[revrnd]

With the limited exposure that Yamaha has by only supporting 2 Open class sleds in the WSA and a few privateers who try to race in the other series. How long do you see them racing? I find their excuse about building a 440 very lame. In 1995 I bought a 440 MXZ that was the same sled & motor as what the racers bought. I realize that Ski-doo no longer sells the 440 to consumers, but the precedent is there. If AC built a 440 Tucker Hibbert replica sled with a motor set up to run regular gas & oil injection, I wonder how many they would sell. Look at the people who have bought the X version of the MXZs.

Would sleeving down a 500 twin to a 440 for racing approach the cost of adapting the bike motor for the RX1?

The CSRA has a 500 cc class interval to accommodate the 500 Yamahas and still hardly anyone races them, 600s or 700s in the other classes.

 

[midnight screamer]

That's a good question.  IMO I don't see yamaha lasting long at all.  What is their excuse.  To me there is NO excuse for not having an extremely developed racing team.  All three of the other 4 big brands have great race teams why doesn't yamaha??

 

[99SRX700]

The primary reason why most companies get involved in racing is because it is great adverstising. I don't think Yamaha wants to take their ad campaign that far. Most of the reason why they are there is to test out new ideas etc. Its more for research than advertising. They are a typical Jap company. They aren't into advertising and anytime they try to get involved there is usually another reason hidden in there somewhere. Look at Honda for example...I just read an article recently about how they are only active in cart and F1 to teach the rookies how to build engines. Once they get their feet wet they are off to production. They also referred to Honda as the typical Japanese company. I think Yamaha falls into the same category, Putting advertising last on the to do list.

 

[Machzzzz1]

IMO the reason yamaha doesnt really have a race sled is because there isnt enough fans to justify the millions it would cost to make a competitive team.  

I say millions because thats what doo and cat are spending to be out in front.  But doo and cat have a huge fan base who expect racing results.  Yamahas cliental is much less competitive and mostly brag about reliability and stuff.  There really isnt much reason to race for them.

 

[revrnd]

I don't know about their buyers not being competitive. The friends that I know that have had SRXs sure go on about being the first one down the lake. They also thought the Viper was the greatest thing since sliced bread. Other than the new plastic and 700 single pipe motor it didn't seem like a big change.

 

[midnight screamer]

I see.  Does yamaha rank last in sales??

 

[sled-head]

Yamaha is dead last in sales....Polaris is first then Cat then Doo.....Thats what my Doo dealer told me anyway

 

[paul yarek]

yamaha will just keep on making money their way. the last time a japanese company got involved with a big snowmobile race team their counterpart over here shot the waud and the experience i think still hurts. but does anyone remember the days of mike trapp, yvon duhamel and the villanueve boys those guys just went out and won.

 

[midnight screamer]

Good point.  So...do you guys think yamaha will be racing for much longer??

 

[zr800man]

I think the racing campaigns are as much for development purposes as they are for advertising.  Look at the REV and Firecat..they were developed and tested in partnership with the racing program.  I'm thinking of sno cross in particular.
For instance, when I look at Yamaha's, I see no signs of "goodies" or features designed for the aggressive rider, which I think reflects their lack of race participation?

 

[Machzzzz1]

As much as I dont want to put yamaha down i have to agree with that last comment 100%.  There is not one thing on a yamaha sled that came from a race program except the engine in the RX-1.

 

[99SRX700]

Mach Z,
   I think you guys are seeing backwards. Your saying they don't have a well developed race program because they don't have the audience. I think its the other way around. I think they don't have the audience because they are not involved in racing enough to attract one. Thats the point of racing. You race your sled, win, everyone sees this and wants to buy it. This is a method that attracts a more competetive consumer which probably has to do with why most yamaha owners are not competetive. Revrnd is right, only the SRX owners and Viper owners seem to be into racing. Thats probably because they saw their sleds do so well in the grass drags. The SRX and Viper took the cake in both 7 and 800 trail stock classes which implies that these machines in stock form have the potential to be very competetive. This type of scenerio attracts a competetive consumer which explains why so many SRX and Viper owners are looking for a race. I know I may be beating this to the ground but its my game (I am in advertising).

 

[revrnd]

The factories are using snocross to develop their new supensions, so the product development department throws some money in with marketing (who ususally pays the racing department) and the costs are spread out.

Really, spending money on the grass drags how much does that help sales? By the time the grass drag season rolls around, most buyers that are performance oriented have ordered their sleds in the spring and are waiting in the fall for their sled to come in.

 

[99SRX700]

Has anyone seen the rear suspension Yamaha uses on their race sled? I know it is wrapped in a slightly longer than standard track and is completely different from what they are running now. They have been testing it for years...I wonder when they will come out with it. As for dropping money in grass drags I think that is a debatable topic and it all depends on the views of the manufacturer. All I know is ski-doo seems to drop rediculous amounts of money into grass dragging. I know some people who are into the grass drag scene and they say that ski-doo is the way to go because they offer the most resources.

 

[revrnd]

Winter is my time for watching the races. The action's hot and you're beer is frozen

I follow the NHRA drag racing, but grass dragging especially the Open Mod laydown sleds have never interested me.