Yamaha and Snocross

[yamahaorelse]

Just a question, does Yamaha have anyone running in the Pro Snocross circuit this year?

 

[Nick1945]

I was at the Silverdome, in Pontiac Michigan Feb. 12th, for the Amsoil Snowcross Series, Michigan National, and there were no Yamaha sleds racing in any of the classes.

 

[shadow44]

Yamaha does not have a factory team this season...I haven't even heard of any independants either. Last season Iain Haiden ran limited US races and did the full season in CSRA..and tied for the championship on the factory ride.

 

[yamahaorelse]

Yamaha does not have a factory team this season...I haven't even heard of any independants either. Last season Iain Haiden ran limited US races and did the full season in CSRA..and tied for the championship on the factory ride.

Thanks Shadow, was wondering why I was seeing nothing in the results. Wonder why no independents take it on? or why Yamaha cant sway a big name rider?

 

[NY AttakGT]

Wonder why no independents take it on? or why Yamaha cant sway a big name rider?

Weight..too heavy of a sled to be running and lumping around a Sno-X track.

 

[LJ 452]

Thanks Shadow, was wondering why I was seeing nothing in the results. Wonder why no independents take it on? or why Yamaha cant sway a big name rider?

You can go to Cat, Poo, or Donk and buy the race sled off the shelf, adjust it to your liking and race it. The Yamaha, you'll have to buy the sled, add race suspension parts like shocks, multiple reinforcements, and braces. Then drivers, track, figure out something to keep the front end together, oh and don't forget to add a tether (why a race replica sled doesn't come with a tether), among probably 50 other things. When you break something it's going to cost you three times as much since the parts are so well priced, and there is no factory support.

At the end of the day you can get two of brand X for the cost of racing one Nytro. And still you have no support, and your at a disadvantage weight wise.

 

[spike337]

And you best be built like a brick $@it house.

 

[yamahaorelse]

So what you guys are saying is they dont have a race sled. Makes you wonder what there thinking, I would think that it would be a great opportunity for exposure and advertising. Hmmm also makes you think by not having one proves what your saying. Thats to bad I wish they could get in the snocross and compete.

 

[spike337]

I think Yamaha is interested in a bullet proof family line of sleds. Probably some numbers out there that equates to financially the way to go. Now is not the time to spend millions on a 'chance' of building us picky guys a new sled that we will like. Like a 'turbo' sled. I wonder how many of those Cat sold, and how much money they made on it? 1 out of a 100 people? 1%?

 

[AKrider]

DUe to the economy, Yamaha is not supporting anyone for racing this year.

It's just way easier for guys to race an Arctic Cat, Polaris or Ski-doo as they have race programs, discounted race sleds, contingency programs for the USCC and the Iron Dog, and a corporate attitude and staff that put an emphasis on racing. I believe that Yamaha's current product is focused on an older demographic that puts more emphasis on power steering and groomed trail comforts.

The Nytro has a lot of good things going for it as a cross-country race sled and would really benefit from some factory upgrades. Yamaha developed and tested an improved front end in '09 that added 3" to the "wheelbase" used forward swept a-arms like a Polaris IQ with angled shocks. The a-arms used heim joints at their mounts allowing for easy caster and camber changes. It worked a lot better than the stock front end and they were working on improved versions of it but then just quit.

Its all too bad cause I really like Yamaha sleds and I think their engines are superior to any of the other OEM's. But, without support and continued development of their sleds, it puts anyone on a Yamaha at a big disadvantage in any race.

 

[yukon yamaha]

I really and truely think that yamaha has the abillity to build a snow cross sled that could compete in the top 5!! But unlike the other brands they dont rely on snocross for sales....It does sound silly but I know just from working in a yamaha dealership for the last four years the kids and guys jumping and ramping are drawn to the xp... It is what they see on tv and in almost all sled vids now.... Even myself owning 2 nytro rtx's my ramp time has been very limited. Ramping is one time that you do notice the weight of the yamaha. I would love to see a factory race sled come into the yamaha line up... BUT how many would they sell and how many new parts would be needed to support these machines...... I would like to see(just once inperson) a true yamaha built snowcross sled.... Nothing like the rtx but a sled built just for the races from the ground up A one off machine

 

[spike337]

The Nytro was! One off -high dollar machine. They were not in producton at that time, that was their race sled.

 

[yukon yamaha]

No i am thinking of a sled that will not be in production.... Just one machine to compete with the snocross ranks....The Nytro is not that sled

 

[AKrider]

Just like in FMX, not that many guys ride 4-strokes. They still prefer 2-strokes that are only available from Yamaha and KTM. If a guy wants to ride ramps than one of the three OEM available race sleds makes way more sense.

The sno-x Nytro was a custom built, very high dollar machine that had basically nothing in common with the production Nytro. Sno-x is also a dying sport so its influence on buyers is more and more limited.

 

[Super Sled]

Snow-X (the riding) is so dang boring to watch. Just not my thing.

The best part are are the great looking gals that go to those things. Also, the teams seem to bring in bus loads of them with their trailers.