NEW SLEDS

YAMAHA MODEL LINEUP FOR 2008

Phazer & Apex Updated; Vector Re-Invented

For the Apex and Phazer models, if you liked the 2007 versions, you’ll love the 2008s. There has been some nomenclature change along with new graphics on certain models. The Apex crossover is now the LTX and the mountain sleds carry the MTX name and a new rear rack.

Overall the Apex series remains true to its performance image with the nifty 4stroke, four-cylinder motor that puts about 150 horsepower. As with the Apex, the Phazer line underwent minimal change. All Yamahas will have at least one styling option designed to celebrate Yamaha’s 40th anniversary of building sleds, including a period when Yamaha snowmobiles were #1 in the sled marketplace.

One Phazer change is the addition of a new snow panel designed to reduce snow build up on the running boards. But power remains the same—80-hp from the 500cc twin—and some suspension packages have changed a bit to include clicker and “air” shocks. Look for the Phazer FX to have disappeared and to be replaced with the name RTX. All else is essentially the same. Look for aggressive pricing as Yamaha uses the Phazer to entice cost-conscious buyers.

Vector—The Most Excellent All Around Snowmobile

We know that we are supposed to view the all-new Nytro as the BIG news for 2008, but we found the re-invention of the Vector as the biggest and most impressive surprise. Yamaha did this right in taking all the best features of the Apex, its chassis and rider ergonomics, and combining them with the best features of the previous Vector, 120-hp triple cylinder engine, fuel efficacy and pricing.

What you have is the best all around snowmobile in the marketplace. We really liked the Apex series, especially its rider friendly seating, its overall cornering ability, and its general snow-ability. We liked the Vector’s power plant, feeling it was the most trail-friendly drive system on the market.

The 2008 Vector has no shortcomings. Because its engine is a cylinder shy of the Apex, the front end feels lighter and easier to steer. Because the Vector enjoys the rider-forward Apex positioning, you have a feeling of greater control over rough trails while maintaining the ability to slide back and relax while touring.

The new Vector retains the mono-shock with its remote adjustability dial on the side of the tunnel. The rear suspension has, of course, been recalibrated to accommodate the changes in the new Vector. The front suspension, which the Apex had adapted from the previous Vector, is recalibrated as well.

You’ll find various versions of the’08 Vector, including a sporty GT model and a longer tracked LTX, which replaces the Rage nameplate for the crossover model. The LTX uses a 136-inch long track. There is no mountain version as the all-new Nytro chassis and its more powerful 130-hp triple have been designated to replace the previous Vector mountain versions.

Yamaha makes no pretense about the Vector—new or older. It is the full-sized price leader for the company. Said a Yamaha spokesman; the key to the Vector is its 120-hp, fuel-efficient 4stroke and “price, price, price.”

According to Yamaha, Vector owners claimed getting upwards of 20 miles per gallon.

Now that the 120-hp engine is in the Apex-derived skin, the Vector has to be the best overall trail sled available. It can be sporty for exceptional cornering and overall handling.

The lighter weight front end is truly noticeable immediately. The engine has more than adequate performance from its triple carb setup. And how can you not like the 4stroke benefits of economy, reliability and long-term durability?

Yamaha’s big problem with the new Vector is going to be getting people to turn them in for another sled years down the trail. Or, maybe not, because this is a sled that the more you ride it, the more you’ll want to ride. So, maybe people will be turning them in because they’ll have so many miles on them they’ll need a newer one!

Vector Bottom Line

For us, this is an instant classic, one that has no downside. Great value at initial purchase. Great fuel efficiency. Wonderful ride. Vector is the best all around snowmobile you can buy in 2008!

© 2007 Snowmobilia/Jerry Bassett

To comment go to – http://www.amsnow.com/jerrysblog

NEW SLEDS


ALL-NEW YAMAHA NYTRO FOR 2008

Is 130 Horsepower, Outstanding Ergonomics Enough?

One area where Yamaha knew it hasn’t been competitive is in the snocross-style, “big bump” category of performance snowmobiling. Enter the all-new, 1050cc, three-cylinder, four-stroke Nytro. The name “Nytro” may remain from the past, but this is much more than bolder, newer graphics.

With an all-new fuel injected triple that classifies for snocross racing classes, the Nytro is the lightest full-size 4stroke performance sled Yamaha has created to date. On its website, Yamaha is leaving the weight issue unspecified.

In chats with Yamaha officials at a pre-introduction press briefing back in January, we were led to believe that a trail ready, wet weight Nytro RTX with electric start and reverse would come in around 560 pounds, about 20 pounds lighter than a 2007 Ski-Doo Blizzard 600. The base Nytro RTX sans reverse would be 10-12 pounds lighter. Unfortunately, with Ski-Doo’s unveiling of its newest REV-like sports sled reportedly coming in with dry weights mimicking Yamaha’s twin-cylinder Phazer, Nytro isn’t the lightest big bumpster. However it still should be the lightest 4stroke big bump sled.

Going after the known market and anticipating that others might lighten their sleds, Yamaha built the Nytro with power-to-weight in mind. If we did our math right, with its 1050cc triple and claimed 130 horsepower, the new Nytro’s performance should rival that of the more powerful and heavier Apex 150-hp engined Yamahas.

Nytro’s triple is said to be based on the Vector, but we take that to mean that it resembles the 120-hp Vector triple in the same way the Apex four-cylinder engine resembles the RX-1 engine that it replaced. If so, all the resemblance means is that both have three cylinders and no gear reduction. Not much else is the same—as the fuel injected Nytro triple is said to be 11 pounds lighter than the carbed Vector motor!

First 4Stroke SX Win

This engine (and chassis) is essentially the same product design that won the Brainerd (MN) snocross and became the first-ever 4stroke to do so. Imagine Yamaha’s delight. While the R&D Yamaha snocrossers have evolved, so has the competition and Yamaha, while placing well, has not had another victory as we write this piece.

We can verify Yamaha’s claim that the Nytro offers an exceptionally strong 96 pounds-feet of torque from 5000 to 6000 revs. It is a grip ripper when you slam the throttle forward. Yamaha claims that the new engine delivers 95 percent of its peak power at 1200 rpm.

We also noticed that Yamaha must have felt that Arctic Cat was on to something when it made its new Jaguar 4stroke free rolling and eliminated the potential for engine braking that has been a trademark feature of the Yamaha 4strokes. The Nytro free wheels when you let off the brake. Veteran Yamaha 4stroke riders will notice this right away and have to get used to it all over again. But for riders coming off 2stroke brands, the Nytro power delivery will feel familiar.

Couple, Uncouple

Now, because these were prototype Nytros and because Yamaha was trying to impress us with power and torque, we aren’t certain that all actual production Nytros will react as our test units did. When we grabbed a handful of throttle we were instantly shot rearward on the saddle as the skis leapt off the snow. Is that how the real Nytro is? Or, is it how Yamaha wants us to perceive the Nytro’s holeshot performance? If it is actual, we question it. It would seem to indicate a lack of suspension coupling on the under track rear suspension system. As we are big believers in coupled suspensions, we are not fans of the Nytro’s initial full throttle reaction.

Coming from a more conservative school of performance, we like our contact points to actually be in contact with the terrain more often than not. When we auto-slalomed our sporty cars, we insisted on having all four of our tires as flat and biting on the asphalt as possible. We like having our motorcycle’s tires contacting the asphalt when we corner. Even if there are only three main points of contact on a snowmobile, we like to have them in contact with the terrain. Considering that one point of contact—the track—can totally overwhelm the remaining two points of contact—the ski blades—you might see why we like the skis on the ground when we ride.

We have ridden other sleds with a tendency to porpoise the front end under hard acceleration and found it more exciting than necessary. Example, you are coming into a turn, brake hard, hit the corner correctly and expect the ski bite to guide you around the turn as you apply throttle. Hit the throttle with enthusiasm and get ski lift and you may be saying “Howdy Do!” to the brush. It’s an inconsistency that fully coupled suspensions don’t generally have. So, we disagree with the suspension setup on the Nytro units that we tested.

We also think that Yamaha—and others—listen too closely to their snocross advisors and not enough to their hard-riding consumers. If you have rear or front suspension with extra long travel shock pistons capable of reducing big moguls to molehills, shouldn’t you exercise it fully? The modern big bump suspension seems to have no travel in it at all. Hey, I’ve ridden bogie wheeled sleds. I’ve raced cross-country for hundreds of miles on slide rail suspensions that were lucky to have an effective three inches of travel. Why on earth, would I—or should any performance rider—be left with a long travel bump suspension that has the ride characteristics of the racers of old? No way!

Compromises

Yamaha’s Nytro, like many big bump sleds, compromises its suspensions. These sleds are designed to ride straight ahead, hit big bumps head-on, fly through the air and land hard. Works great in snocross. For the real world of on-trail big bumps, the moguls are off-camber, not spaced to be taken five at a time so you can do a mid-air, heel-clicker, and usually not seen until the last second. What this requires is a stable suspension setup with terrific weight transfer from side to side and end-to-end. The front suspension has to be fully capable of soaking up the initial steering shock without ripping the handlebar from the rider’s grip. The skis have to shift weight from side to side as most moguls are higher or lower from side to side. Then the rear suspension’s front shock has to collapse along the length of its shock rod smartly enough to telegraph its reaction through the assisting coil spring to the rearmost suspension shock. You want this all to happen without fully bottoming either suspension. And you do not want to get a spine-banging jolt when you first hit the bump or when you land. When you land you want to get all three contacts quickly on the snow so you can steer to position the sled for the next obstacle.

My personal opinion is that the Nytro is a bit wanting in the big bumps. The front suspension needs to be more responsive from side–to-side and the rear suspension needs to be smoother and absorb more of the big bump without any aftershock from the coil spring. My guess is that this is not what the snocross advisors are telling the engineers, because they are standing up and they want stiff response over a snocross course, which is correct for them. Not for the world of high mileage, high performance ditch riding.

Ergos Great

Now, then we must compliment Yamaha for the ergonomics of the Nytro. Ergos are truly outstanding. You can stand up comfortably and in control. We bet mountain riders will like the deep snow versions of this sled for its rider friendly cockpit. The sled’s cowling has been rounded off to allow ample side-to-side movement for cornering and the wide footboards accommodate stand up riding exceptionally well. You can readily move around on this sled. The seat was comfy without being overly soft but not rock hard as the Polaris Dragon saddle. Overall the reach for controls was very good.

Yamaha has worked hard on its gauge package, with a nice big speedometer reading in your face. We’ve come around that nearly infinite handlebar heater settings are unnecessary and fiddling with the heater controls is a bit of a pain on the trail. We like the quick slide of a switch at either bar end for handwarmer or thumbwarmer. Unless the control icons are going to be in color, why not just go with a simple mechanical sight gas gauge or a warning beep when low on fuel?

And, for heaven’s sake, if the gauges are computerized, can’t Yamaha calculate well enough to create real speeds and not those overly optimistic renderings we’ve seen since those 122-mph speedometers of a few years back? Yamaha speedometers are easily 10 percent off the mark on most of its sleds. The Phazer really hits 87mph?

Pro And Con

Styling-wise the Nytro is a winner. We really like the precision of the Mikuni throttle bodied fuel injection. And we like the fact that Yamaha 4strokes are hearty sounding, strong pulling and quick to rev. And we like the fact that Yamaha has made such a serious commitment to the sport with 4strokes.

We simply think the Nytro is going to find the competition wasn’t wasting time. If the Phazer can serve as an example. the Nytro will be lighter than most full-sized 4stroke-powered sleds, but by full production it will have added weight and is going to come in heavier than most of its 2stroke competitors. Its 130 ponies will be necessary to make its 4stroke triple equivalent to most of the competition’s 600cc 2stroke twins.

Yamaha has done a nice job with the Nytro and we think it will draw some riders off other brands, but the serious, not loyal to brand, extreme rider will look at weight, power, ergonomics and race wins when he makes his decision to buy. Will it be the Nytro?

© 2007 Snowmobilia/Jerry Bassett

To comment go to – http://www.amsnow.com/jerrysblog

NEWS

AP Reports Sled Sales Tough

A recent business article by Associated Press reiterates the fact that what snowmobile dealers (and manufacturers) need is simple: SNOW!

The AP news writer quoted a suburban Minneapolis snowmobile dealer as saying that his shop returned more than 50 Arctic Cat snowmobiles and ATVs rather than try to survive another low snow sales season. The AP writer’s research noted that Polaris snowmobile sales dropped more than half, with 2006 profits down 22 percent.

Although Arctic Cat sled sales were more stable the past five seasons, Cat’s sales were down more than 5 percent from ’06. Faced with high incentives to sell sleds, overall profits were impacted, leaving Cat down 16 percent from the previous year.

With nearly a decade of poor snow seasons, snowmobile manufacturers have seen worldwide sales decrease from a peak of 260,000 sleds in 1997 to about 160,000 this year.

The writer notes that despite losing its deal with KTM, Polaris has freed up its Victory motorcycle brand to enter more niches. The all-new Victory Vision touring bike enters the profitable Honda Gold Wing territory.
Polaris which has sold all-terrain vehicles to the US military is trying to gain more sales there.

Polaris reacted to the continued poor seasonal sales of snowmobiles by reducing production of its 2007 models by 40 percent; hoping to let dealers clean inventory. As a matter of public record, snowmobiles were less than 10 percent of Polaris sales.

With no motorcycle option to boost profitability and sales, Arctic Cat cut sled production by only four percent. The company stands with its traditional seasonal sales program of sleds for winter and “wheelers” for summer. Sleds make up around one-third of Cat’s sales, but even so, the company recently laid off 65 workers readjusted its full-year profit forecast downward. to $1.07 to $1.15 per share, down from $1.13 to $1.19 per share.

Fortunately for both sled makers, senior management is experienced with Polaris President and Chief Operating Officer Bennett Morgan a seasoned veteran of the snow wars. He sees Polaris readily capable of ramping up production—and sales—once the snow flies again.

Morgan was quoted as saying that Polaris "… took some tough medicine. … we feel much better about our snowmobile business today than we did in April."

There had been speculation that Polaris would get out of its legacy business of snowmobiles. Morgan stated flatly that Polaris has never considered spinning off its snowmobile business, emphasizing: "It is the heart and soul of this company."

The other snowmobile makers from Canada and Japan are faced with similar problems in the sled market, but Japanese maker Yamaha with its myriad of power products from motorcycles to PWC to sleds has the deepest pockets to weather the (lack of) storm.

Canada’s Bombardier Recreational Products (BRP), which supports its Ski-Doo line of snowmobiles with CanAm ATVs, Evinrude outboards and its line of Sea-Doo personal watercraft, has ventured into new markets, creating a unique three-wheeled street-legal vehicle called the “Spyder.” This quasi-motorcycle is both capable of performance around town or across country as a touring machine.

Polaris has announced an expansion of its side-by-side Ranger utility vehicles with the addition of the sports Ranger RZR (see following article).

With sled sales down, the four companies that remain in the marketplace are looking for alternative products that are less dependent on seasonal fluctuations like snow and that have marketability in more geo-climatic areas.
But as Polaris’ Morgan noted, the snowmobile manufacturers will rebound with the arrival of snows.


© 2007 Snowmobilia/Jerry Bassett

To comment go to – http://www.amsnow.com/jerrysblog

NEWS

Polaris Creates Sports UTV

Ranger RZR is light and sporty side-by side.

At 50 inches wide, RANGER RZR is the only trail capable side-by-side in its class. At 945 lbs, it is the lightest side-by-side with the lowest cage height, compared to its competitors, which ensures true trail accessibility. RANGER RZR also boasts a true all-wheel drive (AWD) system that automatically engages when the rider needs more forward traction and reverts to 2WD automatically when AWD is no longer needed.

Built with a patented design that places the engine behind the seat, RANGER RZR has the lowest center of gravity of all the sport side-by-sides for unmatched off-road responsiveness. Riders will find themselves sitting at least seven inches lower than they would in competitive side-by-side vehicles for unparalleled handling and ground hugging performance. For optimal handling on any terrain, RANGER RZR has nine inches of travel in the front, 9.5 inches in the rear and 10 inches of ground clearance due to its double A-arm front suspension with an exclusive, front anti-sway bar and a rolled independent rear suspension (IRS). For comfort, RANGER RZR also sports the best ergonomics in its class, including tilt steering, and adjustable hand rails and seats.

Powered by a liquid-cooled, even-firing Polaris Big Bore 800 Twin EFI engine, RANGER RZR is the fastest accelerating side-by-side with the highest horsepower in its class; accelerating to 35 MPH in four seconds, and topping out at 55 MPH. This power coupled with RANGER RZR’s unique design and smaller stature creates a vehicle that delivers razor sharp side-by-side performance.

© 2007 Snowmobilia/Jerry Bassett

To comment go to – http://www.amsnow.com/jerrysblog

RANTS & RAVES

Cat Lays Off 65 As Slow Sales Settle In— Just as Polaris did earlier, Arctic Cat accepted the reality of its marketplace and decided to cutback, dropping up to 65 employees from its ranks. Most of the cuts came in the Thief River Falls, MN home area.

Although snow has fallen with a vengeance in upstate New York this past week, the reality of snowmobiling for the past few years has been sluggish sales, a laggard economy and marginal traffic into snowmobile showrooms. With boat shows and RV shows vying for consumer attention across the country, sled sales are taking another hit. People want to talk warm weather, figuring that winter is past and its time to get ready for the boating, fishing, and camping seasons.

Cat has found that sales of its line of recreational toys has slowed as even its well-regarded ATV and utility vehicles are falling prey to what is seen by analysts as a saturated market. For both Cat and its neighbor in Roseau, MN, the powersports business requires a cinching up of the belt until market conditions turnaround.


Yamaha To Announce New Sleds To Dealers At Month’s End— Expect any announcements about new 2008 snowmobile products to be made in Wisconsin at a major Yamaha dealer conference. You can bet that dealers will learn just how excited the California-based distributor of Yamaha motorsports products is about the exceptional record its snowmobile racers have racked up this winter. The snocross victory in Brainerd was a big boost for the advancement of 4stroke performance. A win at the Soo and Corey Davidson’s gutsy showing at Mille Lacs Lake cross country event are encouraging signs that Yamaha sleds can compete—and win—against all comers! Yamaha marketers will be sure to explain to its dealers that when it comes to performance, Yamaha 4strokes can lead the way. And, of course, they will expect the dealers to order product.

Western Sales Equal Unreality— If you look at the sales statistics for the most recent season or two, you’d think that the West leads the way in snowmobiling. That fact is misleading as the west has been the only place with consistent snows. The high percentage of sleds sold in that market reflects this anomaly. But unless it never snows again in the east or Midwest, it is a mistake to look at those total sales in the west as a dominating pattern. Once the gods of snow settle back in and dump on the rest of the US, the percentage of sales for the west will drop like a stone.

Of course, no one knows when normal winters will return and with it, normal sales patterns. As for right now, marketing types are earning their money as they find that their once smart promotional programs are falling flat. Ask any veteran snowmo-guru with a decade or more of experience and that person will tell you that the only ingredient to creating marketing genius is SNOW! Anything else is a well-intentioned placebo.

Improved Reliability But C’mon— We can’t help but notice that as sleds become more reliable, sled makers are making routine repairs a bigger and bigger pain in the posterior! We went to change a sparkplug on our REV the other day and discovered it was way more difficult than it should be. Thanks to the REV’s frame design, one plug lies nearly impossible to reach. You can extricate it in only one way and it requires patience that some of us don’t really have.

Yamaha’s Phazer twin and the new Cat motors are essentially hidden in the bowels of the new sled engineering designs that center mass under the rider. We’ve seen a Phazer guru decide that it was easier to remove the fuel tank to access the engine than remove side panels. You almost have to remove the Cat’s new 4stroke twin to get at its plugs. The manufacturers’ response to all of this is that today’s sleds are s-o-o reliable that you won’t be changing plugs anyway. You betcha!

Yes, we have come a long way in sled reliability, but when you’re out on the trail and a belt blows or a sparkplug fouls and the hood comes up, don’t you really think that a $12,000 toy should be immune from all that? We aren’t that removed from our grandfather’s day after all are we?

Future Sleds And Computerization— Manufacturers are so proud of themselves for what they’ve brought to market. And for the most part they are deserved credit. Still, we can think of some things that we should come to expect on sleds that carry price tags north of $10,000.

For example, with all of today’s mini-computer this and that on our cars, why don’t sleds incorporate them on the braking systems? How about an anti-lock braking system for the track? When you screw up and have to grab a handful of brake, what happens? The track immediately locks and starts to slide. It can fishtail, making your emergency maneuver trickier. If it had anti-lock braking, it would stop you more quickly and in a more controlled, more easily directed manner. Anti-lock braking? With sleds having 150-plus horsepower and top speeds easily in excess of 100 miles per hour, shouldn’t there be a bit more concern on the stop-ability of the modern sled?

How about mini-computers in suspension systems that are predictive and reactive to trail conditions? The vast majority of consumers don’t set their suspensions properly for the way they ride. The vast majority of dealers— making a $100 over their cost on a sled — aren’t going to fine-tune a suspension for the dollar-conscious customer. This means that suspension set up falls back to the consumer. Or the manufacturer can use computerization to fine-tune a sled’s ride. With the advent of modern electrical systems on today’s sleds, there has to be a way to tune reactive suspension to a snowmobile.

In many ways the modern snowmobile hasn’t changed all that much from the days of Eliason’s first motor toboggans. Evolution is slow, yes. But if snowmobile makers want to convince us consumers that their products are worth all the money they are asking, shouldn’t they be making more breakthroughs in things other than top speed and horsepower. And, if you follow computerization to its logical next step, it could very well be a way to make suspensions more effective and lighter in weight. We won’t hold our breath.

© 2007 Snowmobilia/Jerry Bassett

To comment go to – http://www.amsnow.com/jerrysblog

RACING NEWS


Yammie Wins On Mille Lacs
As One-legged Corey Davidson
Dominates The Field

Yamaha-backed cross country star, Corey Davidson entered the USCC Mille Lacs 300 in Garrison, MN, race with his leg still in a cast from a December motocross crash and proved that even on one-leg he was the one to beat as he scored two first-place finishes in the two-race format to take the Pro Open overall win on his Davidson Racing Apex RTX.

Davidson and his Yamaha Apex were the combination to beat in the Pro Open classes of this past weekend (Feb. 10-11). Handicap and all, he added a third overall in Pro Stock on a second Apex.

“I was the only driver in the Pro Open class on a four-stroke,” Davidson said after the event. “The Apex really had an advantage in power and top-end speed over the two-strokes. The Apex handled just perfectly all weekend.”

Davidson’s Yamaha teammate Travis Hjelle added to the spoils by winning both legs of the Semi Pro Open event, finishing first overall by just two seconds after 40 miles of racing.

© 2007 Snowmobilia/Jerry Bassett

To comment go to – http://www.amsnow.com/jerrysblog

NEWS

BRP/Can-Am Intro's Unique
3-Wheeler For The Road

Recently published “spy” photos of an unique BRP 3-wheeler for the road have proven prophetic as BRP introduces its first "on-road" vehicle, the 2008 Can-Am™ Spyder™ roadster.

With two wheels in the front and one in the rear the Spyder three-wheel vehicle presents a completely new and stunning look for a street machine. Powered by a proven 990cc V Twin engine designed and manufactured by BRP-Rotax, Spyder roadster, with its unique Y-architecture, is part motorcycle and part convertible sports car.

"Our Can-Am Spyder roadster is the next dimension in open-road riding. A true paradigm shift, the Spyder roadster offers a balance of performance and peace of mind with features like the Vehicle Stability System (VSS), engineered in conjunction with Bosch, which includes anti-lock brakes, traction control and stability control systems," said José Boisjoli, president and CEO, BRP.

BRP spokesmen noted that BRP's reputation was built on its ability to innovate and design products for powersports enthusiasts. After more than five years of research, the Can-Am Spyder roadster delivers on the company's promise to offer a complete line of recreational motorized products in four segments: on snow, on water, as well as both off and on road.

While confirming that the Can-Am Spyder roadsters would be assembled in Valcourt, Boisjoli added: "This is an historic event for BRP, particularly for our Valcourt and Austrian employees, as it confirms the strategic role of BRP's Québec manufacturing facilities for assembling complex and sophisticated vehicles, and BRP-Rotax's leadership in engine development. With Can-Am Spyder, we are redefining the roadster category by bringing the powersports experience to the road through this new generation of vehicles. BRP is entering a new era that will provide growth opportunities for our company worldwide and potentially create new jobs,'' he concluded.

Plans are to start manufacturing units by fall 2007 with a progressive ramp-up of the production over the next three years to meet market demand.

"This event also marks BRP's first truly global launch," said Chris Dawson, vice-president, Strategic planning & Head of Can-Am Spyder Program. "In 2007, BRP will deploy the first phase of its go-to-market strategy: twelve selected American states and four Canadian provinces will offer Can-Am Spyder roadsters through BRP's existing dealer network, followed by France and Spain in early 2008. In its second phase, BRP will expand its Can-Am Spyder offer to more North American states, Canadian provinces, Europe and other countries, and expects to be present worldwide within three to four years," he concluded.

© 2007 Snowmobilia/Jerry Bassett

To comment go to – http://www.amsnow.com/jerrysblog

NEWS

Gueco Wins Soo I-500 Enduro
With Yamaha Apex RTX

A Yamaha Apex snowmobile has won the tough Soo I-500 endurance race in Sault Ste. Marie, Mich., for the second consecutive year

The winning team of Chad Gueco and co-driver Bill Wilkes dominated throughout the entire event on Saturday, Feb. 3. Last year’s winner Corey Davidson, riding with Travis Hjelle and Troy Hanson, put another Apex on the podium in third.

Qualifying only 11^th, Gueco set his Apex’s suspension for the rough conditions expected during the scheduled 500 miles, figuring the powerful Yamaha would still handle well when conditions deteriorated.

“I have always loved endurance racing because it’s a challenge, a strategy game, trying to outsmart the other racers,” Gueco explained later. “Yamaha builds a great sled and the Apex four-stroke engine never missed a beat the whole race. This thing has so much steam down the straight-aways! It pulled the same rpm every lap and we never had to worry about the engine at all.”

Although the competition was fierce – mostly coming from other Yamaha teams – the Gueco Racing Apex ran in the top three for most of the first 200 laps. The only mechanical issue occurred at the 200-mile point when the team pitted to replace an idler wheel. The team reclaimed the lead and built up nearly a lap advantage before the event was red-flagged on lap 367 due to the emergence of a fast-moving snowstorm. Gueco and Wilkes were declared the winners while Davidson, Hjelle and Hanson, charging hard in third, simply ran out of time. Moving through the field after receiving a stop-and-go penalty, they had un-lapped themselves and were chasing down the leaders when the race was stopped.

© 2007 Snowmobilia/Jerry Bassett

To comment go to – http://www.amsnow.com/jerrysblog