Yamaha only built 3,000 sleds in 2010?

[BombaPolaYama]

IMHO there is no point in buying 4-strokes anymore. It is like buying a diesel in a pick-up. You have an engine that is good for lots of miles but the rest of the components are the same as the rest. You pay a lot more money and the resale is no better. I have had 3 four-stroke yamahas since 2005 and the re-sale blue book value of these sleds was no better than the 2-strokes. Fuel mileage on the 4-stroke not as good as the e-tec. I buy the utility sleds and the difference in price for a vk pro and an expedition 600 e-tec is $2500.00 and 150lb weight difference. I have sold my08 vk pro (in excellent condition and dealer maintained) for 1/2 of the cost of purchase price. This was still better then the dealer offered me, in fact they didn't want to trade right now anyway on account of too much inventory.
Not to mentioned that if I want a utility sled BRP has such a selection that I can pretty much build the sled I want with either 4 or 2 stroke.
With regard to quality Bomardier does build aircraft.
Our economy where I live hasn't suffered like some other areas and I see less and less new yamahas each year.

That's a good point on the resale value for 4-strokes but I believe that diesel trucks with high mileage have higher resale value than gas trucks with lower mileage.
I believe 4 strokes have not maintained good resale value for some other reasons than engine reliability; such as poor quality in the overall machine (bushings, balljoints, etc); and in the case of the VK Pro because it is just not the good handling utility sled that it was hyped to be. Why else would people like yourself sell a basically brand new sled for half price?
And I agree on the point of the selection in engines and sleds that Doo offers - the Tundra is looking more appealing alll the time. In the mean time though I'll try and get the most out of my VL and wear it out to the point of being worthless because the resale on these is ridiculous. Right now I have 9000Km (only 1500 this year) in three seasons; so if I can get it to hold up I think 30K would be pretty good value in ~ ten years.

 

[Banks93]

I know I'll probably get flamed but for the time being I see no real benefit to 4stroke technology over etec technology. At this present time the etec is certified clean enough to get past the sniffer. Reliability is a concern for some however there are very few postings of etec troubles on dootalk. Similar for the 600 to the couple nytro motors I have seen pop up here. The 800 is to be determined at this point but for now it seems a winner mine has just over 1500 trouble free miles, I'm keeping it next season so it should have over 5000 after the season we'll see how it holds togeather and I will be posting if it does go down.

I'm well aware of DI on car engines I think yamaha could do some awesome things with a system like that I guess the market just doesn't need it at this time. One day if the powersports market requires a catalatic converter the 2stroke will have a hard time with that one vs the 4 stroke.

Im not saying that I don't like 4strokes I really loved my apex engine and nytro engine but now at this time after some time spent on etec its tough to beat it they are night and day vs a carbed 2 stroke.

i agree the etecs are sweet sleds, my last sled was an mxz sdi. But you gotta be kidding yourself with not seeing alot of post on dootalk about them blowing up.. they pop up like wildfire. I myself have known freinds who already blew the 800 etec. The sealed internal bearings are the prob, they need them to meet epa reg so they can keep the oil down. Its never going to work, and they know it or they wouldnt have now 2-fourstrokes in thier line up.
Overall i liked the power of 2-strokes better as you do, but lets get real.. they have always blown, and always will and now they are 10 times more expensive to rebuild.. bad idea imo. I rode the 800etec and loved it. But i would never be able to trust it.

I guess until I have a problem with a 2S I'll keep them. I ride on average a 5000 mile winter and have never yet had a skidoo engine fail. My father rides with me every season on every ride just the same as I do and he has yet to have an engine fail either. Both of us have 800 etec sleds now and both have close to the same mileage (1500). So far so good haha. I'll let you know. So I can't see the side of the blowing with them as I have yet to have it happen and have had alot of sleds with a great track record. I tried an 800 assault last season and it lasted 600 miles before it was toast. I try just about everything out there thats new or cool and have always ended up back riding a doo. I do long overnight rides and never fear break down maybe call me lucky!

My buddies 600 E-tec went after 1100 miles. Ski Doo was out of parts for a month for a reason. There were also 6 other etecs in with the same problem. Like someone else said you want reliability you don't want Polaris, Ski Doo or AC. You want Yamaha.

Maybe the new 1200 4 strokes will be okay. I rode with two of them and they seemed okay.

 

[Vectornut]

Just heard from a friend of mine with a new 1200 Ski-Doo that a recall may be in order. The oil filter doesn't seal correctly to the engine block and they seep oil. The engines may have to come out and be modified to stop the leaking.

 

[Srxspec]

Registered sleds reported by the ISMA.

Michigan 346,315
Minnesota 252,003
Wisconsin 219,907
New York 136,471
Maine 98,472
New Hampshire 60,000
Alaska 55,249
Idaho 52,259
Pennsylvania 40,066
Montana 39,531
Illinois 39,500
Wyoming 37,500
Vermont 36,400
Washington 35,150
Colorado 33,367
Utah 28,768
Iowa 28,400
California 22,930
Oregon 17,392
Ohio 17,300
Massachusetts 16,136
North Dakota 15,822
South Dakota 12,231
Indiana 9,373
Nebraska 2,100

Total reported snowmobile registrations in the USA 1,652,642.

Provincial Snowmobile Registrations
Ontario 307,000
Quebec 168,699
New Foundland 76,540
British Columbia 75,000
Alberta 53,701
Manitoba 37,832
Saskatchewan 18,910
New Brunswick 16,371
Nova Scotia 7,816
Prince Edward Island 2,200
Yukon 912
Nunavut 294
North West Territory NA

Total provincial reported registered sleds 765,275.

With the tough economic times Yamaha did the smart thing by cleaning out current and non-current inventory which will help clean out the pipeline for the future.

 

[YammyRX1]

I want to register a sled in Florida just so people will see it on the list and say WTF? It's interesting that the US has 10x the population of Canada and only about 2x the number of sleds. I know the climate and number of people in the southern States has a lot to do with it but I would have guessed a higher percentage.

 

[AKrider]

Wow, there are not that many sleds registered in Alaska. But, I bet per capita, we'd be near the top. Sleds are everywhere up here!

 

[waynes]

Wow, there are not that many sleds registered in Alaska. But, I bet per capita, we'd be near the top. Sleds are everywhere up here!

The province of newfoundland only has a population of 500,000 and has 76000+ slelds registered. Not to many have a higher ratio then that.

 

[low slung]

Just got the spring issue of SNOWTECH(keeps getting later,and later every year).Seems like there may of only been 3000 sleds produced but the story stats that yamaha will be in a good position with very few carry-over models.Less carry-over or over production,there greater the chance we will see more cool new sleds like the new APEX .This also means more demand for existing models=more sales=more profit .