YAMAHA PREDICTIONS FOR 2013

[AKrider]

My bet is more BNG.

 

[Ruckus]

That's too bad. It almost seems like the beginning of the end.

 

[Ak Yammy]

If you read carefuly the focus is on saying that Yamaha needs a cheepo sled, here are some ideas. I think Lester looked at what Yamaha did in the performance ATV line up. They did a back to basics YFZ450 for $6800 instead of the fully tricked out R or X for $8600. Smart move cheaper initial cost and you can upgrade shocks ect. when you can afford too and put on what you like. Polaris shift is annother great example. The Alaska Iron Dog racers loved these as they needed high dollars shocks and other items anyway so start of with a lower cost and build it up as you need too or like.
Doesen't really say no new top performance sleds or just BNG's so I am hopefull. C'mon Yamaha don't make me buy a green turbo.

 

[RxThunder]

I am a huge fan of all Yamaha power sports. That being said I agree that they need to make some changes, I love my rx1's and have not had the chnace to ride anything newer. I've done a lot of handling tweaking and comfort changes but I love the sound, power, performance, and reliability of those engines..I just hope they change up something before they start to fall apart..yamaha dealership up here just closed down...

 

[Ruckus]

That's some down grading there for sure! I'd rather see them sell their sleds with no skis, no front shocks, no rear skid and no track so we can put what we want in these areas! A vector with a phazer motor would be a huge failure! That is by far the worst motor they sell and in a vector chassis might hit 60! Let's hope these predictions aren't true!

 

[blueironranger]

I think a Phazer engine in a cheapened Vector chassis should do alright, the local Yamidoo dealer is actually suprised how many ACE600 sleds he sold, and those are 20hp shy of the phazer. I still think they should bring back the SX chassis, toss in cheap shock Mono II, and the phazer engine with front exit exhaust and there is a cheap, fairly light, SOLID entry level sled. 80hp was plenty of HP for many years, especially on trails that in most states that has less than a 55mph speed limit. Hell I remember everyone clamoring about the Indy XLT when they came out and those are only 95hp. Yamaha NEEDS a low priced sled alot more than another 13k high HP rocket. They missed the mark with the phazer by a long shot as its NOT a beginner sled that's easy to ride. ONCE you learn how to ride a phazer it's a blast to ride but makes you wish for more power beyond the 50mph mark, from 0-50 there is NO other sled id rather be on.

 

[AKrider]

The Phazer missed the mark because it was intended to be something different. I recall the Sled Talk Blog mentioned it was supposed to be a low cost, entry level sled that would attract younger riders into the sport. They figured these riders would be more about playing in a gravel pit, small riding areas setting up jumps and things similar to snow boarding or skating.

Naturally Yamaha over complicated a neat idea and made the Phazer too heavy, too complicated, too expensive and installed a 14" wide track that isn't good for floatation. Additionally Ski-doo already this market covered with the dumb looking Freestyle 300. That sled was actually light weight and simple but the front suspension was a joke.

I think Polaris has a great idea with the Shift 600 along with Doo and their standard, plain jane MX-Z 600. Ski-doo also offers bare bones, stripped down versions of their sleds that are more affordable for new riders and make for a good starting point for those who want to customize their sled.

I think Yamaha will continue to ride the aging, baby boomer demographic as that is the least expensive way for them to build and sell sleds that cater to their 4-stroke strengths. Yamaha is similar to Harley Davidson in going after the same type of rider. I wonder what they will do once the baby boomer bubble of riders quits riding? What do they make that will attract new, younger riders?

 

[yamaha1973]

you guys seem to forget that yamaha doesnt jump into anything! do i agree with the way the sleds have went over the last few years? yes and no. but i can tell you that being in a family that has sold snowmobiles since 1966 and yamahas since 1973, it doesnt matter what they do i will ALWAYS ride a yamaha back to the original question, i have no idea what they will come out with for 2013. they suprise us every year

 

[low slung]

If some of the stuff i seen becomes reality in 2013,yamaha fans better have a "very open" mind to how you view riding a snowmobile(especially in deep snow).One of the karpik brothers said in snowtech a few years ago if you were to compare where modern sled design is compared to the auto industry, sled designs are at 1930s levels(theres still much left to be done).Reality is yamahas competition are robbing,borrowing,copying each other while not really providing anything groundbreaking(very few choices of four-stroke tech,same basic chassis design,and they all look the same,but some say there lighter,true but what good is light if it breaks down in the back-country and cost you belts,pistons,fingers,toes,life?).While this makes money it really doesn,t foster development into looking "outside the box" but instead it leads to "copying the box".Yamaha is thinking in the long term,while the rest are short term planning.Remember yamaha is the only one that knows what they will be building five years from now(and its not a REV rip-off,that been photo-copyed to death).Open mind for the future folks(and you won,t be a hardcore yamaha fan with a narrow mind as history will prove you wrong).

 

[nards444]

Think they need to work on chasis. Engines are first class but chasis is second class behind polaris.

 

[Ruckus]

Outside the box:

 

[low slung]

Outside the box:

Notice they don,t say yamaha .

 

[Ruckus]

Thank god... I am really hoping they do something awesome.

 

[Ak Yammy]

Two trends with Yammi over the years that make me love/hate them.

1.They will innovate and come out with something that is so different than anything out at the time and blow everyone away. For example: 1984 Phazer, 1984 RZ 350 and 5oo motorcycles (2-stroke sportbikes), 1985 Vmax motorcycle (factory dragbike), Banshee (wicked quad with an RZ 350 motor.), 1998 YZ 400F (started the 4-stroke motocross revolution), 1998 R1 sportbike (was like a GP bike compared to what was out at the time), RX1, Ect.

2. They will then sit back for years and years doing minimal changes untill everyone has passed them by. For you guys not into bikes they will even do this on their street/dirt bikes. In fact the new Crossplane R1 is generly rated last in any sportbike test/comparison since it came out in 2009. I wonder if since they have so many divisions (bike,ATV,watercraft,sno-go) that the resources are spread thin as to what gets developed and what does not. I know it's been said here that the sleds seem to take a back seat to the bikes which makes sense as that is where they started and where the money is.

Well after years of small changes lets hope it's an innoative year.

 

[Boston RX1]

I at least would like to see the same gauge information they put into their bikes, like water temp, air temp etc. That is not too much to ask.