October 30, 2008
Brochure Spec Creativity
Frost on the windshield and a two hour commute yesterday due to a skiff of snow on the road. Made the appointments to ‘rust check’ the vehicles and change over the rubber. Dragged an ATV home to install the blade and pulled the batteries out of all the summer toys… Winter won’t be long now.
The long awaited snowmobile accessories brochure has been printed and distributed to Canadian dealers, the new Yamalube is in stock and the trucks are rolling.
I have been kept busy with regards to planning as we are moving forward (in an economic minefield) with some new projects. We also have a large group of dealers en-route to Japan next week for an extensive tour of the factory and country side. The factory boys are excellent hosts and our dealers are in for a real treat which should be a nice break before the winter strikes in full force.
I’m considering some ideas for content on the blog this season and would like to ask if you have any thoughts or subject material. If there is something you’d like me to address just add a comment to this post for consideration.
YK asked me a couple of interesting questions in the last post (Whistler While You Work), which I responded to before I had my morning coffee, which might explain the tone… I thought I would attach to this post, just because.
Hey YK, this is an interesting (and convoluted) subject. I could write an extensive response but the short answer: In marketing there is always a ‘creative’ way to make nice numbers. IMHO Yamaha is one of the worst players in this game. It has gotten to the point where our factory has requested (demanded) that we no longer publish horsepower or weight figures. Why? Because there are far too many ways to spin the data and if you don’t play aggressively you come up looking bad. Japanese for the most part make terrible liars.
You don’t have to look far to see examples of direct comparison ads from our competitors that would have you believe Yamaha is relative crap and the peripheral stuff which is fed to media, dealers and consumers through more subtle channels is designed to support and strengthen their message.
To your point on making horsepower, just add RPM (or boost). It only gets complicated when you want to maintain the torque over a wide range and keep a high level of durability / reliability. An interesting example: The fuel injected Nytro motor and the new Venture FI motor, same block, same components but the Venture makes less horsepower. Why? In reality it makes more HP and torque than the Nytro at lower RPMs (where most trail riding takes place), where the Nytro is more progressive, making more HP at the peak RPM with a softer mid-range. (never thought I would refer to a Nytro as having a soft mid hmmm).
The 4-cylinder with less displacement makes more power yet but requires a gear reduction at the crank to keep the clutch alive. The answer to your Phazer question is found here, the peak power is made close to 12,000 rpm. Current snowmobile clutches would be spitting pieces of shrapnel if operated at that speed for any length of time.
I honestly don’t think you will find a better built snowmobile engine than Yamaha on the market today, regardless of claims. I am curious to see how the latest 4-stroke offerings (and new tech 2-strokes) from the competition hold up in the long run… we’ll just have to wait and see. cheers cr