Yamaha Cutting Production for 2019

[cannondale27]

You do and most enthusiast do the same regarding their favorite brand.

I lost my blue glasses after owning my 2007 Phazer. It left me stranded and forced me to wrench during winter months more than all my other sleds combined.

From then, I decided not to be brand loyal ever again.

I know. I was right there with all you guys and my 07 Phazer. But you know what. Yamaha covered every single issue. 23,000 mi later last I looked and my Daughter is still enjoying that sled.

 

[cannondale27]

As far as being brand loyal yes I am to a point. My 13 Cat 800RR is proof. I wanted a lightweight 2st I could take to MX track and ride local trails. Yamaha doesnt offer anything. If $ wasnt issue a 850 Doo or Polaris XC would have been my choice. The chassis is ahead of Cat/Yamaha. Love the narrow feel of them. Love the 850 motor. But my Primary sled will always be a Yamaha. I would not dare put the big trail mi on any of those. I could not afford it!

 

[Red Hornet]

The thing that disturbs me the most is since the headquarters moved to Canada, their “involvement” in social media, racing, and advertising has dropped big time. The last 2 snow-tech magazines had zero advertising from Yamaha and they must have never given a long term test sled either. No reports. Sounds like their trade show setups have been lacking also. Considering it’s the big 50 this year, don’t you think they would be proud of that and try to advertise that aspect? I have no idea what’s next, but I see a company that has zero interest in being in it to win it. So what was the advantage of moving headquarters? What has changed or got better? Either they are burrowed in at Minoqua r&d building something unbelievable or they are done. Plain and simple.

 

[cannondale27]

The thing that disturbs me the most is since the headquarters moved to Canada, their “involvement” in social media, racing, and advertising has dropped big time. The last 2 snow-tech magazines had zero advertising from Yamaha and they must have never given a long term test sled either. No reports. Sounds like their trade show setups have been lacking also. Considering it’s the big 50 this year, don’t you think they would be proud of that and try to advertise that aspect? I have no idea what’s next, but I see a company that has zero interest in being in it to win it. So what was the advantage of moving headquarters? What has changed or got better? Either they are burrowed in at Minoqua r&d building something unbelievable or they are done. Plain and simple.

Thats a observation I cant argue with. Makes sense. Lets hope for best. I cant think about this crap anymore. Corporate world sucks! Lets just get a good winter and ride. No time to think about such things then.

 

[stevewithOCD]

Why does Yamaha have to have the whole market? or dominate it? does Mercedes have the whole market? or Hundi As long as they can make or are making a profit all the way around maybe they just will stay.. who wouldn't?

I've said all along that the big Y does not need to make huge money in the sled 'biz. They need to keep YAMAHA PEOPLE...........YAMAHA PEOPLE!
We have to realize that Evinrude/E-tec is a MAJOR boat motor competitor which is a HUGE market for them. Yamaha is #1 in the world. I've told the story of my buddy that has a 2006 Apex that was & still is a dependable sled that he bought an FZ-1 motorcycle & then a 300 HP boat motor. That's a $24,000 motor kids. All because the Apex showed him how great a 4-stroke Yammi motor is. If he was riding a DOO he would have bought...........you guessed it ..........an E-TEC!

 

[srxr700]

Lower corporate tax dollars in Canada..Burger king figured that out years ago... lol. Nancy Pelosi for president!

 

[srxr700]

Jk

 

[VX1R]

I thought that I'd post up this link to an interesting article that was published on the SnoeGoer website almost 5 years ago. The article has some interesting statements from the top brass at Yamaha announcing the new supply agreement with Arctic Cat and their thoughts on the direction of the future of the Yamaha Snowmobile Division and where they would be today.

What's everyone's thoughts as to where they're at today vs. where they said they would be today???

http://snowgoer.com/latest-news/201...rom-yamaha-executives-lend-perspective/13184/

 

[VX1R]

The thing that disturbs me the most is since the headquarters moved to Canada, their “involvement” in social media, racing, and advertising has dropped big time. The last 2 snow-tech magazines had zero advertising from Yamaha and they must have never given a long term test sled either. No reports. Sounds like their trade show setups have been lacking also. Considering it’s the big 50 this year, don’t you think they would be proud of that and try to advertise that aspect? I have no idea what’s next, but I see a company that has zero interest in being in it to win it. So what was the advantage of moving headquarters? What has changed or got better? Either they are burrowed in at Minoqua r&d building something unbelievable or they are done. Plain and simple.

Excellent first post Red Hornet! You bring up some very interesting points.

 

[trailtamer]

As far as being brand loyal yes I am to a point. My 13 Cat 800RR is proof. I wanted a lightweight 2st I could take to MX track and ride local trails. Yamaha doesnt offer anything. If $ wasnt issue a 850 Doo or Polaris XC would have been my choice. The chassis is ahead of Cat/Yamaha. Love the narrow feel of them. Love the 850 motor. But my Primary sled will always be a Yamaha. I would not dare put the big trail mi on any of those. I could not afford it!

I'm with you on this Cannondale. My brother just bought a new 850 Gade, so I have had a good look at it (haven't ridden it yet) inside and out. IMHO, it's engineered very well. Time will tell on engine reliability and longevity. If I went new, this would be the sled I'd buy, but I'd still keep my Viper in the garage for long range riding/touring.

 

[srxr700]

I thought that I'd post up this link to an interesting article that was published on the SnoeGoer website almost 5 years ago. The article has some interesting statements from the top brass at Yamaha announcing the new supply agreement with Arctic Cat and their thoughts on the direction of the future of the Yamaha Snowmobile Division and where they would be today.

What's everyone's thoughts as to where they're at today vs. where they said they would be today???

http://snowgoer.com/latest-news/201...rom-yamaha-executives-lend-perspective/13184/

Old Yamaha brass retired in 2012. Yamaha sleds are not heading in the Vmax 4 direction....

 

[stevewithOCD]

The thing that disturbs me the most is since the headquarters moved to Canada, their “involvement” in social media, racing, and advertising has dropped big time. The last 2 snow-tech magazines had zero advertising from Yamaha and they must have never given a long term test sled either. No reports. Sounds like their trade show setups have been lacking also. Considering it’s the big 50 this year, don’t you think they would be proud of that and try to advertise that aspect? I have no idea what’s next, but I see a company that has zero interest in being in it to win it. So what was the advantage of moving headquarters? What has changed or got better? Either they are burrowed in at Minoqua r&d building something unbelievable or they are done. Plain and simple.

Great first post Mr Hornet. You don't put your toe in the pool first do you? You just "SuperFly Jimmy Snooka" right in huh? Keep it up

 

[4strokeluvr111]

The thing that disturbs me the most is since the headquarters moved to Canada, their “involvement” in social media, racing, and advertising has dropped big time. The last 2 snow-tech magazines had zero advertising from Yamaha and they must have never given a long term test sled either. No reports. Sounds like their trade show setups have been lacking also. Considering it’s the big 50 this year, don’t you think they would be proud of that and try to advertise that aspect? I have no idea what’s next, but I see a company that has zero interest in being in it to win it. So what was the advantage of moving headquarters? What has changed or got better? Either they are burrowed in at Minoqua r&d building something unbelievable or they are done. Plain and simple.

No marketing = "out of sight = out of mind" to the general snowmobiling public. This board contains mostly diehard, loyal, Yamaha riders and represents a small amount of the total Yamaha riders in North America and Europe.

Based on this, I think they are done.

 

[cannondale27]

I thought that I'd post up this link to an interesting article that was published on the SnoeGoer website almost 5 years ago. The article has some interesting statements from the top brass at Yamaha announcing the new supply agreement with Arctic Cat and their thoughts on the direction of the future of the Yamaha Snowmobile Division and where they would be today.

What's everyone's thoughts as to where they're at today vs. where they said they would be today???

http://snowgoer.com/latest-news/201...rom-yamaha-executives-lend-perspective/13184/

That article depressed me a bit more VX1R. I guess Sidewinder motor could be considered 1 innovation. Where are the other 4? One a year. They havent even managed to put out a Legible wiring diagram since 14. No chassis. Even Cat is behind in that regard. Oops I forgot about Singleshot on Apex and now the linked front shocks. My thoughts as to where they're at today vs where they said they would be. "Lipstick on a Pig"

 

[whitedust1]

All 4 OEMs are refining their lines for now. Doo does the most but the Gen 4 for trail riding has gone backwards as far as ski lift for hot trail riding. The weight wars seem to be over as well but much lighter than Apex but then again not purpose built for big miles like Yamaha. Yamaha could have done lots more for sure but with low snow years somewhat on par with the others thru the OEM Agreement and Japan improvements since 2011. Imo no OEM is tearing it up with new 4s sleds except AC and Yamaha. Yamaha has held their own with minimal effort and has made easy money. The problem is we the faithful want much more but we don’t seem willing to pay the price that is needed for new products and basic models are not worth the marginal profit to Yamaha. To me this is the perfect storm causation for companies to coast until something changes like market expansion or snowy winters. We can bitch all we want but all OEMs in harvest mode in the near future.