Yamaha done with sleds

[20/80]

WTH does of this have to do with Yamaha exiting the snowmobile market?

What the future holds, and what the rest of OEMs are stacked up against, Yamaha might have seen this in the future and exited focusing on what they are building themselves right now.

 

[Carla 123]

Nice cbx, nothing nicer sounding than a cbx with a 6 into 1 header

 

[yamajammer76]

What the future holds, and what the rest of OEMs are stacked up against, Yamaha might have seen this in the future and exited focusing on what they are building themselves right now.

Actually the whole decision to exit the snowmobile business was a lot simpler decision for them, but they are not going to put the truth into a press release. They no longer have a North American engineering team in place after shutting down all R&D in mid 2021. They no longer have any snowmobile engineering or production in Japan. There was nothing after the contract for the ProCross chassis and a few rebadged Cats. No new product pipeline. The joint arrangement they had working together to develop the 2014 Viper and 2017 Sidewinder died when Cat was purchased by Textron. If Cat could have managed to stay independent the joint venture would have looked much different, but all the guys that worked together to make that happen are long gone from Cat and Yamaha.

So Yamaha gave up sometime after the launch of the 2017 Sidewinder and Textron doesn't need them the way the old Cat company did. I was always hoping something would change, but when R&D was shut down and Cat headed in a new direction with the Catalyst the writing was on the wall.

 

[journeyman]

What I find strange is when the 2024 Yamaha’s were previewed I asked a Yamaha representative point blank if they were in this for the long haul and he said yes, no plans on leaving the market. That was in late March. Also an inside informant I have had for awhile who sees new product before it is launched told me Yamaha was working on something all new for the snow market. He said I don’t think they are going to exit snowmobiles any time soon. That was just last year.

My opinion something changed, the new Catalyst chassis not fitting the 3 cylinder makes sense. This decision may have come last second and quickly after some failed negotiations with Textron. As many have stated the ducks were all lining up for a few years now. Maybe Yamaha was content with keeping this going only as long as Cat/Textron was? This decision may have been more Textron’s than it was Yamaha’s? If Textron says goodbye there wasn’t much Yamaha could do at that point being they had totally closed down any manufacturing of sleds on their part, closed R&D and let most of their sled division staff go.

 

[STAIN]

Probably Cat would not share the Catalyst chassis.
Yamah either had to ..
A. Find another manufacture to share a platform.
B. Build their own platform, unlikely since they shut everything down.
C. Quit marketing sleds.

Guess what was the easiest decision?

 

[20/80]

I don't think it was a easy decision, Yamaha was a leader in every snowmobile they made, every engine they made was the best, other OEM's were always legging behind, some of the tech on the Apex is still ahead of some new sleds today, the 3cyl 998T is still the leader and will be for a long while yet, very sad though, going to miss their engine innovation in this market, no... it was not a easy decision by any means.

 

[Crossfire12]

I don't think it was a easy decision, Yamaha was a leader in every snowmobile they made, every engine they made was the best, other OEM's were always legging behind, some of the tech on the Apex is still ahead of some new sleds today, they’re 3cyl 998T is still the leader and will be for a long while yet, very sad though, going to miss their engine innovation in this market, no... it was not a easy decision by any means.

Apex still ahead of some new sleds today!! I hope your kidding it’s a motorcycle engine R1 stuffed into a suspension that rode hard and heavy no lighter than the rx1 ton.

 

[fatchance]

Let's face it. Fit and finish was top notch with the Japanese made Yamaha's and the motors were top notch, but good God, the suspension was never right. The mono skid was far from perfect and was slightly improved with a Mega Float installed, but jumping back on the old Attack after riding the Sidewinder was just painful. I bleed blue, but I could never brag about the ride of those Delta chassis. Am I bummed that we most likely will never see anymore Yamaha snowmobile innovations? Absolutely, they brought their fair share to the table and kept the competition honest. I think 17 years ago the Apex was a formidable performing sled in power that changed the playing field moving forward. It certainly held it's own back in the day, but as have I, it hasn't aged well. Years from now we will look back and think, much like the great bands that have split during our time, we will never know what could have been if they just stuck it out.

 

[20/80]

Apex still ahead of some new sleds today!! I hope your kidding it’s a motorcycle engine R1 stuffed into a suspension that rode hard and heavy no lighter than the rx1 ton.

No I'm not kidding, yes their rear suspension wasn't the best but you could not ask for a better engine RX1 from Yamaha or not, clutches and chaincase were top notch, their gages and some of the electronic tech is top notch also, still trying to figure out all it can do, yes the Apex had some troubles to but for the most part was a very reliable groom trail sled, yes it is a bit heavy but they all are heavy, but I bought mine thinking I wouldn't be caring it on my back, know doubt the pro cross is a better riding chassis by far but they have their share of troubles also, it's the Yamaha engine that made the procross so popular, I will miss the engine tech that Yamaha was so good at in snowmobiles.

 

[fatchance]

No I'm not kidding, yes their rear suspension wasn't the best but you could not ask for a better engine RX1 from Yamaha or not, clutches and chaincase were top notch, their gages and some of the electronic tech is top notch also, still trying to figure out all it can do, yes the Apex had some troubles to but for the most part was a very reliable groom trail sled, yes it is a bit heavy but they all are heavy, but I bought mine thinking I wouldn't be caring it on my back, know doubt the pro cross is a better riding chassis by far but they have their share of troubles also, it's the Yamaha engine that made the procross so popular, I will miss the engine tech that Yamaha was so good at in snowmobiles.

Yes, we will all miss the engine, but let's eliminate the engine from the equation. What else did Yamaha bring to the table? Quality seems to have improved amongst the other manufacturers today. Again clutches were not as much a factor when you're dealing with 145hp compared to 300 plus hp of the tuned Winder. It's kinda like the first girlfriend that seemed so hot until you get the real smoker that just changes your world. Look I'm not dissing Yamaha, I'm probably one of their biggest fans, but I'm just being real. Times have changed. Gotta keep up with the changes and stay out in front. Yamaha has chosen to get out of the way.

 

[SAB1]

I can’t for the life of me see prices rising Knap. Sorry. Snowmobiling is dying a slow death due to no snow anymore and an aging population that rides. Younger generations aren’t paying $20K to ride a sled for 3 months and they aren’t gonna dole out money for a sled the manufacturer dumped. Parts will diminish (your plastics first) and dealers will pick up other lines. Out here in the east for every sled you see it’s 3 Doo‘s, 2 Cats, 2 Poo’s to 1 Yammy. My parents are both dead now. Left us a house of antiques, collectibles, impressive decoy collection, train collection all to be worth more than ……guess what …not. It’s a different world now.

 

[earthling]

I can’t for the life of me see prices rising Knap. Sorry. Snowmobiling is dying a slow death due to no snow anymore and an aging population that rides. Younger generations aren’t paying $20K to ride a sled for 3 months and they aren’t gonna dole out money for a sled the manufacturer dumped. Parts will diminish (your plastics first) and dealers will pick up other lines. Out here in the east for every sled you see it’s 3 Doo‘s, 2 Cats, 2 Poo’s to 1 Yammy. My parents are both dead now. Left us a house of antiques, collectibles, impressive decoy collection, train collection all to be worth more than ……guess what …not. It’s a different world now.

Maybe out east in the US. In Canada out east there are a lot of Yamahas. More 4 strokes than 2 strokes.

 

[Bigblue1]

There is always a glimmer of hope fellas. 1981 Arctic was finished 1983 Artco was born> One never knows....

 

[journeyman]

There is always a glimmer of hope fellas. 1981 Arctic was finished 1983 Artco was born> One never knows....

In that case Cat wasn’t wanting to leave the market, it was a financial problem and they restructured. In this case Yamaha has made the decision to exit the market and not come back. It’s touched on in this video.

 

[kinger]

Yamaha was too stubborn. They wouldn't listen to us and ultimately got out marketed by junk 2 smokes. Ski doo and poo has created a profitable model of making disposable sleds that helps keep sales up, and marketing them as superior. A chart of the length of ownership of a single sled by manf would be interesting. I am assuming it would be bi-model with 3 at 1-3 years and Yam with 10+ lol

They had a rock star with the Apex, no one hated the engine. The chassis (the die cast part) was lightweight and well engineered. Then they go and add 300lbs, and crappy suspension to it. Why? A new redesigned tunnel, muffler seat, revisions to the shock calibration that companies like Hygear even spelled out for them and calibrate it to be playful with light ski weight and they could have made 4 strokes a better brand like they wanted.

In my lean manf consulting I always look for what operators have "jerry rigged" or modified from standard process because 100% of the time its better, faster, or cheaper then the engineered ways.

Yammie saw what people were doing to their machines, what they were complaining about and yet did nothing. The shock absorber fixed on both ends on the rear bumper in 2018 just showed how out of touch they were. Creating eccentric technologies that consumers didn't care about and refusing to listen.

The psychological game that Ski Doo started and Polaris has finished was brilliant. Yam sleds were better and the ONLY thing they could do for their base to stay with them is call them fat sloppy overweight pigs, that's it and they pulled it off brilliantly. Loyal Ski Doo owners will not even throw a leg over a sidewinder because its "too heavy", and the marketing department has brainwashed them.

Anyone of us old timers on this site could have been asked by Yamaha to sit on a voice of the customer committee for free and we would have done it. That would have saved the brand IMO. The weight is so played out and now we know it doesn't really matter to the main driver of sales in the trail category. Imagine a apex with a sleek tunnel, 6lb muffler, and slim seat, with a rear suspension moved forward 2" so it wheelies on command, or you slide forward for it to corner. They were so close...