growing? I hate the bean counters but it is because of them that the company stays profitable!

Yes.. but my thoughts are that if a long time Yamaha snowmobile customer switches to another brand for their sleds than there is a good chance that all the Yamaha products that this former customer was using he may also switch if the new band he switched to has a great customer service and offers those products also, to me this is why Yamaha has teamed up with Cat to offer sleds with the Yamaha logo to keep its global customer base and to keep them buying Yamaha products, its the global customer base that keeps the sled division alive not the lower 48, IMHO if Textron was just to shut down their Cat brand sled division and stop producing the pro cross it would not stop Yamaha from producing sleds, make know mistake Yamaha has thought this scenario out, Yamaha would have pulled the plug on their sled division long ago and not offered anything in the form of any sled, fact of the matter is snowmobiles are important to Yamaha, Cat or Textron is not or will not be dictating or deciding the future for Yamaha sleds ever!

 

[ClutchMaster]

Yes.. but my thoughts are that if a long time Yamaha snowmobile customer switches to another brand for their sleds than there is a good chance that all the Yamaha products that this former customer was using he may also switch if the new band he switched to has a great customer service and offers those products also, to me this is why Yamaha has teamed up with Cat to offer sleds with the Yamaha logo to keep its global customer base and to keep them buying Yamaha products, its the global customer base that keeps the sled division alive not the lower 48, IMHO if Textron was just to shut down their Cat brand sled division and stop producing the pro cross it would not stop Yamaha from producing sleds, make know mistake Yamaha has thought this scenario out, Yamaha would have pulled the plug on their sled division long ago and not offered anything in the form of any sled, fact of the matter is snowmobiles are important to Yamaha, Cat or Textron is not or will not be dictating or deciding the future for Yamaha sleds ever!

So if Textron closes its snowmobile manufacturing facility Yamaha is going to magically engineer a new chassis instantly and produce these sleds at their new Ghost Facility? These things take time to establish.

Let’s be realistic, they would have to buy out Textron or its over.
Secondly, many of these conglomerates that fold small divisions, don’t sell them. They simply close them and use the loss as a tax write off.
Things are not always as they appear and Yamaha is very dependent on what decisions Textron makes.

 

[theCATman]

And why couldn't Yamaha buy the patent off Cat for the Pro Cross chassis, and then further improve upon? Namely a reliable chaincase.

No need to buy the whole company.

 

[20/80]

So if Textron closes its snowmobile manufacturing facility Yamaha is going to magically engineer a new chassis instantly and produce these sleds at their new Ghost Facility? These things take time to establish.

Let’s be realistic, they would have to buy out Textron or its over.
Secondly, many of these conglomerates that fold small divisions, don’t sell them. They simply close them and use the loss as a tax write off.
Things are not always as they appear and Yamaha is very dependent on what decisions Textron makes.

Well being Realistic one has to think that Yamaha does not tell us everything, especially anything to do with the direction of there sled division, they are very very secretive, I believe they already have a all new Jap built cutting edge sled in its final years of testing, and NO Textron DOES NOT dictate or make decisions for the ceo's of Yamaha in Japan for the direction of their sled division

 

[20/80]

And why couldn't Yamaha buy the patent off Cat for the Pro Cross chassis, and then further improve upon? Namely a reliable chaincase.

No need to buy the whole company.

I don't think Yamaha is interested in purchasing Cats patent for the old pro cross design, if they wanted it they would have had it before Textron took over Cat, Yamaha Japan has carefully thought out their direction with their sleds, make know mistake, and believe me we will be the last to know.

 

[Farmer 73]

And why couldn't Yamaha buy the patent off Cat for the Pro Cross chassis, and then further improve upon? Namely a reliable chaincase.

No need to buy the whole company.

This could be exactly what is happening! My theory is Textron is squeezing everything they can out of Cat before they sell to Yamaha. What makes me think this is what they sold the 2020 Cats for on the snow check, quite a bit lower than Yamaha. Then no in season sales of current stock meaning no overhead of non sold units for 2020 models. However you can get Yamaha 2020 units in season. Makes you wonder, don't it?

 

[Farmer 73]

I don't think Yamaha is interested in purchasing Cats patent for the old pro cross design, if they wanted it they would have had it before Textron took over Cat, Yamaha Japan has carefully thought out their direction with their sleds, make know mistake, and believe me we will be the last to know.

You sure they are not interested in the old procross design? Why then would they put the effort into improving the design on the front end?

 

[74Nitro]

Of course Yamaha is interested in the procross, it's an awesome chassis, been dominating snocross with Hibbert for years.
Like Catman says it just need some driveline refining.
Yamaha hasn't had a good chassis relative to other brands since the 1997 model.

 

[cannondale27]

So if Textron closes its snowmobile manufacturing facility Yamaha is going to magically engineer a new chassis instantly and produce these sleds at their new Ghost Facility? These things take time to establish.

Let’s be realistic, they would have to buy out Textron or its over.
Secondly, many of these conglomerates that fold small divisions, don’t sell them. They simply close them and use the loss as a tax write off.
Things are not always as they appear and Yamaha is very dependent on what decisions Textron makes.

No. Maybe Yamaha will sell their engines to Polaris! Think about it maybe that’s why Polaris hasn’t jumped on 4st wagon. They are waiting for Yamaha to sell them the engines if Cat deal fails.

 

[Farmer 73]

No. Maybe Yamaha will sell their engines to Polaris! Think about it maybe that’s why Polaris hasn’t jumped on 4st wagon. They are waiting for Yamaha to sell them the engines if Cat deal fails.

That is a very distinct possibility!

 

[ClutchMaster]

No. Maybe Yamaha will sell their engines to Polaris! Think about it maybe that’s why Polaris hasn’t jumped on 4st wagon. They are waiting for Yamaha to sell them the engines if Cat deal fails.

Now that would be awesome!!
AXYS chassis is sweet, I wonder how it would handle with a 4S motor?

 

[ClutchMaster]

Of course Yamaha is interested in the procross, it's an awesome chassis, been dominating snocross with Hibbert for years.
Like Catman says it just need some driveline refining.
Yamaha hasn't had a good chassis relative to other brands since the 1997 model.

Not really true about the chassis, the SX Viper was awsome Chassis, it just needed correct valving in the rear shocks.

Also Pro Cross racing is totally different animal than trail riding. How many double jumps have you had to clear while trail riding?

 

[74Nitro]

Not really true about the chassis, the SX Viper was awsome Chassis, it just needed correct valving in the rear shocks.

Also Pro Cross racing is totally different animal than trail riding. How many double jumps have you had to clear while trail riding?

SX viper same basic chassis as what came out in 97

 

[ClutchMaster]

SX viper same basic chassis as what came out in 97

Ok yep, it had extra travel suspension tho.
To this day it’s my absolute favorite on a smooth trail!