Yamaha Snowmobile Development?
- Thread starter xsledder
- Start date
What’s to do in Minocqua for Yamaha development all Engine R&D is in Japan all chassis development is controlled by Textron. Minocqua was/is a cush job ride a few snowmobiles and go home for supper you can do that better in Canada more snow and colder. The OEM relationship is here as long as Textron permits it and Yamaha is able to sell Blue AC sleds with 4s engines. Minocqua seems useless to me an unnecessary expense that will be sold in a hot real estate market. Makes business sense to me why support a facility you never intend to use streamline as much as you can.
Yamaha develops snowmobiles?
Not according to the boys in TRF, boxes of Yamaha sleds stacked 5 high as we speak..the weird part is 20x more A/C sleds stacked next to them.
Just fooling around, been in TRF for 14 months now..those green Textron UTV's remind me of Army jeeps ready to go on an aircraft carrier..kind of creepy.
Bear
The set up they have here was pretty neat. They had it for testing everything. Summer never know it’s there but winter had all the private trails and drag area. Neat how they got the old mercury test area. Know few who worked there and I have also done new floors out there. I would say it’s sad to hear seeing the employees were dedicated to making yamahas better constantly but since they went in with cat they just needed to tweak cats lol. I would say being a snowmobile nut it was one of the better days while doing there floors.
harvest1121
Well-known member
Saw them testing a lot last year around Squirrel Lake. Knew they were test snowmobiles by the numbers on them and always had a Nytro with them. I posted something about the blue color and it was taken off Total Yamaha. I just want my 2022 Sidewinder Gt to come in before December.
Can’t say where it’s at or what I saw the different times there over the years but I have to laugh cus on google maps can see Polaris test area out side of the plant same with artic cat but there can’t see anything from google maps just trees. But yes probly a good chunk of property
I disagree Pete. Much testing was done over the years and to lose the facility and employees is a real bummer. A lot of cool stuff happened and was developed in Minocqua throughout the years. If you call putting on 30,000 miles with two people on a two up Venture fun and cush then have at it
They performed a lot of tuning and developing for our air and elevation. That certainly was not a waste at all. Where they test in Canada is no more snow than N.W. I've been where they test in Canada. Yes, things certainly slowed there, but the testing of Cat sleds in Minocqua made the Cat product much better. I've personally witnessed these guys testing many times and their jobs were not easy and I wouldn't of done it. Many hours riding and testing in miserable weather and conditions. Many deadlines to meet, not easy mentally or physically.
They performed a lot of tuning and developing for our air and elevation. That certainly was not a waste at all. Where they test in Canada is no more snow than N.W. I've been where they test in Canada. Yes, things certainly slowed there, but the testing of Cat sleds in Minocqua made the Cat product much better. I've personally witnessed these guys testing many times and their jobs were not easy and I wouldn't of done it. Many hours riding and testing in miserable weather and conditions. Many deadlines to meet, not easy mentally or physically.Many times over the years I saw the Yamaha trader and trucks parked at Kips and Krupps. One day at Krupp's I actually went over and talked to some of the test riders. That day they were testing shock set up. Trail 13 to Greenland, up the Nichols back to Krupp's, change the valving or whatever, then do it again, same 2 trails over and over and over and over. Didn't sound like a lot of fun, more like a job lol.
I read the closing of Yamaha Minocqua facility as a forward thinking decision. I don’t disagree a lot of testing on the mono and long before took place there as well as Greenland on trail 3. I thought the mono handled the whoops and junk on trail 3 darn well. Unfortunately Yamaha suspensions are long gone and all AC procross now and near future. Whatever was going on at Minocqua is over now probably seen as a duplicate effort to TRF efforts. Yamaha according to the article will still do their thing in Canada if that’s testing Ventures idk?I disagree Pete. Much testing was done over the years and to lose the facility and employees is a real bummer. A lot of cool stuff happened and was developed in Minocqua throughout the years. If you call putting on 30,000 miles with two people on a two up Venture fun and cush then have at it
It is Just west of Squirrel Lake off Gilbertson RD, I think Yamaha owns around 500 acres. You have to wonder what they will do with it? With the market the way it is it is probably a hot property.
Don't get sucked into "Wishful Thinking". Yamaha, willingly, intentionally, misled us for years! NO MORE! What ever Yam will have for sleds, is absolutely all up to Textron, PERIOD!
xsledder
Active member
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<br>I did not have any wishful thoughts. I quickly read the article at my in-laws and did not know what to think. Just soliciting thoughts from others who read the article.<br>
No harm intended. I got sucked into Yamaha BS before, but never again! There will never be a "All new, all Yamaha snowmobile". Too much time has passed them by, and they aren't interested.