Comments on: Supertrax Ride 2010

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:16:51 +0000

Just noticed a few photos of you and the 2011 machine on Totallyamaha. Yep that was us, I thought of you when we ran into one of our dealers and his wife on the trail. I tried to get them on the sled but they respected the size of the group and the fact it was all customers and took a rain check (Rob and Barb from Parkway Yamaha are excellent folks and an awesome dealership).. cheers cr

By: sledfreak

sledfreak — Wed, 13 Jan 2010 19:03:14 +0000

Chris, why do you allow the mags to ride the new product first? I agree with Peter, I find this type of product distribution/inforamtion to be old school media. I find way more valuable infomation on the internet forms. There is also alot of misguided information, but you have to read through the dirt to get to the good stuff. As far as the riders of the mags go. What makes their analysis of a new product better then someone like some of the people over on TY (including myself), who uses the forums for a src of information (either giving or receiving) and probbaly have more experience around sleds then most of the critics that you allow to ride. I dropped my Sno-tech subscription 2 years ago and have never felt a need to buy another one. By the way, the new sled pics hit TY. Looks like an Apex with a new mill. Small Supercharger on it?

Later…

This is a really interesting comment. I think the internet and new social media of the web2.0 world is rapidly changing the traditional marketing world which includes print. I think we are still on the cusp of whats to come and large companies are often slow to react. The simple fact that Sled Talk exists is a sign of the future. I don’t disagree with you at all… cheers cr

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 21:35:19 +0000

Fair enough but it’s all part and parcel as they say. IMHO the mainstay to promote the product should be dealers before media.

Point made Pete… I’ll buy the first round

cheers cr

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 20:41:51 +0000

I would think that is a discussion for the dealer body to be involved in. Selling 2 or 3 units a month can’t be going over well with them at the moment and neither can the same good ole CDN vs USA pricing debacle which continues and might be the reason why units are still in the warehouse.

I thought Yamaha did not want to enter the “mid-year” release arena like other makes. I can think of only one time that happened …. The SRV wasn’t it? Seeing as it seems to be Yamaha’s policy not to do mid-year releases than I would think keeping the wraps on next years models at least until the end of the season would be more prudent.

Hey Peter, you keep expanding the topic, now we are onto pricing and imports. I think we need to sit down with a couple of bevy’s, before we try to fix all our problems here. I appreciate your comments and viewpoints but these are all complex and controversial issues that deserve more than a few one liners from me here on Sled Talk… cheers cr

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 18:36:18 +0000

No I’m not a dealer but rather a a concerned consumer. I love the way media for industries such as automobile or powersports refer to themselves as journalists when in fact they are no more than critics and thus their words and not the ones in the know such as the manufacturers or dealers can make or break sales depending on what they write. Integrity is lacking with the media and good reviews are only bought by the amount of “smooze” or how the writer was feeling that day. Lead time for written print is irrelevant if we now have the Lester’s on Youtube saying it might be the best Yamaha that they have ever written. All that has done is stick the dealers with 2010′s in there showrooms for longer while everyone waits for this new 2011 machine.

Hmmmm interesting comments. Would it be any different if we had some dealers or better yet some average customers riding and talking about the new models instead of the media?? Or are you suggesting we should not announce new products until we have sold through current inventories at least on the retail front (don’t forget we also have product in our warehouses)?

cr

By: Peter

Peter — Tue, 12 Jan 2010 14:13:08 +0000

Dealers have their houses etc on the line selling your products. I see no reason why the mag’s get the info or even get to ride them first.

I have this spider sense that tells me you are indeed a dealer. If I am correct it’s encouraging to know that you are online and participating in the ‘global conversations’ surrounding our products (I wish all our dealers were). I’d welcome you to discuss marketing strategies and opportunities with any one of our marketing or development team members in person.
I believe I have already answered your question as to why we tech the media early. They require a certain lead time to meet print deadlines.
We have tried similar things in the past (pre-embargo) with our dealers and were let down. (VK Pro comes to mind). One other point to consider many of our dealers do not sell Yamaha brands exclusively, as Greg always said… two can keep a secret if one is dead! All details and specifications on the 2011 products will be made public Feb 2, in the interim you will see lots of conjecture on line, rest assured no one knows for sure… cheers cr

By: Peter

Peter — Mon, 11 Jan 2010 23:51:30 +0000

Hey CR,

Why do the mag’s get to see and ride the sleds before the dealers? Also wasn’t it Supertrax that let 500-1000 copies of their magazine out early 2 years ago with the new models in it…….

…So they can tell all our customers about the new products in their magazines which generally take 6 weeks to 2 months to publish and distribute.
Yes if i recall they let one slip (actually it was their fulfillment house), created a lot of attention, had a lot of people talking about the new sleds… bummer eh! cr

By: Daniel Emard

Daniel Emard — Sat, 09 Jan 2010 12:59:10 +0000

Chris, keep all the info coming!, As always, you always keep us on our toes with curiosity.
Also many of us are getting itchy to see the new iron and the new aftermarket Yamcharger. Seems like my dealer will be a distributer for the yamcharger, which should keep us gear-heads busy.
I’ll be keeping an eye out on the trails in case anything sounds or looks different -with the yamaha badge of course!.

Ride on and ride safe……

By: sledfreak

sledfreak — Fri, 08 Jan 2010 16:11:53 +0000

Chris, I hope you ran the yamcharger against the sled that Mark and Luke lester tested. That’s the video I want to see. Most people could care less about a test against a stock Apex, especially, when a new sled is coming out in 3 weeks or is it just same story hype as the previous model release year.

oops… guess it’s all hype… cheers cr

By: Bob Turner

Bob Turner — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 23:35:14 +0000

Hi Chris,
Like IveyRider, my wife and daughter ride our 07 Phazer GT. I bought it used from an awesome Yamaha dealer in Castleton Ont. Doug’s Small Engines. Doug and his team were a real pleasure to deal with. He may be more than 1000 km away but he made acquiring the sled as easy as dealing with a good friend. Doug’s a real pro, and I wish more dealers were like him.
Our Phazer also suffers from the tunnel loading up with ice, and although it has the louvered seat block-off kit, in certain conditions, spray water soaks your leg and boot. I just put the factory tunnel block off kit in over the new years holiday. It took about 2 hrs, but most of that time is spent trying to figure out where exactly all of the heat reflectors go. It is a very high quality kit, and I am surprised it was as cheap as it was. Maybe Yamaha is trying to give us a break,since their design was found wanting. Anyway, I took it out for a 50km lake ride with a couple of chums and was pleasantly surprised to see the rear 2/3 of the tunnel fairly clear of ice. I think when IveyRider installs his kit, much of his problem will be solved. In fact, my 06 Renegade builds up more ice in the tunnel than what I saw on the PZ today. The hardest part of the install was getting a pop rivet gun in place to rivet the piece of aluminum in place. A couple of short pieces of pipe, used to extend the rivet gun handles solved the problem for me. Perhaps others have simpler solutions.
My biggest gripe about the Phazer is the level of vibration it exudes. It was studded when I got it, and that may be the root of some vibration, and I have checked idler wheels, and track tension and they are not the culprit. Ice in the front of the tunnel may add to the problem.
One of the fellows I rode with today was on his wife’s 97 Ski Doo Formula Deluxe 500. Surprisingly, he could not get away from the little PZ on the lake. They had about the same top end, but the PZ could pull him off the line…….cool.
Hope you let us in on the big secret soon.I may be looking to upgrade to another 4 stroke next year. If this new one has lots of jam, and is available with a long track, I could be very interested.
RIDE SAFE ONE AND ALL.

Thanks Bob, excellent comment, you are right about the kit pricing and I have heard about the illusive pop-rivet location, guess our guys used an air riveter

stay tuned… cheers cr