Great show, worked at yamaha shop in the eighties, owned a bunch of them never let me down, two strokes ,4 strokes, gone but wont be forgotten, thanks again
Waking up this morning and seeing a new episode of STV was definitely a treat! Living here in SW lower Michigan and having ZERO snow, I needed a snowmobile fix, and this was just what the doctor ordered 🙂 Just waiting on a Comet clutch for my 1979 Arctic cat Pantera 5000 to show up and my fleet will be ready to go !! PRAY FOR SNOW !!!❄❄
Great show, as a kid growing up I had skidoos and Arctic cats. Once I drove a Yamaha I never looked back. Back in 1979 Yamaha came out with a 300 special twin that was a white and red sled. It was a lightweight single seat sled. And I was raising 340s and kicking their ass .The sled didn't have a speedometer on it so I never knew what the top speed was. Has anybody out there had the same experience. Let me know, Chris 🤗
Love those Bender Built sleds!! Have a 87 Phazer with PSI pipe, Comet 102, studded, ported, cold air intake, engine stabilizer, and a 90 Phazer II with AAEN pipe!!
New Year’s Day, it’s cold and snowing a bit here in western New York and a new episode of STV. It’s looking like a good start to the new year. Thanks guys. Great video. FYI My first Yamaha was a dual carb 396. And yes it had “a bit of ski lift on the inside “😂. Although a ski doo guy hate to see a company like Yamaha stop making sleds. You like to see the industry grow!! Dave
My first sled around the age of 12 was a 1979 Motoski. My Dad had to take the spark plugs out, heat them up with a blow torch, and pour some gas down the cylinder heads to get it running and once it fired up after a few pulls, he said jump on and don’t let it stall or you’re walking home. I graduated to an overused 1981 Yamaha Enticer that usually ran on only one cylinder but it always started up and got me home after a day in the trails. Love that Yamaha reliability cuz when you’re 13 years old, you don’t have cash for an engine rebuild! 😂👍
My dad bought a new 1972 Yamaha Gp 292. I added the GYT kit the following year. Stock 440s of the day struggled to keep up to me on hard-packed snow. It was great on the straight-aways.
I enjoyed this episode. I was saddened to learn about Yamaha leaving the snowmobile scene. I have fond memories of driving my uncles Yamaha 250 and 340 back in the 80's. I purchased a 4 acre property across from the Pembroke, ON Best Western. We located our craft spirts business here in 2019. In the end of your video I recognized that you towed your STV trailer up past the Pembroke Best Western front entrance. Our property is literally across the road. I am interested in partnering with a company to offer electric snowmobile test drives at our property. The main snowmobile trail in Pembroke crosses our property and thousands of snowmobilers cross over our property to access the Best Western and Holiday Inn hotels. We have the perfect spot for people to gather and try out the new models of electric sleds as they are developed. We are also located on a river were we can test out the Taiga personal watercraft. We operate a river tubing business on the river in the summer. It would be great to get your ideas. Cheers, Andrew Kenny O'Kenny Craft Spirits
Remember being at our local dealer were they just finished setting up their first SL351 and currently riding a 22 Sidewinder purchased from same dealer. Great episode and brought back many memories.
I got questions too what was that when you first walked into his home shop collection? It looked like a gold fuel dragster rail job with skis ! "Back story please.😮
Great show, nice mustang, my first sled was a 80 Yamaha srx, wish I still had that love hate relationship. Used to watch Tim Bender in Eganville, vmax 4 was fastest lap time, hopefully Yamaha comes back , sanctions on Russia hurts sales
My first sled learned to ride was a 1983 Yamaha bravo. Me and brother drove hell out it in nfld. When we were teenagers Great sleds I need find one add to my collection !!
That partnership improved cats' quality control I believe. I did the tour at the plant during the production run of the sr viper, and a Cat employee stated that directly to us as well, and he also advised how Yamaha was quite picky on all things production when the viper was produced. I think it was a benefit to both companies.
Great show! Although I was hoping you were going to reveal some new news about Yamaha snowmobile!I guess it doesn't hurt to hope. I grew up on some of those sleds. I bought my first brand new sled pre season 97 Vmax 600 sx. Loved that sled! I am thinking about a sidewinder but the price is crazy. Maybe a blue SRX a couple years old will have to do!
First ride on a sled was my Uncle's 1970 Yamaha SL338. My first sled I bought was a 1974 GP292. My older brother and cousin had GP433's. Riding rivers and ditch banging northern WI. No such thing as a snowmobile trail back then.
My first sled when I was 16 was a 1972 Massy Ferguson with a 296 JLO. Now 40 years later I have a 2009 Arctic Cat Z1 Turbo. Things have come a long way.
Sad day ,never owned a Yamaha , my buddy is a hard core owner , always had respect for there sleds, he has a 98 SRX since new ,best sounding 2 stroke ever in my opinion, triple triple , still a lake rocket ,
My whole extended family drove Yamahas beginning in the late 1980’s after moving over from riding Polaris. The quality, the fit and finish, the reliability, and the smoother riding suspension were immediately noticeable when coming from Polaris, and we had owned 5 Polaris machines. We have owned 5 Yamahas in our immediate family, and more than 14 have been owned within my extended family. Yamahas have lasted longer, and been more reliable while riding in the remote woods of Maine where we have spent most of our time. I feel like Yamaha didn’t put enough marketing into their later sleds, and didn’t listen to their customers’ feedback quickly enough from season to season to gauge the trends. Yamaha tried to say they knew best what riders on the East Coast U.S. wanted, even though the design studios favored West Coast U.S. trends such as low windshields and mountain sleds. Many people balked at the quieter more torquey four-stroke 1000cc engines. Riding snowmobiles had previously been a more visceral experience with many riders wanting to hear their loud two-stroke engines revving high as they excited the corners. Personally I like the four-stroke experience better, it is more refined, has a longer fuel range per tank (important on long trips in remote areas), and no longer breathing chainsaw-like exhaust fumes from the 8 sleds riding in front of you for the ENTIRE day. Yamaha simply did not market their products well enough in later years, and the corporation put money into their marine outboards, off-road dirt bikes, and other company divisions that had more predictable seasons of use (not subject to seasons with low snowfall). I personally feel that Yamaha is making a mistake by eliminating their snowmobile division, and once another CEO takes charge of the company seeking to expand profits, they will start making snowmobiles again, but probably not for a number of years. If a motorsports company couldn’t find profitability during the Covid-19 boom for all things outdoors, then Yamaha deserves to be out of the snowmobile industry until they find the right leadership to lead the way. Sad.
Not sure there’s alot to dig into. I’m assuming low sales, less snow from changing weather and their loss of the Russian market due to the Ukraine war cemented the decision.
The short answer is they were making money off the snowmobile lineup but the return wasn’t enough to justify the effort and Yamaha wanted to redirect assets into more profitable products.
I had a 1975 sno jet with a Yamaha 340 when I was a kid loved that sled was heart broken when my mom made my dad get rid of it lmao 11 year old doing 70 plus mph 🤷🏻♂️
I don't think you are remembering wrong about the pogo-stick V-Max. My 96 is flatter on curves then your girlfriend. They are stock with sway bars and are skimming the ground in the first place. The Phaser was top heavy and tippy. By the way, it is not a memory, I and thousands others are still riding the mid 90s V-max series.
@ 8:25 I am crying so much i paused the video. HOLY C...ARP MAN!!! I am only 58...and a "death in my family" is VERY hard to take; doesn't matter if it is their choice or not. This HURTS! :( If it was Evinrude or Johnson...even JohnDeere...okay.... but Moses-Sandles Man!!!: YAMAHA!!!!!!! :(((( ....I need more tissues! :(( ...Jeff....I really like your "GT-40" you show in the video....needs some 'glass-work' tho... ;-/ ~~ mmmm...road-kill!!! Heatin' up the rocket-stove!!!
I think the biggest reason why they are quitting sled building is the global affect warming we no longer get enough snow to warrant the owner ship of a twenty thousand dollar toy
I'm just curious if those old Yamaha sleds were so great, how come they failed in the market place?? I've always respected Yamaha as a brand across the board, but I think its always easy to look back in admiration instead of just admitting that overall they were not that great. But what ever, to each their own.
Good show, I feel Yamaha will pay for their decision most people have multiple motorsports toys and keep them all in the same house but I guess time will tell, I also believe that alot of Yamaha faithful would have got off their wallets for something new but it will be something new from somewhere else now lol
If Yamaha was smart they'd retract that statement, and go back to the roots of Yamaha sleds maybe 2 stroke and 4. Yamaha shouldn't have stopped producing 2 stroke sleds. It killed them.
Well when you do that when they quit making snowmobiles everything else goes down and I know that a fact because I ain't bought none of their snowmobiles I ain't the only one long time but the point is I seen that where my dad worked at the sold the tractors off in the scouts all because they got a percentage the workers the percentage of pay more bonus checks and then turn around and look at them now and and that's why it's going to happen in Yamaha too it's going to go downhill and then they going to file bankruptcy if they ain't going to do it now because then what I've been saying to make good snowmobiles to all of them does but the point is when you cut the snowmobiles out of business your business goes way down your stalker everything shame they're doing that because you know like everybody says they make good have a good day sir
Great show, worked at yamaha shop in the eighties, owned a bunch of them never let me down, two strokes ,4 strokes, gone but wont be forgotten, thanks again
Waking up this morning and seeing a new episode of STV was definitely a treat! Living here in SW lower Michigan and having ZERO snow, I needed a snowmobile fix, and this was just what the doctor ordered 🙂 Just waiting on a Comet clutch for my 1979 Arctic cat Pantera 5000 to show up and my fleet will be ready to go !! PRAY FOR SNOW !!!❄❄
What part of Michigan I grew up in Niles Michigan
I'm from St. Joseph. Yeah I'm familiar with Niles, not too far from me, maybe 20 minutes 🙂 @@phoenixarizona8441
Llol i live in northeastern Ontario 8 hrs north of Toronto, we have no snow, top of Lake superior has no snow, wont be much of a season if any
Pathetic winter@@robm9581
Waiting on snow is getting frustrating, but we will have more STV episodes coming soon! I hope that’ll help while we all wait for the white stuff.
I’ll never forget that feeling I got when my Dad finally bought a sled for to ride, 1987 Phazer. Put over 25k on the original motor what a machine!
That’s a great memory to have! I’ll never forget the first sled I got either!! The Phazers were great machines back in the day!
Awesome episode
Great show Jeff. Dad had a 1985 Excel III and I had a 1987 Exciter. Great memories of time spent together.
Grate show. Loved it
New Years Day and an STV episode drop! Nice way to start the year! Thanks Jeff and crue!
Thanks! It’s great to get things going again. I just hope the snow comes now.
Great show, as a kid growing up I had skidoos and Arctic cats. Once I drove a Yamaha I never looked back. Back in 1979 Yamaha came out with a 300 special twin that was a white and red sled. It was a lightweight single seat sled. And I was raising 340s and kicking their ass .The sled didn't have a speedometer on it so I never knew what the top speed was. Has anybody out there had the same experience. Let me know, Chris 🤗
This was good entertainment I loved bob and old sleds are just timeless
Love those Bender Built sleds!! Have a 87 Phazer with PSI pipe, Comet 102, studded, ported, cold air intake, engine stabilizer, and a 90 Phazer II with AAEN pipe!!
New Year’s Day, it’s cold and snowing a bit here in western New York and a new episode of STV. It’s looking like a good start to the new year. Thanks guys. Great video. FYI My first Yamaha was a dual carb 396. And yes it had “a bit of ski lift on the inside “😂.
Although a ski doo guy hate to see a company like Yamaha stop making sleds. You like to see the industry grow!!
Dave
Weather is so warm here in Northern Wisconsin they even moved the Eagle River snowmobile races into second week in February!
My first sled around the age of 12 was a 1979 Motoski. My Dad had to take the spark plugs out, heat them up with a blow torch, and pour some gas down the cylinder heads to get it running and once it fired up after a few pulls, he said jump on and don’t let it stall or you’re walking home. I graduated to an overused 1981 Yamaha Enticer that usually ran on only one cylinder but it always started up and got me home after a day in the trails. Love that Yamaha reliability cuz when you’re 13 years old, you don’t have cash for an engine rebuild! 😂👍
Awesome stuff as usual.
Im only 2hrs away from F&S if i would have only known you were going to be there Filming i would have gone down and check it out!!
My dad bought a new 1972 Yamaha Gp 292. I added the GYT kit the following year. Stock 440s of the day struggled to keep up to me on hard-packed snow. It was great on the straight-aways.
I enjoyed this episode. I was saddened to learn about Yamaha leaving the snowmobile scene. I have fond memories of driving my uncles Yamaha 250 and 340 back in the 80's.
I purchased a 4 acre property across from the Pembroke, ON Best Western. We located our craft spirts business here in 2019. In the end of your video I recognized that you towed your STV trailer up past the Pembroke Best Western front entrance. Our property is literally across the road. I am interested in partnering with a company to offer electric snowmobile test drives at our property. The main snowmobile trail in Pembroke crosses our property and thousands of snowmobilers cross over our property to access the Best Western and Holiday Inn hotels. We have the perfect spot for people to gather and try out the new models of electric sleds as they are developed. We are also located on a river were we can test out the Taiga personal watercraft. We operate a river tubing business on the river in the summer. It would be great to get your ideas.
Cheers,
Andrew Kenny
O'Kenny Craft Spirits
Remember being at our local dealer were they just finished setting up their first SL351 and currently riding a 22 Sidewinder purchased from same dealer. Great episode and brought back many memories.
Great show thanks for sharing
I got questions too what was that when you first walked into his home shop collection? It looked like a gold fuel dragster rail job with skis ! "Back story please.😮
You’ll have to wait for a future episode! Questions will be answered.
Great show, nice mustang, my first sled was a 80 Yamaha srx, wish I still had that love hate relationship. Used to watch Tim Bender in Eganville, vmax 4 was fastest lap time, hopefully Yamaha comes back , sanctions on Russia hurts sales
Yup I loved those Phasers when they first came out , I had a Yamaha 440 and a 340 for my first sleds ( back in the early 80s)
Have faith! Yamaha will come back and be even better.
Watched episode 2 tonight...it was good seeing JT's longest tenured employee :)
My first sled learned to ride was a 1983 Yamaha bravo.
Me and brother drove hell out it in nfld. When we were teenagers
Great sleds I need find one add to my collection !!
Digging that Ski Whiz! great video.
That partnership improved cats' quality control I believe. I did the tour at the plant during the production run of the sr viper, and a Cat employee stated that directly to us as well, and he also advised how Yamaha was quite picky on all things production when the viper was produced. I think it was a benefit to both companies.
Great show! Although I was hoping you were going to reveal some new news about Yamaha snowmobile!I guess it doesn't hurt to hope. I grew up on some of those sleds. I bought my first brand new sled pre season 97 Vmax 600 sx. Loved that sled! I am thinking about a sidewinder but the price is crazy. Maybe a blue SRX a couple years old will have to do!
My first Yamaha was a 1973 sl 292 it was a one lunger and a tank but I loved its reliability and I still love Yamaha to this day
First ride on a sled was my Uncle's 1970 Yamaha SL338. My first sled I bought was a 1974 GP292. My older brother and cousin had GP433's. Riding rivers and ditch banging northern WI. No such thing as a snowmobile trail back then.
My first sled when I was 16 was a 1972 Massy Ferguson with a 296 JLO. Now 40 years later I have a 2009 Arctic Cat Z1 Turbo. Things have come a long way.
Still love old Yamaha snowmobiles
A friend had a GPX 433. Tons o' fun.
still have a signed hat from Tim Bender from the early 90s when he was at the Toronto Sled show,
Sad day ,never owned a Yamaha , my buddy is a hard core owner , always had respect for there sleds, he has a 98 SRX since new ,best sounding 2 stroke ever in my opinion, triple triple , still a lake rocket ,
Then there were 3...the way winters are going the snowmobile market will soon be gone. What a difference 50 years makes.
It’s great to see all the comments about Yamaha memories! Thanks everyone for the positive comments. Well… except for that one guy!
Great show Jeff! Been riding Yamaha’s for 24 years. Be interesting to see if Arctic Cat keeps the Yamaha engine’s around.
My whole extended family drove Yamahas beginning in the late 1980’s after moving over from riding Polaris. The quality, the fit and finish, the reliability, and the smoother riding suspension were immediately noticeable when coming from Polaris, and we had owned 5 Polaris machines. We have owned 5 Yamahas in our immediate family, and more than 14 have been owned within my extended family. Yamahas have lasted longer, and been more reliable while riding in the remote woods of Maine where we have spent most of our time. I feel like Yamaha didn’t put enough marketing into their later sleds, and didn’t listen to their customers’ feedback quickly enough from season to season to gauge the trends. Yamaha tried to say they knew best what riders on the East Coast U.S. wanted, even though the design studios favored West Coast U.S. trends such as low windshields and mountain sleds. Many people balked at the quieter more torquey four-stroke 1000cc engines. Riding snowmobiles had previously been a more visceral experience with many riders wanting to hear their loud two-stroke engines revving high as they excited the corners. Personally I like the four-stroke experience better, it is more refined, has a longer fuel range per tank (important on long trips in remote areas), and no longer breathing chainsaw-like exhaust fumes from the 8 sleds riding in front of you for the ENTIRE day. Yamaha simply did not market their products well enough in later years, and the corporation put money into their marine outboards, off-road dirt bikes, and other company divisions that had more predictable seasons of use (not subject to seasons with low snowfall). I personally feel that Yamaha is making a mistake by eliminating their snowmobile division, and once another CEO takes charge of the company seeking to expand profits, they will start making snowmobiles again, but probably not for a number of years. If a motorsports company couldn’t find profitability during the Covid-19 boom for all things outdoors, then Yamaha deserves to be out of the snowmobile industry until they find the right leadership to lead the way. Sad.
What 2024 season? Asking for the upper midwest
Have faith. I think we will have a week or 2!
@@jeffsteenbakkers4435 lol
I have driven nothing but Yamaha sleds. They have never left me stranded until now. I was disappointed in this episode. Where is the journalism?
Not sure there’s alot to dig into. I’m assuming low sales, less snow from changing weather and their loss of the Russian market due to the Ukraine war cemented the decision.
No snow is a killer
PA gets some crazy amounts of snow for about 2 weeks a year.
no snow, no snowmobiling, big time problem
somebody could tell me why they quit the production thks
The short answer is they were making money off the snowmobile lineup but the return wasn’t enough to justify the effort and Yamaha wanted to redirect assets into more profitable products.
Biggest news EVER!!!!!
HIGH PRICES AND NO SNOW.
Will Yamaha continue to supply engines to Arctic Cat ?
Does this mean that AC will be contracting with Suzuki for the 4-strokes again?
Is that a Citicar sitting in by the historic Yamahas?
Nope… You’ll see more of it in a future episode!
Great show……
Pretty low count of new Yamahas on the trails in recent years.
Just my 2 cents.
no piano jokes here
So after 25 there not gonna make them anymore? So is the only way you can get a yamaha will be used?
That’s pretty much it. Yamaha will honour all warranties and keep parts available moving forward, but no new sleds after 2025.
I still think that John Deere put out some pretty decent sleds 😮😊
Pre season turned into complete NO season lol! No snow anywhere! By the time we get some it will melt lol!
I had a 1975 sno jet with a Yamaha 340 when I was a kid loved that sled was heart broken when my mom made my dad get rid of it lmao 11 year old doing 70 plus mph 🤷🏻♂️
60 MPH MORE LIKE LOL
Killed to death? 😂 that's a new one
I couldn't wait for the new season, too bad there is no snow in Wisconsin.
I miss my Mustangs.
You can never have too many and I regret every one I sold!
I don't think you are remembering wrong about the pogo-stick V-Max. My 96 is flatter on curves then your girlfriend. They are stock with sway bars and are skimming the ground in the first place.
The Phaser was top heavy and tippy.
By the way, it is not a memory, I and thousands others are still riding the mid 90s V-max series.
@ 8:25 I am crying so much i paused the video. HOLY C...ARP MAN!!! I am only 58...and a "death in my family" is VERY hard to take; doesn't matter if it is their choice or not. This HURTS! :( If it was Evinrude or Johnson...even JohnDeere...okay.... but Moses-Sandles Man!!!: YAMAHA!!!!!!! :(((( ....I need more tissues! :((
...Jeff....I really like your "GT-40" you show in the video....needs some 'glass-work' tho... ;-/ ~~ mmmm...road-kill!!! Heatin' up the rocket-stove!!!
I thought the Yamaha SRV looked cool in the 1980s because it looked similar to my dad's ski-doo RV340.
???? HOW AND IN WHAT WAY ...LOL I DONT THINK THEY LOOK ANY WHERE CLOSE TO THE SAME ...LOL
@@crashalexander7232 they both look similar by the front suspension and hood area the way they bulge out.
I think the biggest reason why they are quitting sled building is the global affect warming we no longer get enough snow to warrant the owner ship of a twenty thousand dollar toy
nitro dog 82 mph on hard pack
I'm just curious if those old Yamaha sleds were so great, how come they failed in the market place?? I've always respected Yamaha as a brand across the board, but I think its always easy to look back in admiration instead of just admitting that overall they were not that great. But what ever, to each their own.
First
Good show, I feel Yamaha will pay for their decision most people have multiple motorsports toys and keep them all in the same house but I guess time will tell, I also believe that alot of Yamaha faithful would have got off their wallets for something new but it will be something new from somewhere else now lol
NA PEOPLE WILL PICK AND CHOSE VERY FEW STILL STAY MFG LOYAL FOR ALL SEASONS....LOL
If Yamaha was smart they'd retract that statement, and go back to the roots of Yamaha sleds maybe 2 stroke and 4. Yamaha shouldn't have stopped producing 2 stroke sleds. It killed them.
Yamaha would have survived if they had built 2 stroke engines again since every brand of sled is still offering both the 2 and 4 stroke engines.
Herd the sanctions on Russia hit the sled sales, also brp took a hit as well, hopefully they come back
Well when you do that when they quit making snowmobiles everything else goes down and I know that a fact because I ain't bought none of their snowmobiles I ain't the only one long time but the point is I seen that where my dad worked at the sold the tractors off in the scouts all because they got a percentage the workers the percentage of pay more bonus checks and then turn around and look at them now and and that's why it's going to happen in Yamaha too it's going to go downhill and then they going to file bankruptcy if they ain't going to do it now because then what I've been saying to make good snowmobiles to all of them does but the point is when you cut the snowmobiles out of business your business goes way down your stalker everything shame they're doing that because you know like everybody says they make good have a good day sir
other yamahas were judged
This show is basically unwatchable anymore. Thank you for ruining it.
Go back to watching The View
@@wasupfool5692 probably loves watching CNN As well 😂