YAMAHA QUITS SNOWMOBILES 1968-2023

[@ATStone]

Evinrude is dead, Yamaha skis are dead... It's sad. And you're absolutely right, our polititians are coming up with irrelevant crap that doesn't matter so that we don't focus on the real issues.

[@addvancedgarage]

Yeah I mean I love Mercury but I wish Evinrude was still around.

[@coreyweese2232]

I absolutely agree with you. In 5 years we will see a half ton trucks sell for around 100,000. Manufacture are pricing themselves out of the market. It’s getting out of control we don’t need all the bells and whistles. I have 2003 viper love it and will never sell it.

[@addvancedgarage]

I bought a 2015 cat zr8000 for $5k. It’s now worth 7-8k. Makes no sense.

[@jamiebarrette3630]

I had an 03 viper loved it! So smooth!

[@addvancedgarage]

@@jamiebarrette3630 I want to ride one sometime, they look cool.

[@greyone40]

What's so very sick about government subsidies is that the governments are broke, yet giving away money to become even more broke. Recent case of Volkswagen being offered huge billions to build a plant in Ontario Canada. So that immediately causes a problem, because any industry that is thinking of opening a plant there has to stop and think "how much should we hold out for?" Ontario is suffering a lot because the price for electricity is huge due to government mismanagement. Politics ruins everything.

[@addvancedgarage]

Can confirm! That's why ya just gotta build cars and boats and sleds and have a good time, it's all temporary anyway. Cheers!

[@iconiccreations2492]

I'm in my mid 40's and have been snowmobiling since I was about 5 years old. It was a family sport for us. I can remember my parent's getting new sleds ever couple of years and my brother and I getting their old ones. I can't even think about buying new(er) sleds for a family of 4, you would have $100k or more in sleds, trailer and gear! That is damn crazy if you ask me. The only reason that I ride a 2020 Cat is because I bought it wrecked and fixed it myself, otherwise I can't justify spending that kind of money on a sled. I don't see this sport lasting much longer and it's sad.

[@addvancedgarage]

Me neither. Add in the powers that be that control the trail network and gleefully close down trails whenever anyone misses a turn or hits a patch of powder, and idk how it will survive. The state needs to open up some forests and prairies w terrain for people to mess around on. It’s stupid that off trail riding is exploding yet the boomers in charge won’t adapt or change.

[@funtyes1970]

what i think what hurt Yamaha when Yamaha stop making 2-stroke sleds , Yamaha should make both motors like what other snowmobiles companies do.

[@petropete3122]

BRP made 90% of its profit on PARTS 🤣🤣🤣. The Yammy will always be the most dependable snowmobile ever built. 🍻

[@mikeskidmore6754]

You are funny Dude. We don't have much for winters anymore.. in the Midwest USA. Yamaha Dropped Mfg snowmobiles to concentrate on $35,000.00 4 wheeler Side by sides and Watercrafts. Both Polaris and Arctic Cat are owned by Big Conglomerates Textron. The Global Bankers have Invested Billions of American's pension money to build modern State of the Art Factories in China to take advantage of Slave Labor. At least the Canadians make wages to buy some American Goods though I am sure they buy much more from China.. Evinrude USA hired an German Engineering Firm to developed Direct Injection for two strokes for better emissions and MPG. The EPA banned two stroke outboard engines as they were. Evinrude build many good outboard engines then they put most of the eggs in 1 basket and built a Lemon, which broke them and they sold out to BRP .. Now BRP has direct fuel Injection technology and the others do not have. I have bought one new car in my Life .. A 1979 Z-28 Camaro for $7,190.00 I bought a new Yamaha FZ-07 Motorcycle in 2017 for $7,400.00 Don't forget the Obama bailed out the GM and Chrysler Auto Unions.. Obama's car Zar only shut down Republican Owned car Dealerships.. It's unconstitutional for the Federal Government to Bail out Private Corporations. As it is unconstitutional to pick winners and Loosers buy Subsidizing Companies like Solyndra and Tesla.. Now more Subsidies for Tesla because Bejing Biden hates Elon Musk.

[@michaelburgin9211]

I disagree with you on a few things here, the lambard log hauler is most definitely not a recreational vehicle, and snowmobiles as barbardier RECREATIONAL vehicles makes them, is a recreation vehicle. Most people who think old school snowmobiles from thier childhoods think ski doo elans and tundras, it just is what it is. Also, yes snowmobiles are getting more and more expensive, but we are also talking snowmobiles that have machined billet running boards instead of chinsy stamped sheet with a rolled edge on most older yamahas, electronic fuel injection instead of carbs, ball bearing turbos etc. Of corse they are going to be more expensive, but people are still going to buy them because they are absolute animals in the mountains here in BC Canada. Seadoo and skidoo are literally synonymous with Snowmobiles and PWCs, that is nothing new. Get over it. Sure it's sad that Yamaha are leaving the snow but they are also the largest outboard motor manufacturer in the world and are big in many other industries, they'll be fine, your just bitter.

[@stevem8602]

A whiskey rant…. The best!!!

[@addvancedgarage]

I am the liquor!!1!

[@jamiebarrette3630]

Right on dude! I agree with the cost of the sport. Want to take my son out on the trails and we have 20 year old sleds and still the cost of reg. Vasa. And insurance is expensive. A lot of fun but just getting out of control. Thx for your video. P.s I’ve owned everything but ski doo. Just never a fan. Mostly cat👍 cheers

[@retro_grade]

I saw this morning that Yamaha was getting out of the sled game as well. Even though I don't ride ski's as much, this is obviously a major bummer. Your points on distractions in politics and income inequality are SPOT ON. The only way most people can afford the new machines produced anymore is to take out a loan on them. The cost of everything has gone up much faster than the average income has. Granted, that's not the only fault - it's also the manufacturers of powersports products who have convinced the public that they no longer need fun, simple, reliable toys - instead, they NEED expensive, bloated, complicated machines that cost as much or more than their daily driver car and need to be hauled with a flat deck trailer. One could have a whole episode ranting about the whole ATV and UTV trend here. This has also caused the prices of older, used machines to shoot up as well, however. I pointed out that I feel sorry for people wanting to get into powersports now fresh out of school on a forum/group once and was ripped apart by several for it. When I graduated college in 2010, my friends and I all bought stand up jet ski's for $500 or under and had a blast on them - even the faster/better models were only just over a grand in most cases. Try finding that now - you'll spend 5x that amount on a the same exact ski 10 years later (pretty sure the average pay check hasn't gone up that much)??? So, it was refreshing to see you cover this point here. Regardless of which side of the political spectrum any of us fall, the government does want us divided and distracted and many would be happy to see the powersports industry and auto enthusiasts industry completely die off. Which, if something doesn't change, I do see trouble in the future for these industries as a whole. Thanks for the upload and covering this! -Brock

[@addvancedgarage]

Part of that is again the states fault. We have zero trails to use 4wd vehicles on despite the state owning 160k acres. But tons of trails for atvs and utvs. Why? Why do we have zero fucking off-road trails? But yeah I’m politically homeless. I used to trash the blue team and the red team about the same amount but after Jan 6th I’m real angry with all the pathetic gravy seals who’ve coughed at my girlfriend recovering from cancer for wearing a mask.

[@retro_grade]

@@addvancedgarage - so they have a ton of ATV/UTV trails and nothing for Jeeps/SUVS/Trucks? What about the snowmobile trails? I assumed that the ATV/UTV trails would also double as snowmobile trails in the winter. There's not much for off-roading here for in KY for us until you get to a couple hours out at Daniel Boone National Forest and Red River Gorge. Then, there's quite a bit of trails useable by 4x4's through bikes. Single-track trails more suitable for motorcycles are a bit harder to find though in my area - most people join a local dirtbikes-only club that costs over $500 a year for a membership and has to get approval from other members when joining. I'm sorry to hear that some point are like that. Not everyone is in the same situation and as you've mentioned before, you guys are in a situation in which COVID poses a serious threat. And as you've stated, I'm sure it's also hard now that it's pretty much 'gone' and yesterday's news as if it magically doesn't exist anymore and never happened.

[@addvancedgarage]

@@retro_grade Absolutely nothing. There is zero point to owning a jeep in Wisconsin. Most of the snowmobile trails become usable farmland and fields during the summer, the ones up north become ATV trails, side by sides are only allowed on wider ones/forest access roads. Yeah the fucked up thing about covid is that it didn't even taper off; we still had 1500-2000 deaths a week when they stopped reporting and declared it over, but like.... we had 1500-2000 deaths/week a year ago. Everyone laughed at the red clown when he said "if we stop testing the numbers will go down" and called him an idiot. So then the blue clown does exactly that and everyone's fine with it. Makes no sense. We still have the same number of people dying that we did a year ago.

[@jameshagaman4624]

It's sad how the economy has taken apart the middle class, I am retired and every time I get a raise the cost of living goes up more than the raise so I am another one sinking in the middle class tord the bottom.

[@addvancedgarage]

It’s a good thing those tax cuts from the red clown were temporary for the working class and permanent for the ultra rich. 🤬

[@lrwmotorsports2966]

BRP owned Evinrude and stopped production because they couldn't keep up with Merc and Yamaha outboards as they didn't offer a 4stroke. On the flip side, Yamaha couldn't keep up in the mountain sled market because they focused on 4stoke sleds which were to heavy compared to the Skidoo and Polaris offerings. Yamaha introduced a 2stroke mountain sled which was an Arctic Cat with Yamaha graphics. Just like BRP chose its path to stop outboard production, Yamaha is choosing to do the same with sleds. I won't get into politics, but I own a CanAM and ride a Skidoo mountain sled, and I am far from a socialist. Economic times change and companies have to focus on their strengths to succeed. BRP has done that and Yamaha is doing the same.

[@Justin-rj1wr]

This is the first time I've heard this, so disappointing. The writing has been on the wall for Yamaha in the snowmobiz for a while now. I'll always have fond memories of what they did in the 70's and 80's. Their sleds were the hot ticket back then. Reduced competition that results in a monopoly is never a good thing. I completely understand your frustrations.

[@addvancedgarage]

The phazer and exciter line were fantastic. I love my phazers.

[@ronsteitz4535]

The cost of UTVs has gone crazy along with prices of snowmobiles. It used to be a reasonably priced winter fun for the average worker. There are plenty of older 2 stroke sleds out there to buy and repair. Hopefully parts stock will keep up with demand👍

[@IowaBudgetRCBashers]

It’s sad. My brother has a mint 84 srv 540, and a mint 2000 phazer. He had a 74 sm292, and an 80 440 exciter years ago. I’ve always liked Yamaha sleds, but as you said the modern snowmobiles are out of the common man’s price range

[@twinturbo3470]

I work with 5 guys that get new sleds ever 1-2 Years……that’s not for me. I bought a 2006 600 SDI with a blown engine for $1,600……fixed it l, rode it for 2 years and sold it for $3,500 Then I bought a 2015 800 XRS Renegade with a blown engine for $4,000. Fix it and have rode it for the last 2 years. Now I’m currently fixing a 2020 850 XRS Renegade that I bought for $6,500 with a blown engine. When it’s fixed (in a few months) I’ll sell my 2015 and recoup 5-7k or more since it will be peak season. That is how I roll……850 Turbo R, I’ll see you in 8-10 Years

[@addvancedgarage]

My zuke 800 cat would walk you :p. J/k Still supporting socialism by riding BRP tho.

[@jacobyochens1100]

My dad raised me on yamaha sleds and for good reason. They made quality machines. Durable, dependable, and long lasting. I refuse to conform into the bullshit with brp especially. It really sucks they are done but im not surprised. Still gonna ride yamaha as long as i can. My father is picking up a 2023 sr viper this weekend also. Glad to see him get a brand new sled finally. Proud of him.

[@bradgriffiths2745]

I still have a 1979 and 1980 entices. Will not part with them

[@anicekid]

I drive a skidoo, but i also drove a skidoo that's over twice my age, because I'm broke and it was all i could afford at the time

[@user-bd5md5cm2j]

They were dead 20 years ago. Four stroke motors were the death of tgem, everyone knows.

[@stevem8602]

Skidoo, my riding improved vastly my first ride. Worth every expensive penny!!!

[@addvancedgarage]

Socialism 👏

[@davidbrennan5]

Doesn't surprise me. They forced their customers to buy heavy 4 stroke sleds that couldn't keep up with anything unless a 5k dollar turbo kit was added. They should have continued 2 stroke production on their snowmobiles.

[@addvancedgarage]

4 strokes pull pretty good but you can feel the weight in the dips. That said most mountain sleds these days are boosted 4 strokes so idk what your argument is. They should sell great up there

[@davidbrennan5]

@@addvancedgarage I only saw (3) 4 strokes in the mountains in the last 20 years. I live in Canada, we get 20 feet of snow easy. Yamaha used to sell the 2 stroke trapper/work models like crazy here but they discontinued all of them. The only market they did well with was the trail market and when an Apex lasts 50K miles you don't see too many people trading sleds in every 2 years, they keep them for 8 years or more, so the customers that wanted 4 strokes have them and they keep them a lot longer so you sell less sleds.

[@addvancedgarage]

@@davidbrennan5 I thought all the stuff at high altitude was boosted 4 strokes? Not a mountain guy but that was my impression, that the 800s and 850s don't have enough punch at higher elevations.

[@davidbrennan5]

@@addvancedgarage Most are running NA 2 strokes 600-850cc, turbos came because they could compensate for power-loss, they are just starting to become more common the last 5 years or so. The guys I saw with the 4 strokes were not technical riders, they just ran up chutes and high-marked but for what they spent you could build a watercraft based 1200+cc 2 stroke that is lighter with the same power level. Polaris and Skidoo have 90 percent of the mountain segment here with their 2 strokes. Cat used to be more popular but they haven't kept up in this segment.

[@addvancedgarage]

​@@davidbrennan5 Aren't most of the turbo sleds 4 stroke tho? And yeah, you can always build something cheaper than you can buy it off the dealership floor, that's true everywhere. What about the Cat with the Alpha skid? I don't really ride mountains... yet.

[@brianashdown4836]

Interestingly my first ‘high performance’ snowmobile was a Phazer II like the one you are sitting on. I wore it out, and a couple more machines after that. I haven’t tried a new generation sled, but oooohhh, I’d like too. Prices are unattainable for most now adays.

[@addvancedgarage]

Not true, you can find deals on 2012-2016 Cats with Suzuki 800s that make 160hp and last like 15k without coming apart, for cheap. I'm selling one right now for 4k.

[@ClessieCummins254]

I'm surprised manufacturers aren't going overseas.

[@alanarmstrong2323]

Miss my gpx 433 one bad sled !

[@mken4740]

Americans invented the god damn snowmobile, not you maple Leafs! 🍁 😝

[@addvancedgarage]

Can confirm! And much love to my very close Canadian neighbors, but stop letting your corporate giant rewrite history.

[@EricEidenberger]

2025 is the last ear for Yamaha sleds...

[@spitfirenick]

Lucky i got my nytro still and kids new 2023 venom

[@addvancedgarage]

Sounds like lucky kids!

[@spitfirenick]

@@addvancedgarage spoiled kids haha youngest has srx120 too

[@JamesZweng]

Love your videos man

[@addvancedgarage]

Thanks buddy!

[@blakebaker301]

Like 100 times!! Well daid bro!

[@96Duelfuel]

Name a Canadian global brand. Name an American one...

[@MrMvidz]

What has socialism to do with this..? Sux that Yamaha quits, BRP has dominated for many years now and even Textron (Arctic Cat) are OEM the entry level machines to BRP.

[@addvancedgarage]

What part of government funded corporations do you not understand? BRP is canadas GM

[@MrMvidz]

@@addvancedgarage I know, but it's not socialism. Corruption and protectionism is what it is, which is just as bad. We have this in Europe as well, with many car manufacturers. Socialism, in theory, would benefit the people as the owners of all production - doesn't work I know - but this scheme certainly doesn't benefit workers or consumers.

[@addvancedgarage]

@@MrMvidz Call it whatever you like, BRP gets big ups from the government, and Cat and Polaris do not.

[@MrMvidz]

@@addvancedgarage Agree, and as Textron now OEM the youth models for BRP, it shows lack of confidence in the Arctic Cat brand as well.

[@addvancedgarage]

@@MrMvidz I really want to try one of those smaller blasts....

[@americansilverback1947]

1968 To 2025

[@bobdowns6973]

Thanks BABY BOOMERS!

[@addvancedgarage]

The only people that can actually afford new sleds

[@dkevvv]

Whew!

[@user-bd5md5cm2j]

I love your yammies

[@douglassmit9088]

Yet Yamaha will still be on the trails for years. TheyOut last the three other shit machines 4 times longer.

[@normneufeld9688]

There are so many Yamaha sleds out there that parts will be either available from Yamaha or aftermarket. I’m so glad I bought a 2022 VK540, made in Japan and as reliable as a Toyota.