Just got the email from ‘Red’ regarding the Alcan 200 point to point race up in the panhandle. Once again the boys from Yukon Yamaha won with their turbo Apex maintaining an average speed of 119mph in near white-out conditions (yikes!). This marks the fourth year in a row that this race has been won by an Apex but the all time speed record average (121mph) set by an SRX still stands. I would think some blue skies and a bit of packed snow will see a bigger number from the mighty 4′s if ever mother natures lets them run full out. Congrats to the Whitehorse crew, awesome job!
While on the racing topic. Its no big secret that Yamaha USA is supporting some FX Nytro’s to compete in the USCC cross country circuit. Pine Lake saw some good results for Yamaha (and of course some protests from the other manufacturers). It is my understanding that the original rules allowed for certain ‘kit’ parts to be installed to production sleds in order to be competitive and durable under the rigors of full out racing. Kits had to have a minimum build of 50 and be commercially available. Well the boys in our advanced engineering group in the USA had a little time on their hands and developed some slick mods for the FX chassis a couple of years ago which have evolved into a cross country race ’kit’. Contrary to some opinion the kits are not identical to the original skunk works design but for all intent and purpose they perform the same function. As with anything this limited, there have been a few bugs but they are being ironed out one at a time.
The basics of the kit is comprised of essentially a complete front clip (A-arms, spindles, sway bars the whole enchilada). You also get a 128 inch track which requires relocation of the rear skid and a large capacity fuel tank. The end result yields a chassis with improved high speed ‘manners’, read into that what you will. Now I anticipate a few questions arising from this post so let me jump ahead a bit. No it is not going to be a production model in 2013. Is it planned to be a production model ever? … certainly not in its present form. Can I purchase one? Sure, the part number is SMA-XCRAC-KT-OO and the retail price is (you might want to sit down for a minute) US$ 8,284.00.
Needless to say as soon as the sled showed some potential, red flags went up in a couple of the other camps and as of yesterday the ruling committee was hearing from the stakeholders on whether we will be allowed to continue to run our heavy four-strokes against the lightweights 2-smokes with our suspension kits installed. It seems one manufacturer in particular is quite worried about Yamaha getting in the game but they seem to have a bug up their butt about a lot of things in the industry these days. The rules evidently have been modified recently and it was just confirmed to me that Yamaha is being tossed from the production classes. It’s interesting to note that one of our competitors sells a race specific chassis for the production class and the owner has to come up with their own engine, that’s okay. The other guys are running limited build, dedicated race machines in the stock classes, no problems there. Yamaha was bolting a front end onto a full production sled (a heavy 4-stroke at that) and gets tossed, go figure. Rules are rules, spirit and intent aside, the decision didn’t go our way. Too bad because win loose or draw I think having all four manufacturers in the game would put on a better show for the fans. Guess I’ll have to root for team green as the underdog now
Finally I have the privilege of hosting an ‘on-snow’ meeting for our snowmobile service and accessory development team. The guys will be flying up from the US on the 6th and I have blocked rooms at a top secret location just south of Parry Sound for a good ride and some meetings. I rode some of the local area trails around there last weekend and things were surprisingly good. Speaking of that, I was on board my new ride. I had to decide between two good ones this year, the 128 SE or the XTX. I chose the SE, added an Ice Attack, some Trackers and HID’s so far so good, no regrets leaving the XTX to another man but I know I’ll miss her somewhere down the trail especially if things get really rough or steep and deep. Soft side up.
Well here I sit in the Quebec City airport. It is a raging blizzard outside and my flight has been delayed another 3 hours… but if it means more snow, I won’t complain! We had an excellent ride yesterday, departing at the foot of Mont St Anne, parelleling the north shore of the St Lawrence all the way to Pointe Au Pic on trans Quebec 3. The trails could not have been any better, groomed pool table smooth with a good base and minus 6 with six Apex’s and a Vector hauling the mail. The ride itself was focused on a special guest. Knobby Shirashi, the general manager of our RV division and commander in chief of all things snowmobile at Yamaha. He was in town to say goodbye after over 40 years with the company. What more could we do in his honor than go for a good pull on some of the worlds finest trails (besides it was his request).
Knobby was involved very early on with snowmobile, as a young engineer he worked for six years with the sno pro team in the 70′s. We had a good laugh when he told us the story of the race rig breaking down on the prairies. Appears they had the trailer hooked onto a tow truck, Bob Work was in the cab with Roy Wall and the driver, Knobby was forced to ride it out in the trailer. They stopped at one point at the side of the road to take care of a little business. Then the rig drove off accidentally leaving one young engineer zipping up in a light windbreaker at minus 30, in a cloud of snow dust. Some time later, resemebling an icicle, he was picked up by the RCMP who rescued him and set out in pursuit of the race team but they would not let him ride in the trailer anymore as it is illegal, but I digress.
As much as Knobby has supported our snowmobile since the launch of the RX-1, his work on ATV goes right back to the beginning with the Tri-Moto, he had influence on all the Bears and was lead on the Raptor development. I should say that Knobby is passing the torch and I am looking forward to meeting his replacement. I hope to see him out on our trails yet this winter.
Our trip started off with an evening at the ice hotel. I have heard of this place for years but never had the chance to visit, if you are ever in the hood, its worth a stop but be sure to wear your sled gear… brrrr. The ride was uneventlful except for one minor mishap which shall remain my secret as I like my job and tend to avoid bad career moves whenever possible . I would like to make a shout out to Steeve and Francois our Quebec contingent for putting together all the logistics and our dealers Collette Sport and SM Sport for supplying the machines, they were very well set-up and ran perfect in fact my Apex had over 10000km and felt better than out of the box new. If you are ever in need of a rental sled in La Belle Province I would recommend either of these dealers. We were also treated to some excellent service by Andre who shadowed us in his posh rig making sure we had transportation options at all times. As you may have guessed, I was rather spoiled over the last couple of days but then again its not every day that a piece of our history as big as Knobby retires. Thank you Knobby-san for everything you have given to snowmobile, you have been a very good leader.
I will refresh this post with some pictures and links if I ever get home… cheers cr
Happy New Year to you. I hope you have snow falling close to home and wish you cold weather until spring
Back in the office three days and already the holiday season seems like ions ago. Everything in the snowmobile side is ramping up towards our 2013 model year launch on March 2nd. I am fortunate enough to have been invited to attend a ride on the 17th in Quebec. The general manager in charge of the complete RV group at factory has announced his retirement and while he is here on his final tour of duty, we are going to put together a good ride out of Quebec City. I’ll be sure to take some pics to post here and give you a little back ground on him some of which goes back to the early 70′s and the factory Sno-Pro race team.
There is another item, tentatively on my agenda, which I am looking forward to. I have tried to put this ride together for several years now but have been most unsuccessful in making it happen. As it sits today, the core snowmobile development team for North America will get together north of Toronto to ride, compare notes and ride some more. The concept of getting our brain trust together to actually ride like most of you would on a good weekend, never seems to materialize. When we do get together the agendas are formal and tight. The riding component often takes place on closed course ‘testing’ areas and joint tests are often held in the late spring on crappy snow conditions. This time I want to get the team together in peak riding season and saddlebag a couple of 500 km days then compare notes. This should be another good story for the blog come February.
On another note, a friend of mine just introduced me to Geocaching, which I am starting to get into. I found myself out in a local forest earlier this week with a flashlight and a GPS crawling around in the bush like a dumb-a$$ kid… way fun! I can see downloading some co ordinates into the GPS before setting out on the trail to add another element to a snowmobile adventure. I was really surprised by how many caches are out there to find.
Don’t know about you but I am dying to get on the sled. I took a quick pull on my daughters Bravo which was a restoration project for dad over the holidays and I couldn’t stop grinning for an hour. I figure the Apex will have a slightly more dramatic effect on me Think snow!! cheers cr
The first day of winter and Santa on the way. What a crazy year here at Yamaha. Talking with Pete last night, it occurred to me; so many things have come together to test the industry and our business model. The Tsunami in Japan, economic recession, strong Canadian dollar or more to the point, the weak American currency (and then there is the Yen), the toll of legal defense, climate change and head shots in hockey. Ok well maybe not the Crosby thing so much but I do feel we have taken a few too many to the noggin in our own way. The end game is not in sight and we have more snow-balls in the air than at any other point in my twenty five year tenure. I don’t expect things will settle much in 2012. Our vision is long term and the thinking is completely ‘out-of-the-box’. For the speculators out there, don’t even bother to exercise your brain on this statement, you’ll grow a beard before you get close
I was at our design agency in California last week as we kicked-off the 2014 MY color and graphics project. Vic wanted a snap-shot of how the current 2012 c&g was being excepted so I posted a poll over on Totallyamaha which has yielded some great comments and not a single bash. I was proud to send the link to factory with my recommendation to the key managers to read the thread, which is a struggle for some of the guys who don’t get to practice their English every day. Was cool to see the Tesarat in the GKDI lobby, the four wheeled articulating concept motorcycle was shown at the Tokyo auto show, it was going to be destroyed but GK was able to save it from the dumpster by simply picking up the shipping tab, good thing. That thing would be an awesome addition to any man-cave!
I want to wish you and your family all the best for the holidays. I am planning to take mine up to the cottage, fingers crossed for snow and prepared to ride something regardless of the weather. As RJ said yesterday, there is no such thing as bad conditions, just different. Given the right choice of equipment all rides are good. Have a Merry Christmas and healthy New Year. Cheers cr
I was forwarded a call from a northern reporter representing the CBC. He was inquiring as to why Yamaha has discontinued the Bravo. Appears the little sled with the big heart has endeared itself to the people of the north, many of whom are not happy with its demise. So why is it going the way of the Dodo?
The Bravo was the brain child of Karl Ishima who along with his engineer friend Toshi Yasui challenged the daunting task of building a snowmobile that could be retailed in the USA for $999.99. Karl once told me the story (over a few hot sake’s) how he failed with the Bravo but Toshi went on to capture the flag with the SV80 SnoScoot.
The Bravo replaced the Enticer 250 in 1981, showcasing some new ideas that Karl designed to keep costs down and durability high on the KISS scale. Wherever he could, he reduced the number of parts by having one item perform more than one function. For example, the motor mount plate is bolted to the cases using the same 4 bolts that hold the case halves together. The air-box and steering gate forms one piece to hold the steering column and electrical connector blocks while handling the air-intake and baffle duties. The cylinder and head is cast as one piece, eliminating parts and any chance of a gasket leak.
The sales success of the Bravo defines it as our best seller ever. In its day, the Bravo was available in three different track lengths, standard 96, Transporter 102 and Trapper 136. For years we requested three things in planning for the Bravo; electric start, reverse gear and greater fuel capacity. The latter was the only one we got and that came by creatively when the engineers installed a second ‘saddle tank’ in the storage box area between the drivers legs, adding 4 more liters to the spec.
The writing has been on the wall for the Bravo for a long time. As time passed, first the US then Europe ceased importing the Bravo. Canada was taking all the Bravo’s the factory built to the tune of about 1500 a year at best. There was one point where we lost our supplier of leaf springs and were about to discontinue the BR when Karl stepped in with a solution. Supersede the parts to the Bravo Transporter leaf springs which were a tad softer and the supplier had a warehouse full after we discontinued the model. note: Only Yamaha would have changed a leaf spring spec due to the addition of a few inches of track eh . It was funny to hear the engineers were quite concerned with the effect to ride comfort using a slightly softer leaf spring would have. I can imagine the test evaluations, ‘it just goes doink instead of boink!’
Since then every year there is a point when it appears the Bravo is cooked but then something happens to pull it out of the fire. The USA started importing them again a few years back which had a positive political result, then last year we found out the tooling for the hood has reached the end of its life-cycle and needs replacement to the tune of several million yen. Of course we tried to argue a solution for that but with the latest, impending round of EPA emission requirements on the table our plea was denied. There doesn’t appear to be any more band-aids for the faithful little Bravo and it’s time to bid it farewell. Not a bad run, 30 years and most of them are still in service. I for one am sorry to see the BR have to pass and with it an entire era of sledding… Karl san its a sad day my friend.
Closing time last night and Blaicher comes bounding into my office with the winter 2012 edition of OSM magazine tucked under his arm.’ Have you read this one yet?’ To which I replied; ‘No I have been too busy doing what I’m being paid to do, what’s up?’ He dropped the copy, post-it notes clearly marking some pages, ‘well you will want to’… and snickering, off he went.
Checking the BB emails this morning from the throne, I spot a growing thread on the same magazine so while I was waiting for my ‘puter to boot-up at the office, my curiosity got the better of me and I flipped to the post-it book-mark to see what all the fuss is about.
I haven’t been following the OSM crew of late, not really since they struck off on their own after separating their ties to Supertrax as the official publication of the Ontario snowmobile federation. They have since gone national in Canada and now international publishing in the USA as ‘On Snow Magazine.’ The publisher, Richard Kehoe, has brought on board quite a list of editorial contributors, many from the USA and is clearly putting a lot of effort into bringing the rag mainstream. But I digress.
The subject of all the attention is an article entitled ‘Throw Down: Real Sleds, Real Riders, Real Trails, Real Results. They captured my interest in the first couple of paragraphs where the author supported my long standing opinion on the validity of snowmobile evaluations performed at the big media events as nothing more than seat of the pants opinion made with very little real world connections.
They took the time to perform some very controlled and quantifiable set-ups and test-runs and unlike most sled evaluations, they used methodology similar to what we would use during a ‘joint test’ evaluation to arrive at their conclusions. The Apex SE was the only 4-stroke of the four models chosen to represent each manufacturer. I was expecting the status-quo dismissal of the Apex as being ‘old and overweight’ in comparison to the latest 2-smoke sizzle.
A couple of the test riders are well known to me. One was a former employee of our competition and a journalist, well known for his extreme viewpoints. I think these guys were sincerely surprised at the outcome of their evaluations but not as surprised as I was to find they were open minded enough to tell it like it is. The formula for the end result was found in reflecting upon the experience the majority of riders can expect, with ego in check, on the trail, over the long haul.
There are a few notable quotes in the article but the one coming from Richard in conclusion, sums it up rather well: “The Yamaha Apex SE was the dark horse of the group. If I would have placed a few side bets on this sled, I could have retired, as this sled turned out to be the preferred trail sled of the group. Remember the Throw Down is about real world riders, the norm if you will.”
In case you are wondering, the Apex was up against the Polaris 800 Rush Pro-R, the Skidoo 800MXZ-XRS and the Arctic Cat CFR 800. I know some of you have opinions on the journalistic integrity of the main-stream sno-mo mags being heavily supported by the big-4′s advertising dollars. For the record, OSM doesn’t have a lot of corporate ads with two of the four OE’s being absent (and we are one of them). The magazine is available on newstands in both countries if you are interested to read the whole article. I have tried not to spoil the outcome too much .
As a bonus OSM uses photography from an old friend and newly appointed Snowmobile Hall of Famer, Wayne Davis and his images alone are worth the price of admission. cheers cr
I have seen a few threads discussing some of our new accessories mostly wondering when they will be available. I thought I’d try to shed a little light on whats be going on in the back-ground.
TRIC Ice Scratchers. Last year we introduced these flexible cable scratchers based on a version that has been sold by Yamaha in Europe for a number of years. What appeared to be quite simple on the surface turned out to be rather complex in the application. We made some running changes to reduce the amount of deflection in the cable which yielded satisfactory performance in the intended conditions. We still had deflection issues when the cables were operated at higher speeds or with too much pre-load. Over the summer we investigated multiple improvement ideas with our supplier and in the end, went with a fairly simple upgrade. We have added a ‘damper’ in the form of a hi-impact plastic tube to the cable and changed the crimp on the Babbitt to allow more radius. While we were at it, we standardized the hole size to accept common studs for greater selection and easier maintenance. We will be recommending the cable be taken out of play when not required (simply loosen the bolt and raise them up off the snow) and continue to advise against operation at sustained high speeds. The production has started and we will be shipping out well before Christmas.
The new Tuner, dual keel skis. These babies were tested last year and the design was approved. Production samples were received this fall and had to go through another round of approval which, after some minor delays, appears to have the green light. Production, if it hasn’t already commenced, will very shortly. The Tuner carbides come from another supplier and they are on-track for delivery. The catch in all this is the number of skis per week produced will be under 100 pieces, so it will take a bit of time to fulfill all the orders but we should be well on our way by Christmas.
The Yamaha Dupont super sliders. The impregnation of the Vespel chips into the hyfax material has presented a unique challenge for our supplier. Early samples were not able to meet our satisfaction and some tweaks to the new manufacturing process were required. The latest samples are looking really good and production is ramping up. Our supplier is even planning to add a shift to turn the orders around faster and these should be hitting our dealerships soon as well.
More good news, the Oil-Lite bushing kits for the front ends are arriving, we just need to get the installation instructions confirmed and they’re a go. Another decision was just made to offer a body kit for the FX Nytro that contains bright’ red-armor’ dipped side panels and hood. If you aren’t familiar with this, the plastic water dipping process has been used on our special edition ATV’s and the ‘red-armor’ was the most popular. The pricing looks like it will be quite reasonable and the quantities are limited so if you have banged up your sled or just want the custom look, you might keep an eye out for this one. I’ll post some more details when available.
Finally (and this is arriving this week), we have the tether actuated, roll-over switch which will cut-off the oil tank breather to avoid the loss of oil in the event you part ways with the sled during a bank turn or failed high-mark maneuver., not that that would ever happen to you …
I know this all sounds like a lot of hurry up and wait but it is never as simple as it seems on the surface. Prime time for new product announcements is September; fall trade shows, Hay Days, media events etc. afford the best opportunity to show and tell before the snow flies. We decided to roll the dice and announce our plans while still in the final phases of testing and production approvals. I know some guys are chomping at the bit to receive some of this stuff now that they know its coming but I think it is more important that we get it right. I forget the vintner who used the tag ‘we will serve no wine before it’s time’.
The Yamaha brand trademark has some very tight controls governing its use. We have a VI (visual identity) manual the size of an encyclopedia and a whole department at YMC assigned to enforcing the detailed policies. There are occasions when we will license other companies to use our trademark on certain products, provided they compliment the brand and don’t conflict with our sales. I thought I would point out a couple of these licensed items which may be of particular interest this time of year for folks who might have a kid in the family.
Strider bikes is marketing a cool ‘pedal-less’ bike for kids 18 months to 5 years. I read once in Bicycle magazine that the best way to teach a kid how to ride is ‘lose the pedals’ and let them coast down a safe grassy hill. It’s how I taught my daughter and it worked like a charm. Now my only concern is keeping ahead of her on the race course. The Strider bike takes it to the next level. Check out the clip. These are being sold through Yamaha dealerships in Canada and the USA, just in time for the holiday season.
Another licensed product closer to my snowmobiling heart is the Snow Bike by Sport
Dimension. These are bright blue, three point kids sleighs (think GT Racer) with styling cues taken from the FX Nytro. Right now they are only available in the US at Costco stores (not on-line) and retail for $49.95. We are not able to distribute them in Canada but I have seen some people talking about them on-line and some nice folks are making them available on E-bay for over $100… hmmm.
Now I should disclaim my references to these toys. I am not suggesting you purchase one, after-all if a kid was to fall off a bicycle or a toboggan they might get hurt and some hot-shot lawyer would surely pin it on me. It is much better if you wait until they are sixteen and buy them a real FX Nytro or maybe an R1, that would be okay. cheers cr
Woke up to a few inches of fresh pow on the lawn this morning and understand there’s a bunch more at the cottage… hmmm maybe a short burst on the old PZ tomorrow.
Speaking of powder, Randy Swenson does a good job of keeping things in perspective. Check out this vid clip he posted from last weekends ride at Revelstoke. You gotta remember there is no base this time of year and the rocks are all too easy to find. Still this looks like a great way to start the season.
Wade sent me an update from the south 48. They have the Yamaha Snowmobiles Facebook page up and running. Sounds like they have some big plans in store for the site with lots of tech tips, giveaways, pictures, vid clips, links and more. This will be the best place to find the most up-to-date race reports from the hill climbs and cross country teams and if I know Wade, he’ll even try to get some industry inside info past the corporate watchdogs and onto your screen.
I received some pretty interesting comments and a couple of emails from some old friends after I posted the 20 Minute Workout last week. It’s good to know I am not alone in my desire for a comfortable sled that can get ‘er done with the best of them in the real world. If I wanted to beat the hell out of myself I’d go back to racing motocross. Tom nailed it when he said some are forgetting the essence of getting away from it all with friends and family on reliable vehicles that are simply fun to ride… and he’s from Wisconsin
Every year I say this so here it goes. The early season conditions combined with the exuberance spawned from dreaming of ‘the ride’ all summer can be a dangerous mix. Take it easy on your first outings. Let the groomers pack a base and know what your riding on. I hate reading about someone smoking a parked vehicle or running into a closed gate close to home and only half prepared. If you were paying attention to Randy in the video, this is the same guy who has several first ascents in the record books and he is riding about as slow as he could go without getting stuck… it’s called experience, it’s also called smart. Cheers cr
I just read this media release on the trail permit fee hike in Michigan: Michigan snowmobilers will face higher trail fees this season. The state has raised the price for a season permit to $45, from $35 last year. The fee will remain $45 through the 2015 snowmobile season. A state law signed in 2008 provided for the incremental increase in snowmobile trail fees, which support maintenance and grooming of the state’s snowmobile trail network. “We have strong relationships with our partners in the snowmobile community,” Jim Radabaugh, section manager for the DNR’s Recreation and Trails Program in the Forest Management Division, told the Niles Daily Star. “It is because of our partnership with 68 snowmobile trail sponsors that Michigan is able to offer over 6,400 miles of designated, groomed and signed trails.” The fee hike is to keep up with rising trail maintenance and preservation costs.
It reminds me of an ongoing conversation we have in product planning. ‘Where you ride is everything about how you ride (and what you ride). ‘ Our testing center is located in the backwoods of Wisconsin and when we have gotten hot and heavy about riding styles and needs, the Wisconsin boys are all about stiff suspension, small gas tanks, tall bars and no windshields.
Scratching deeper into the subject, it was made quite clear that these guys see riding as twenty minutes hard bursts followed by destination stops. When I think about the trail systems in the mid-west, it is hard to ride more than half an hour without hitting a town or resort. Then I think about Ontario and Quebec with a trail system collectively approaching 50,000 miles. Many a trail requires a full tank of gas just to make it to the next (and only) pit stop. And most rides are measured by the tank-full, not the ‘next place’.
Getting back to the permit hike in Michigan, I think about the states population and the relatively meager distance; 6,400 miles of trail to maintain, still 45 bucks is a bargain compared to the 200$ plus permits up here. With so many more machines on the mid-west trails, I can see them getting pretty whopped out and riders gravitating to shorter more intense rides than what I may enjoy in central Ontario. With the smoother, wider trails and longer distances between stops, suspension tends to get a little more plush, the fuel range becomes more important along with the wind protection and seated comfort.
We have a rather extensive menu of riding conditions to select from when designing a new sled. It is becoming increasingly difficult to come up with a one size fits all machine to master every trail. Thankfully a lot can be done with bolt-on engineering whether at a manufacturers level or by the end user. I think at the end of the day the vast majority of us get an ear to ear grin when we have first track behind the groomer and ‘own the trail’ for miles without seeing another machine. Compare that to the last hundred miles back to the truck on a Sunday afternoon, endless two foot craters and sleds bouncing all around you… I get what the boys mean when they say, in their world, snowmobile rides only last 20 minutes at a time. In my world I’d call that a ‘moto’ and then gladly pay my three digit permit fee to go riding, non stop between tanks.
