Yamaha done with sleds

[whitedust1]

I don't think so. It was Cat that went to Yamaha for the triple after Suzuki ended.

Then Yamaha is remiss in marketing their engine products. With your thinking every boat builder regardless of brand requested Yamaha outboard engines ,Yamaha doesn’t market directly to their OEM companies yet every other engine OEM does? Believe it Yamaha does market directly to snowmobile companies especially since they are out of the snowmobile brand business. That’s is the Abcs of sales and marketing of any OEM business. I have no idea know why you think they don’t want to sell their engines to everyone? Yamaha would like nothing better than the 998 to become an industry standard.

 

[Chris Rose]

We could only hope that they go out like the muscle cars are doing, out with a bang!!!! Build it your way with no holds for power etc.

 

[SidewinderConvert]

We could only hope that they go out like the muscle cars are doing, out with a bang!!!! Build it your way with no holds for power etc.

If they do a 300hp sidewinder from the factory as the swan song.... I would order that in an instant.

 

[74Nitro]

Then Yamaha is remiss in marketing their engine products. With your thinking every boat builder regardless of brand requested Yamaha outboard engines ,Yamaha doesn’t market directly to their OEM companies yet every other engine OEM does? Believe it Yamaha does market directly to snowmobile companies especially since they are out of the snowmobile brand business. That’s is the Abcs of sales and marketing of any OEM business. I have no idea know why you think they don’t want to sell their engines to everyone? Yamaha would like nothing better than the 998 to become an industry standard.

Outboard engines are different as they are a complete unit, that will hang off the back of practically any boat designed for outboards.
I don't think that Yamaha has 'engine' sales teams looking to sell engines for almost any other vehicle.

 

[sideshowBob]

I would suggest that Hurricane and PEFI better start stocking up on BRP 900R go fast goodies because after a Sidewinder and the tunes available for the 998 the 900R is the only similar game in town but it needs WAAAAY more hp!

 

[justinator]

Cant say I was surprised to see this and while its dissapointing there is nothing that can be done about it. Hopefully cat continues to use the engine in a 4 stroke chassis version for the catalyst or maybe cat has something up there sleeve for 4 strokes. Gonna be pretty lame if the only 4 stroke turbo on the market is the doo. Needs a ton of money to perform, sounds like #*$&@ with a look to match. Would definitely pick 2 stroke catalyst over that if it came to it but gonna stay positive that the days of hyper performing turbo fourstrokes doesnt die too.

 

[Upstater57]

I disagree with others stating that Yamaha is an engine builder first.
I don't know of any complete Yamaha machine that uses an engine other than their own, across all of their product lines which are massive.
Yamaha doesn't seek out companies to use their engines. Companies will seek out Yamaha to supply them, like Cat has done.
And overall globally, it's really quite small.

Yamaha supplied engines for Snow Jet, Roloflex and few others back in the day. Point being, they were an engine supplier almost from day one in the sled business. So was Kawasaki and Suzuki. Only Honda stayed out of the fray. Yamaha will continue to supply engines where it can especially where dated technology is being used. It makes them money. However, if they got out of the sled business due to Cat being unwilling to build sleds for them, then I would say the 998 would not be available to them.

 

[Tcat100]

As Milton Friedman said the market determines winners and losers. Die hard Yamaha guy here for years. Even bought into the hybrid with Cat. Bottom line they got smoked. Thier hard headed approach, and slow processes to innovation and change and rediculous decision to rule out two strokes did them in. Please don’t tell us it’s market forces that now forced you to pull out and that it’s a business decision. Bombardier is also a large international company producing many related and unrelated products. They have invested and innovated, even if slightly, in some years, to produce products that people want, while we received color changes and bs suspension tweaks for two decades. Yes 998 was awesome, but the reality is that it was placed in an aging, albeit really good, Cat chassis. If it was squeezed in other two manufacturers sleds it would be awesome also, maybe even more. If they wanted to make it work and take market share they could have invested like others and made it happen. Simply no desire to do so. So much for loyalty. I’m open to any brand now even a new one which often occurs when this stuff happens. Do I change my atv, jet ski or bike interest. Already have.

how dare you bring that radical right winger MF into this debate! What does he know? Sleds should be free, then Yamaha would have plenty of demand!

 

[whitedust1]

Outboard engines are different as they are a complete unit, that will hang off the back of practically any boat designed for outboards.
I don't think that Yamaha has 'engine' sales teams looking to sell engines for almost any other vehicle.

What do you do for a living if you don’t mind me asking? A lot more goes into an OEM sale than your are considering. It does NOT just happen on boats or snowmobiles like screwing in a light bulb and throwing the on switch. Believe me Yamaha cares how their engine products are being applied especially on boats it’s not just hanging a motor on the back of a boat and you can buy our engines. There is hp limits , pitch and rigging to be considered as well as planing at optimum speed and gas consumption. As snowmobile enthusiast you know how close both Yamaha and AC worked together to apply the 998. Someone has to go into a customer source to partner and represent their product. If you want to name it something else other than sales ok with me but believe me a Yamaha resource is present wherever their engines are used.

 

[74Nitro]

What do you do for a living if you don’t mind me asking? A lot more goes into an OEM sale than your are considering. It does NOT just happen on boats or snowmobiles like screwing in a light bulb and throwing the on switch. Believe me Yamaha cares how their engine products are being applied especially on boats it’s not just hanging a motor on the back of a boat and you can buy our engines. There is hp limits , pitch and rigging to be considered as well as planing at optimum speed and gas consumption. As snowmobile enthusiast you know how close both Yamaha and AC worked together to apply the 998. Someone has to go into a customer source to partner and represent their product. If you want to name it something else other than sales ok with me but believe me a Yamaha resource is present wherever their engines are used.

I'm a licensed motorcycle mechanic by trade with a shop performing mostly ATV, SxS and snowmobile repair service. I also have a cash crop operation as well as livestock.
Sorry, I'm just not buying the Yamaha as an active engine supplier looking to market engines. Just look at their website and all the products they offer. All of their products are completely Yamaha aside from the sled which is ending. Outboards are the sole exception, but they are complete units in various sizes designed to bolt onto the back of most outboard boats.
That's not to say that if Polaris was to approach them with enough volume that they would consider an engine agreement, especially now that they won't be a competitor.
But again, I don't believe that Yamaha seeks to supply engines actively for various manufacturers. Anything that happened in the past didn't last long and was more of a niche market.

 

[74Nitro]

Yamaha supplied engines for Snow Jet, Roloflex and few others back in the day. Point being, they were an engine supplier almost from day one in the sled business. So was Kawasaki and Suzuki. Only Honda stayed out of the fray. Yamaha will continue to supply engines where it can especially where dated technology is being used. It makes them money. However, if they got out of the sled business due to Cat being unwilling to build sleds for them, then I would say the 998 would not be available to them.

Examples from the seventies....?

 

[whitedust1]

I'm a licensed motorcycle mechanic by trade with a shop performing mostly ATV, SxS and snowmobile repair service. I also have a cash crop operation as well as livestock.
Sorry, I'm just not buying the Yamaha as an active engine supplier looking to market engines. Just look at their website and all the products they offer. All of their products are completely Yamaha aside from the sled which is ending. Outboards are the sole exception, but they are complete units in various sizes designed to bolt onto the back of most outboard boats.
That's not to say that if Polaris was to approach them with enough volume that they would consider an engine agreement, especially now that they won't be a competitor.
But again, I don't believe that Yamaha seeks to supply engines actively for various manufacturers. Anything that happened in the past didn't last long and was more of a niche market.

We are referencing their engine division not pianos. We have to agree to disagree as I sold to OEMs for 35 years and I know from experience exactly how OEM products are marketed for customers specific applications. Yamaha would like nothing better than for the 998 to become the 4s standard big dog for the snowmobile industry. OEMs want to be the industry standard and no engine biz wants their revenue to shrink and that is exactly what has happened to Yamaha with their exit from snow division. Management is brainstorming as I write this to come up with a strategy to make up for the lost AC chassis and engine revenue. The obvious is Polaris if the are interested not for a chassis but to supply 4s snowmobile engines. Polaris needs to gain 4s credibility and Yamaha engines accomplishes that in 1 stroke of the pen. I’m also very certain Yamaha has approached BRP and asked them if they can supply engines. I’m 99% sure there has been conversations and meetings it would be crazy not to. Imo Yamaha is done being a Ice turnkey snowmobile producer maybe electric if the market opportunity blooms but ice turnkey snowmobiles are over.

 

[Doc Harley]

Food for thought!
Not to disturbed on this Big News, it's been expected since I bought my 17 LTX-LE Yamacat, brand new!

Will it change the way my sled rides, handles and pulls stock, or with the added Boost?

What's the future hold for Yamaha parts sale for my old sled?

My dealer sold his franchise (Yamaha and Polaris)prior to last season, but realize that they would not work on anything 10 years old or older before the sale!

Got a great deal when I bought in 2017, with a 5 YEAR WARRANTY! SO, what or who will warranty that upcoming last year sled?

Still liking my old sled, but only one other model gets me, and that"s the Blue SRX's. That model will always hold it's appeal and value in my mind!

'21 SRX 3200mi $14Kus

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[Doc Harley]

To the guys debating on yamaha's existence in the snowmobiling industry, it's dying.
If I was a salesman from Yamaha I'd gather there'd be bigger fish to fry.

 

[74Nitro]

We are referencing their engine division not pianos. We have to agree to disagree as I sold to OEMs for 35 years and I know from experience exactly how OEM products are marketed for customers specific applications. Yamaha would like nothing better than for the 998 to become the 4s standard big dog for the snowmobile industry. OEMs want to be the industry standard and no engine biz wants their revenue to shrink and that is exactly what has happened to Yamaha with their exit from snow division. Management is brainstorming as I write this to come up with a strategy to make up for the lost AC chassis and engine revenue. The obvious is Polaris if the are interested not for a chassis but to supply 4s snowmobile engines. Polaris needs to gain 4s credibility and Yamaha engines accomplishes that in 1 stroke of the pen. I’m also very certain Yamaha has approached BRP and asked them if they can supply engines. I’m 99% sure there has been conversations and meetings it would be crazy not to. Imo Yamaha is done being a Ice turnkey snowmobile producer maybe electric if the market opportunity blooms but ice turnkey snowmobiles are over.

Go on their website.
Nowhere does it say that they are an active engine supplier of any sort except for outboards.